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Yemen

The Supreme Council for Food Security, the Steering Committee for Food Security, Food Security Technical Secretariat, Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Steering Committee and Secretariat, and the National Committee for Food Safety

Yemen's food security governance is designed as a three-tier architecture anchored in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation: the Supreme Council for Food Security at the highest political level, chaired by the Prime Minister; the Steering Committee for Food Security as the intermediate coordinating body; and the Food Security Technical Secretariat as its analytical engine. Alongside these, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Secretariat leads multisectoral nutrition coordination, and the National Committee for Food Safety serves as the sectoral regulator for food safety standards. Yemen's National Food Systems Transformation Pathways have been formally endorsed by the Council of Ministers, and these structures carry primary responsibility for implementing them.

Supreme Council for Food Security

Institutional set-up and structure. The Supreme Council for Food Security (SCFS) established by Cabinet Resolution 109 of 2013 dated 21 May 2013, accordingly, the Food Council was merged into the Supreme Council for Food Security and sits at the highest political level of the architecture. The SCFS is chaired by the Prime Minister, with two deputies: the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Fisheries Wealth, and includes representatives from various ministries and sectoral bodies relevant to food security. 

The SCFS is operationalised through an inter-ministerial process led by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, which assumes leadership and direct supervision of the Food Security Steering Committee and the Food Security Technical Secretariat.

Mandate and decision-making power. The Prime Council for Food Security is the high-level political decision-making body for food security: the locus for approving multisectoral policies and leading crisis response.

The Council is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):

  • Agenda setting: deciding on goals, strategies and priorities for food security, taking into account the needs of different sub-sectors and regions

  • Policy formulation and decision making: approving policies, plans, programmes and projects; developing regulations and reviewing draft laws for consideration by the relevant authorities

  • Implementation: coordinating policy and programme implementation, including maintaining strategic reserves of basic commodities (three to six months of national need) and leading the response to emergencies, disasters and crises; coordinating financial resources through review of annual plans and budgets, drawing on domestic and external resources

  • Monitoring and evaluation: tracking implementation and providing guidance to resolve difficulties, including national follow-up on commitments from international food security conferences

Who is involved. Convened and chaired by the Prime Minister, with documented supra-sectoral reach across 25 members representatives of related ministries, funds, UN organizations and peak private-sector associations.

How it works in practice. The Council is designed to make decisions based on evidence generated by the Technical Secretariat for Food Security and approved by the Steering Committee to improve food security in the country.

Food Security Steering Committee (FSSC)

Institutional set-up and structure. The intermediate coordinating tier of the architecture, established by Cabinet Resolution 109 of 2013 and convened and chaired through the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. It operates as the supervisory body over the Food Security Technical Secretariat.

Mandate and decision-making power: The FSSC supervises the Food Security Technical Secretariat and its technical preparation, sets agendas against the national strategy, and raises draft resolutions and recommendations to the Supreme Council, which the founding documents identify as the decision-making locus. Its mandate and goals are clearly articulated and highly specific in both the 2013 decree and subsequent strategy documents, with well-defined scope and boundaries within the institutional hierarchy. Its role is advisory, preparatory and supervisory: members describe a strong advisory role whose guidance ministries usually follow, with enactment depending on the tier above.

The Committee is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):

  • Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue; decision making on goals and strategic priorities

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; coordinating the policy development and planning process; developing policies for consideration by relevant authorities

  • Implementation: coordinating policy and programme implementation

  • Monitoring and evaluation: supervision and oversight of the Technical Secretariat's work

Who is involved

  • Government: chaired through the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, with documented coordination of line ministries including Agriculture, Irrigation and Fisheries Wealth, Industry and Trade, Public Health and Population, and Finance.

  • Non-state actors: civil society, the private sector and development partners participate, however, their participation is limited to the type of the event.

How it works in practice. The Committee convenes to validate technical work and ratify policy proposals, setting its agenda against the national strategy and directing the Technical Secretariat's programme. Its minutes record genuine deliberation, including dissent, objection and redrafting. Documentary evidence shows it accomplishing most of its stated objectives and supervising a Technical Secretariat. The Committee meets quarterly and may draw on technical experts as needed to carry out its tasks.

Food Security Technical Secretariat

Institutional set-up and structure. The analytical engine of the three-tier structure, established within and convened by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, operating under the supervision of the Steering Committee and, in design, the Supreme Council.

Mandate and decision-making power. Founding decrees, ministerial decisions and strategic Letters of Agreement define the Secretariat's goals, scope and boundaries through an extensive, legally codified list of duties spanning data collection, early warning, capacity building and policy briefing. It is a technical and advisory body: it supplies information, analysis and recommendations to support the decision makers, so its influence runs through the quality of its analysis and whether that analysis reaches decision makers.

