Food security for a planet

under pressure

Summary of key points and policy recommendations

• Food security is fundamentally linked to both socioeconomic systems and environmental conditions.
• Changes in climate and in other key environmental factors will significantly complicate the achievement of food security for all.
• It is imperative to reduce hunger and poverty in the context of structural shifts in demand and supply, driven by population growth, income growth and global environmental change.
• The challenges of food security, natural resource use and environmental change call for countries to renew their efforts to work together in the management of global public goods.

Adopting a food systems approach

• A food systems approach links the activities of producing, processing, retailing and consuming food with the outcomes of these activities for food security and other societal goals.
• A food systems approach can help to show how food insecurity arises and also provides a framework for policy development to meet the food security challenge.
• A food systems approach provides a framework for multiscale, multi-level analyses of the dynamic linkages between food security, environmental concerns and development issues.
• Food trade needs to be enhanced to encourage secure access to nutritious food for the poorest and most vulnerable.
• Novel institutional arrangements together with innovating and enabling policies will promote cooperation between public  and private investors in food systems.

Meeting the challenge

• Food systems of the future will need to enhance food security while minimizing further environmental degradation.
• Multiple pathways will be needed to deliver a greener economy and greener food systems; these include reducing waste at all stages of the food system and greater involvement of the private sector in planning and decision making.
• There is an urgent need to develop technologies and policies that will result in sustainable production practices.
• More integrated planning and greater cross-system coherence across the global food security agenda are needed.
• A transition to healthier diets as societies grow richer is needed to reduce both environmental and public health burdens.

The Food Security Challenge

While elements of GEC are allied closely to food production practices, food insecurity is not simply a problem of supply. The world currently produces sufficient food for all, but it is distributed unequally according to resources and wealth as well as changing patterns of supply and demand (see box). However, meeting demand (as expressed by markets) will not address the food needs of the poor; the food-insecure remain so largely because their incomes are too low or prices are too high. The likelihood of increasing food price volatility will continue to affect the poorest more than most. Furthermore, many vulnerable parts of the world remain in the grip of poor governance and conflict, which undermine physical, social and economic access to food.

GEC further compromises food security for those already prone to hunger because it affects all aspects of food security, i.e., the stability of food availability, access and use. Those whose livelihoods are bound closely with food production and who have low coping capacity are most vulnerable to the effects of GEC, which may include crop failure, attack from pests and diseases, and water shortage. In the short term, climate change will affect food security through more frequent and intense episodes of extreme weather, while longer-term effects include changing patterns of rainfall and temperature as well as soil degradation and biodiversity loss. At the same time, people across the globe may face rising food prices in the absence of a production response to increased demand, disease outbreaks and crises of water management, together with broader impacts on local and national economies.

While there is scope to increase global food production, future approaches and technologies must be based on sustainable approaches to intensification, with the public goods provided by natural ecosystems (e.g., water and carbon storage) taken into account wherever possible. The complex interactions within and between the food system, natural resources and socioeconomic factors mean that close coordination among multiple sectors is vital. Stronger links must be forged between sectors relating to agriculture, fisheries, environment, trade, energy, transportation, marketing, health and consumer goods. In taking forward action agreed internationally, including through the G20 Action Plan, countries should adopt a sustainable and integrated approach to promoting improvements in productivity. This implies adopting a particular research focus on key crops, including those most relevant for vulnerable countries and populations.

A more joined-up approach should involve integrated analyses of food, climate, environment, population and socio-economic systems. The results will guide cross-sectoral decision making and the integrated responses needed to address food security and support sustainable and resilient livelihoods for future generations.

Adopting a Food Systems Approach

A resilient food system:

• can withstand economic and environmental shocks and stresses at different levels
• has redundancy built in (e.g., effective systems for storing adequate amounts of food and for their distribution in times of crisis)
• is supported by strong multilateral cooperation mechanisms equipped to coordinate collective responses to food shocks across national boundaries.

An equitable food system:

• ensures adequate amounts of nutritious food are accessible to all (social protection and other forms of cash transfers may be necessary to cope with price shocks)
• provides a level playing field for producers around the world (i.e., market access)
• is supported by research and development (R&D) and innovation systems that cater to the needs of the poor and the rich alike (i.e., provide new technologies with relevance to poor regions).

Food systems are becoming increasingly complex, with multiple interactions at several levels on a range of spatial, temporal and other scales. They are dependent on and influence biogeochemical and socioeconomic processes. Their high dependence on energy and water requires ever-closer coordination between practice and policy for these sectors, as well as with sectors responsible for the environment, trade and transportation, marketing and consumption. This gives rise to substantial institutional complexity, with multiple actors operating within different  institutional frameworks. The food systems of the future will therefore need to be based on innovative interdisciplinary research, enhanced science–policy dialogue, and greater institutional and societal flexibility. Private sector research now dominates technological developments for several key food and feed crops so private and nongovernmental organizations must be included in future decision making.

Meeting the Challenge

The challenges of food security, natural resource use and GEC call for countries to renew their efforts to work together in the management of global public goods. This includes greater cross-system coherence and integrated planning across institutional frameworks. New institutional arrangements are needed to promote cooperation between public and private investors in food systems and to recognize the rapidly expanding role of nonstate actors. Finally, institutions must adopt a more flexible approach to encourage more equitable and sustainable consumer choice. This will require enhanced food system governance, since poor governance and conflict are among the key drivers of food insecurity.