The BMZ’s multilateral engagement in food security and nutrition

The international Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of eradicating hunger and ensuring food security has once again receded into the distance. In recent years, progress has either stagnated or even been reversed. Multilateral development cooperation is a key approach to addressing this issue at the global level. Due to current political developments, however, the multilateral development cooperation system is coming under increasing pressure and faces budget cuts. 

The BMZ has a long track record of extensive engagement for food security and nutrition within the multilateral system, encompassing both funding and policy guidance. For instance, it supports the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and initiatives such as the School Meals Accelerator. The reform plan published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in early 2026 also highlights the importance of these two issues for the future orientation of German development cooperation.  

This evaluation of the BMZ’s multilateral engagement in food security and nutrition will build on the DEval evaluation of multilateral engagement, which was completed in 2025. It will expand on the findings of that evaluation, particularly with regard to the interplay between various actors. It will examine all six evaluation criteria: relevance, coherence, efficiency effectiveness, impact and sustainability.

The evaluation will aim to generate findings on both the BMZ’s multilateral engagement as a whole, and specific findings on the Ministry’s multilateral engagement in the area of food security and nutrition. Furthermore, it will seek to help improve management of the Ministry’s multilateral engagement in food security and nutrition. It will also aim to provide guidance on how to address changes and challenges within the multilateral system. 

To obtain a comprehensive picture of the multilateral engagement, the evaluation will combine various methods of analysis and assessment. It will pursue a theory-based mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the engagement in relation to the evaluation criteria. Examples of specific methods to be applied include a literature review, and evaluation synthesis, a portfolio similarity analysis, a regression analysis and qualitative interviews.