The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) requested that the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) develop a report leading to a set of focused and action-oriented policy recommendations to build resilient food systems in the face of growing vulnerabilities. The resulting report is based on the most recent academic literature, scientific findings and policy debates.

This report introduces the notion of Equitably Transformative Resilience (ETR) to guide the direction of change, as illustrated on figure 1 below.

The report stresses that Planning and action towards ETR must happen long before the occurrence of a shock and should address the underlying stresses facing individuals, communities, food systems and the environment.

The report stresses that interventions to build ETR must have three characteristics:

• First, they reduce the probability and impacts of future shocks, by:
  • simultaneously strengthening equity for all actors in all the stages of food systems;
  • relying on synergies between socioeconomic and ecological systems; and
  • being inclusive and advancing the right to food.
• Second, they prepare food systems and actors for future and uncertain shocks as they:
  • promote diversity of actors throughout food systems;
  • systematically anticipate what risks or shocks might become important and why, and prepare for these as part of anticipatory governance;
  • introduce fallback options that can alleviate the impact of shocks, if needed; and
  • manage stresses that impair resilience or exacerbate the effects of shocks by eliminating, mitigating or allowing for positive adaptation to those stresses.
• Third, they provide stronger foundations and enable the capacity of food systems and actors for swift, equitable responses in the event of shocks such as emergencies.

The report details specific recommendations, grouped into the following four thematic areas: