RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AGRICULTURE, AND NUTRITIONAL FOOD SECURITY

The AECID prioritizes the Human Right to Food as a strategic priority for Spanish cooperation for development in rural, sustainable agriculture, and nutritional food security, in line with SDG 2, “Zero Hunger”. This approach transforms agri-food systems, promotes decent rural livelihoods, and ensures effective humanitarian responses to global food crises.

What does the AECID do in rural development and food security?

The AECID works with a multidimensional approach that integrates:

• Food and Nutritional Security.
• Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.
• Agri-food value chains.
• Agricultural research.
• Sustainable agri-food systems.
• Agri-industries.
• The Human Right to Food.

Each area employs specific yet interconnected interventions, with a common goal: to ensure the availability, access, and adequate utilization of culturally appropriate food.

Social, Ecological, and Economic Transition

In line with the 2030 Agenda, the Spanish Cooperation Master Plan establishes the promotion of a triple social, economic, and environmental transition as its objective and guiding principle. Spanish Cooperation’s approach to the “Rural Development, Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition” (DRASAN) sector will be based on the human right to food as the backbone of the response to social transition. 

Special attention will be given to the fight against undernutrition and malnutrition, the role of biodiversity conservation, and support for agroecology to strengthen the ecological transition. Public policies will be strengthened to ensure small farmers’ equitable access to productive resources that improve living conditions in rural communities, facilitating their participation in markets under fair conditions, and promoting opportunities for new generations within the framework of a sustainable economic transition.

The Human Right to Food: The Cornerstone

The AECID embraces the Human Right to Food as a defining principle, recognizing that everyone has the right to adequate, safe, sufficient, healthy, and nutritious food, free from hunger. This rights-based approach addresses structural determinants such as:

• Access to land and agrarian reform.
• Access to water for irrigation and consumption.
• Natural resources and environmental conservation.
• Rural livelihoods: family farming, artisanal fishing, and extensive livestock farming.
• A cross-cutting gender perspective and the empowerment of rural women.
• Adaptation to climate change in production systems.

Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Value Chains

The AECID promotes sustainable agri-food systems that link primary production, processing, marketing, and consumption, prioritizing small-scale producers, cooperatives, and indigenous peoples. Interventions include:

• Strengthening inclusive agri-food value chains.
• Support for local agro-industries and product processing.
• Agricultural, fisheries, and forestry research adapted to local contexts.
• Rural infrastructure: roads, markets, storage facilities.
• Producer organizations and market access.

Humanitarian Response to Food Crises

In the face of the global food crisis, armed conflicts, climate change, and pests such as the desert locust, AECID provides emergency food assistance to ensure temporary access to sufficient nutritious food. The programs prioritize:

• Child nutrition and prevention of acute malnutrition.
• Pregnant and lactating women.
• Protection and food security in camps.
• Nutritional supplements to insufficient local diets.

A Comprehensive Approach to Rural Development Cooperation

In summary, AECID drives transformation in rural development, agriculture, and food security through a comprehensive cooperation model that integrates:

• The human right to food.
• Sustainable agri-food systems.
• Gender equality.
• Humanitarian response.