This paper focuses on the key role of science, research, and innovation to accelerate the transformation to healthier, more sustainable, more equitable, and more resilient food systems.

First, science generates the basic inputs for innovations, i.e. policy and institutional innovations as well as technology-based innovations to catalyze, support, and accelerate food systems transformation.

Secondly, science scrutinizes actions, i.e. assessing ambitions, targets and actions on pathways toward reaching them, for instance by quantitative analyses and food systems modelling.

The Brief stresses that policy innovations, institutional innovations, and technology innovations are closely connected and actually need to be pursued in an integrated approach.

The Brief notes the need for systems innovations, not only single-issue innovations, and calls on the science communities to commit to enhanced collaboration among different disciplines of sciences to this end, in particular social sciences, natural sciences, and health-related sciences.

Drawing on a comprehensive food systems framework, actions for seven science-driven innovations are elaborated in this paper:

1. Innovations to end hunger and increase availability and affordability of healthy diets and nutritious foods – this bundle partly draws on the six science and innovation actions below.

2. Innovations to de-risk food systems and strengthen resilience, in particular for negative emission farming and climate-resilient food systems.

3. Innovations to overcome inefficient and unfair land, credit, and labor arrangements, and to facilitate inclusion of and empowerment and rights of women and youth.

4. Bioscience and digital innovations for improving peoples’ health, enhancing systems’ productivity, and restoring ecological wellbeing

5. Innovations to keep –and where needed, regenerate-productive soils, water and landscapes, and to protect the agricultural genetic base and biodiversity

6. Innovations for sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, and protection of coastal areas and oceans

7. Engineering and digital innovations for efficiency and inclusiveness of food systems and empowerment of rural communities.

These innovations and their related goal-oriented actions do not exist in silos; there are synergies and trade-offs between them that must be considered in order to maximize the system-wide effectiveness and efficiency of proposed innovations and actions.

Fundamental conditions essential to enable and leverage food systems transformation to achieve the objectives include peace and security, and related diplomatic and security policies; full inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable populations, with special attention to indigenous peoples; gender equity; sound governance at all levels from community to local, national and international; and supportive global and national policies for public goods, such as climate policies and trade regimes.

Food systems transformations require private and public investments at scale, and that means there is an important role for innovation in financing. The Brief proposes, as a key food systems science policy target, that governments allocate at least 1% of their agricultural GDP to food systems science and innovation, with the perspective of exceeding that target. Least developed countries (LDCs) should be assisted in reaching quickly the equivalent of this target.

Investments in capacity for science and innovation need to expand, with more attention to strengthening local research capacities, developing more inclusive, transparent, and equitable science partnerships, and addressing intellectual property rights issues where they hinder innovations that can serve food and nutrition security, food safety, and sustainability goals.

Food systems science and food systems policy need a stronger framework for constructive and evidence-based interaction for moving ahead, not just for the Food Systems Summit 2021 but for its follow up and in the long term. The paper calls for innovation and strengthening of the science-policy interface at national and international levels where these interfaces get connected and can be served with a strong, trusted, and independent voice for science-informed and evidence-based food systems actions.