Iraq
The National Food Security Committee
IIraq coordinates food security through a national committee convened by the agriculture ministry, which has increasingly framed its work around building a resilient food system. It brings federal ministries, national security advisers and the Kurdistan Region together behind a shared road map and national strategy. The Committee can be classed as an integrated multisectoral and participatory mechanism.
Institutional set-up and structure
The Committee was established by Diwani Order in 2017, under the guidance of the Iraq Minister of Agriculture, and expanded in 2021 to include the Ministry of Industry and Minerals. The Food Systems Coordination Unit, also within the agriculture sector, serves as its secretariat and facilitates coordination among stakeholders. Meetings are chaired at deputy minister level within the agriculture ministry, and participation has extended to a delegation from the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources. Iraq's reporting to the UN Food Systems Summit process also refers to inter-ministerial food systems committees. (These appear to describe the same coordination arrangements, but this has not been confirmed.)
Mandate and decision-making power
The Committee coordinates food security effort across government ministries, civil society organisations and private sector companies. It was set up to discuss and recommend actions on how best to achieve food security. Its focus has since broadened. Recent meetings have addressed a road map for food security and an integrated national strategy to unify the efforts of all relevant bodies, with emphasis on a productive, equitable food system able to withstand natural, human-made and market shocks.
The Committee is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):
Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue
Policy formulation and decision making: coordinating policy development
Implementation: coordinating policy and programme delivery
Who is involved
Government: agriculture, as chair, with trade, planning, water resources, health and environment, industry and minerals, and the National Security Advisory
Subnational government: the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources
Development partners: United Nations agencies providing technical support, including FAO and WFP
Non-state actors: civil society organisations and private sector companies are named in the Committee's coordination remit; further detail is not available
Evidence base: policy documents only, 2026. Last updated: September 2026.
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