The Technical Secretariat is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):

  • Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; developing policies for consideration by relevant authorities

  • Monitoring and evaluation: monitoring, evaluation and reporting; supervision of the Governorate Focal Units

Who is involved

  • Government: convened through the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, with documented supra-sectoral reach spanning agriculture, health, trade, finance and water & environment.

  • Non-state actors: civil society, the private sector, UN agencies and development partners participate.

  • At sub-national level: governorate coordination units contribute to Collates and submits food security and nutrition-related data and information  from governorate and district level, where applicable on a regular basis, to the Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS) to enable analysis, reporting and dissemination at national level.

How it works in practice. The FSTS produces the data, early warning products, reports and evidence syntheses on which coordination across the architecture depends, and leads implementation of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification in Yemen (IPC). It provides continuous training for members in data collection and analysis, food security concepts and analytical frameworks. The FSTS maintains a close relationship with the SUN Secretariat regarding various nutrition-related activities. The FSTS also handles the preparations for meetings of the Steering Committee and the Supreme Council.

SUN Secretariat

Institutional set-up and structure. The political mandate for cross-sectoral nutrition action is anchored in Cabinet Decree No. 91 of 2013, which directed Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, and Ministry of Public Health and Population to integrate malnutrition eradication into overarching government plans and budgets through a comprehensive multi-sectoral nutrition strategy. Delivering on this mandate, multisectoral nutrition coordination is led by a dedicated structure housed within and convened by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC), operating under the supervision and guidance of the National SUN Steering Committee. This institutional arrangement derives directly from the global Scaling Up Nutrition movement rather than from Cabinet Resolution 109 of 2013, and runs in parallel to the food security track.

Mandate and decision-making power. Its mission, purpose and goals are clearly and specifically articulated across its terms of reference and strategic guidelines, drawing a firm boundary between its technical and administrative functions and the political processes above it, and translating overarching goals into actionable tasks — updating the Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan, preparing biannual reports and managing the Nutrition Information Platform. Decisions on plans and budgets rest with the government-led Steering Committee, with the Secretariat holding facilitation, coordination and guidance functions. A prime-ministerial decree or legal mandate matching its coordinating responsibilities is the most consistent request from its stakeholders.

The SUN Secretariat is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):

  • Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; coordinating the policy development and planning process

  • Implementation: coordinating policy and programme implementation

  • Monitoring and evaluation: monitoring, evaluation and reporting

Who is involved

  • Government: line ministries convened through the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, which co-chairs sector working groups across health, agriculture, fisheries, education, social protection and water at national and sub-national levels; around four in five respondents report that all or most ministry representatives participate actively and meaningfully

  • Development partners: convened alongside line ministries around the Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan

  • Civil society and private sector: 86 per cent of respondents report that all or most non-state actors participate meaningfully

  • Sector Working Groups: give line ministries and non-state actors a structured place in nutrition coordination

How it works in practice. The Secretariat convenes line ministries and development partners around the Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan, which it has updated together with its monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning framework and its advocacy framework. It has revitalised the SUN Steering Committee and technical teams, manages the Nutrition Information Platform, prepares biannual reports, and has begun piloting sub-national structures in Taiz and Lahj. Nearly four in five members rate the organisation of its meetings, communication and follow-up as effective or very effective.

Evidence base: Extended Assessment of the Food System Governance Strengthening Framework (documentary evidence and stakeholder surveys), 2026.

Last updated: September 2026.

National Committee for Food Safety

Institutional set-up and structure. A sectoral regulator for food safety standards and controls, established by decree in 2010 and reaffirmed in 2025, hosted by the Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control Organization, whose administration acts as its secretariat. It is chaired through the Minister of Industry and Trade. Its members were named and its first meeting held in 2024, so its results describe an institution beginning to function rather than sustained performance.

Mandate and decision-making power. Its founding decree sets out a mission and 23 detailed goals, defining an advisory, coordinating and Codex-aligned purpose. Its recommendations require ratification by the Minister of Industry and Trade, with member ministries obliged to cooperate and share data. Members hold differing views on whether the Committee advises or decides, and clarifying this in an updated instrument, alongside member-agency responsibilities, is identified as a foundational step.

The Committee is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):

  • Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue on food safety standards

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; developing standards and recommendations for ratification by the responsible minister

Who is involved

  • Government: chaired through the Ministry of Industry and Trade and hosted by the Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control Organization, with food safety responsibilities also falling under the Ministry of Public Health and Population, and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation participating as a member

  • Non-state actors: civil society, the private sector and development partners are present, with involvement described as modest and inconsistent at this early stage

How it works in practice. The Committee issues recommendations that are channelled and ratified through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, with the Standardization Organization hosting meetings, providing the secretariat function and controlling its budget. Beyond its formal links, food safety actors have engaged with the SUN Steering Committee and the Health Sectoral Working Group since 2015, and the Committee's formal inclusion in an updated Steering Committee membership is being finalised with SUN support.