This report focuses on four pathways for creating the incentives needed to transform food systems:

• Repurposing public investment and policies pathway. Policies and regulatory frameworks can be reformed to provide positive incentives for those in the food system to produce food that is healthy for people and the planet

• Business model innovation pathway. Companies can redesign business models to prioritize environmental, social and financial outcomes

• Institutional investment pathway. Investors can set higher standards with respect to how companies target environmental and social outcomes alongside financial returns

• Consumer behavioural change pathway. Consumers can shift their demand to environmentally and socially responsible nutritious products

The report provides a case study focused on incentivizing farmers to adopt practices that reduce GHG emissions. Adopting such practices could lead to a reduction of agriculture emissions by around 30%. The case focuses on possible incentive solutions for farmers: funds and carbon markets to encourage investors to invest in required transitions; business model innovations to redirect corporate profit to encourage change; and policy changes to shift farmers’ behaviour.

Realigning incentives for food systems using the four pathways requires individual, coordinated and collective action. Five action areas can help the global community incentivize transformation.

First, there needs to be alignment from actors on a vision for food systems that meet the needs of people and planet.

Second, there needs to be a focus on identifying scalable models and approaches across the four incentive pathways that participants in the food system can rally around for learning and prototyping in the pursuit of improvement and replication.

Third, transformation requires systems leadership and coordinated action by diverse groups of stakeholders to cultivate a shared vision for change, empower widespread innovation and action and enable mutual accountability to accomplish systems change.

Fourth, collective country-level actions will be important in establishing and implementing an incentives agenda.

Lastly, this will be complemented by collective action at the global and regional level including building consensus, resolving cross-border challenges and developing new partnerships and business models that manage risk and improve capital flows and investment outcomes.