Transform global food supply: Ensuring quality nourishment for all necessitates system overhaul
In a world where food systems are largely geared towards quantity over quality, delivering affordable, nutritious food for all remains a significant challenge. However, potential strategies for improving global nutrition and reducing malnutrition rates are within reach.
One key approach is promoting diversified diets with nutritious crops, such as legumes, fruits, vegetables, eggs, and small fish. These foods provide essential nutrients and can reduce dependence on staple crops like rice, which contribute to malnutrition and non-communicable diseases.
Supporting the cultivation of opportunity crops, like nutrient-rich, hardy crops, is another crucial strategy. These crops help combat micronutrient deficiencies (hidden hunger) and enhance resilience to climate stress.
Incentivizing farmers and private sector investment to grow nutritious, environmentally sustainable crops is also essential. Legumes, for instance, require less fertilizer and provide plant-based protein.
Transforming food systems to be environmentally sustainable, economically viable, nutritionally adequate, and socially inclusive is another key strategy. This includes reducing food loss and waste, ensuring equitable distribution and access to healthy foods, fostering healthy consumption patterns, and implementing inclusive governance and supportive policies.
Implementing integrated nutrition programs, like those supported by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, is another approach. These programs combine food system reforms with social and behavioural change to promote consumption of safe, nutrition-rich crops.
Fortifying staple foods and adopting climate-smart production practices can also help reduce environmental impact while enhancing nutrition and affordability.
These strategies require coordinated actions among farmers, governments, civil society, private sectors, and consumers to overcome barriers and reshape food environments for healthier, more sustainable outcomes.
Unfortunately, the World Health Organization's nutrition targets are off track. By 2030, in some regions, up to 50% of all adults are expected to be overweight or obese. Hunger and malnutrition could increase by 20% by 2050 without urgent action. The costs of inaction on nutrition are estimated to be US$41 trillion over the next decade.
The story of transforming global food systems for a healthier, sustainable future is related to the SDGs of Hunger (SDG 2), Health (SDG 3), Consumption (SDG 12), and Partnerships (SDG 17). It is also relevant to the regions of Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Global, Middle East, South America, South Asia, Southeast Asia.
Morgan Gillespy, the director of the Food and Land Use Coalition, and Afshan Khan, the assistant secretary-general of the United Nations and coordinator for the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, are leading the charge for change. The Food and Land Use Coalition in Brazil is connecting the food industry, global markets, and family farming to better align local and regional efforts, attract investment, and encourage innovation.
Tools such as front-of-package labelling can help shape food regulatory policies. Food systems account for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, so it's crucial that the food that people eat nourishes, sustains, and protects both people and the planet.
Approximately three billion people worldwide cannot afford a healthy diet. Iron deficiency in women is rising alongside adult malnutrition. The story you are reading was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation. For more context, visit https://www.context.news/.
[1] "Transforming food systems for a healthy and sustainable future." (2021). Food and Land Use Coalition. [2] "Opportunity crops: A key to sustainable agriculture and food security." (2020). International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. [3] "Investing in nutrition: A pathway to a healthier, wealthier, and more equitable world." (2013). World Bank. [5] "Food systems and sustainable development: Facing the challenges of feeding 9 billion people by 2050." (2011). United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
- Embracing diversified diets with nutritious crops, such as legumes, fruits, vegetables, eggs, and small fish, is a potential strategy towards improving global nutrition and reducing malnutrition rates, as they provide essential nutrients and can reduce dependence on staple crops associated with malnutrition and non-communicable diseases.
- To combat micronutrient deficiencies and enhance resilience to climate stress, supporting the cultivation of opportunity crops like nutrient-rich, hardy crops is another crucial strategy, since they help combat hidden hunger.
- Incentivizing farmers and private sector investment to grow nutritious, environmentally sustainable crops, such as legumes that require less fertilizer and provide plant-based protein, is essential for promoting a more sustainable future.
- Transforming food systems to be environmentally sustainable, economically viable, nutritionally adequate, and socially inclusive requires coordinated actions among farmers, governments, civil society, private sectors, and consumers in regions such as Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Global, Middle East, South America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, as this approach could reduce food loss and waste, ensure equitable distribution and access to healthy foods, foster healthy consumption patterns, and implement inclusive governance and supportive policies.
