World Food Day 2021
October 16th is the UN World Food Day. We all have a role to play in the transformation of the agri-food systems. Together we can empower our agri-food systems to collaborate more fairly, sustainably and inclusively from farm to table, and beyond.
Photograph taken from www.fao.org/world-food-day
A sustainable agri-food system is one in which a variety of sufficient, nutritious and safe foods is available at an affordable price to everyone, and nobody is hungry or suffers from any form of malnutrition. The shelves are stocked, less food is wasted and the food supply chain is more resilient to extreme weather, price spikes or pandemics, all while limiting environmental degradation and climate change. They lead to better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all.
Agri-food systems employ 1 billion people worldwide, more than any other economic sector. However the way we produce, consume, and waste food, pressures natural resources, the environment and climate. The agri-food systems today are not only contributing to destroying natural habitats and costing trillions of dollars, but are also explosing profound inequalities and unjustices.
Governments need to both repurpose old policies and adopt new ones that foster the sustainable production of affordable nutritious foods and promote farmer participation. Policies should promote equality and learning, drive innovation, boost rural incomes, offer safety nets to smallholders and build climate resilience.
They also need to consider the multiple linkages between areas affecting food systems including education, health, energy, social protection, finance and more, and make solutions fit together.
And they need to be backed by a major increase in responsible investment and strong support to reduce negative environmental and social impacts across sectors, particularly the private sector, civil society, researchers and academia.
The UN Secretary-General convened for the first Food Systems Summit in September this year to forge consensus on bold new actions to transform the way the world produces and consumes food, with an aim to get back on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Read more , and full article www.fao.org