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Knowledge Centre for Global Food and Nutrition Security

We support the EU global commitment to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition through a dedicated, reinforced science-policy interface and a fostered inter-policy dialogue.

Page | Last updated: 10 Jan 2025

Brief me on "Sustainable Food Systems"

This section will give an overview on the topic and also includes a scientific brief and a knowledge review

The High Level Panel of Experts on Food and Nutrition Security (HLPE) defines in its report  Nutrition and food systems that food systems gather “all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, institutions, etc.) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food, and the output of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes.”

Food systems are characterised by complex interactions between food system actors (e.g. farmers, wholesalers, retailers, consumers) and feedback loops between food system processes (e.g. primary production, food processing, transport, selling).

Food systems are very diverse and range from traditional systems involving few people and short supply chains, to modern food systems, made up of a complex webs of numerous actors and processes. 

The HLPE report states that food environments play an important role for the food choices and diets of people. Food environments consist of the “physical, economic, political and socio-cultural context in which consumers engage with the food system to acquire, prepare and consume food”. In many food systems, the food processing, retail and service sectors are also influencing the options of primary producers and farmers to market their products.

Sustainable food systems contribute to global food security and nutrition in all its dimensions. They are regarded to encompass all pillars of sustainability to deliver the following:

  1. Access to safe and nutritious food for all;
  2. Sustainable healthy diets;
  3. Climate and nature-positive production system (sustainable use of resources, minimizing environmental pollution, maintaining or increasing biodiversity);
  4. Equitable livelihoods for all food system actors and fair value distribution;
  5. Resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses

Today, food systems are largely failing to deliver on these objectives. Large inequalities exist on all dimensions both within and across countries. Globally food insecurity remains high. According to FAO 2.33 billion people are experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. The number of people unable to afford a healthy diet exceeded 2.8 billion in 2022. The Lancet reports that about 1 person in 8 of the global population is obese. 

The global food system contributes about one third of total anthropogenic GHG emissions, and is contributing significantly to the exceedance of several planetary boundaries. Child labour, unfair trading practices and inhumane working conditions prevail in many value chains. Also, gender inequalities are observed along the food systems pervasively at the detriment of women and preventing sustainable food systems outcomes. Adding to the problem, around one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. The transition towards a more sustainable food systems is therefore urgently needed.

Agroecology is increasingly being promoted as a viable approach for the transitions towards sustainable food systems. It involves applying ecological principles to agriculture to ensure a regenerative use of natural resources, while addressing the need for socially and economically equitable food systems.

Similarly, fisheries and aquaculture are seen as a lower footprint production source (compared to agriculture) contributing to global food security and sustainability. Per kilogram of output and compared to livestock production, aquatic animal production systems have a lower carbon footprint and emission of nitrogen and phosphorous are much lower. In addition, the consumption of fish, shellfish and algae contributes to the transition to a healthy and sustainable diet.

To raise global awareness on the urgency of food system transformation, and foster commitments for concrete actions, the Food Systems Summit took place in 2021. With the ambition to carry this historical momentum forward, a UN Food Systems Coordination Hub has been established to support countries in translating their commitments into effective actions to reach sustainable food systems by 2030.