Sustainable Food Systems
Adequate nutrition is essential for health and well-being. Every person on this planet has the right to safe, sufficient and nutritious food and to be free from hunger. Yet, undernourished is rampant. Even when food is available and accessible, the nutrient quality of the food is often poor and people’s diets are often inadequate, monotonous and unbalanced. The result is a high prevalence of various forms of malnutrition that co-exist within most countries. Stunting and wasting are underlying causes of death in children under five, micronutrient deficiencies in particular vitamin A, iodine, iron and zinc affect over two billion people, and overweight and obesity have been increasing rapidly worldwide, affecting all population groups.
Aware and concerned about these facts, 164 Members of FAO and WHO attended the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), co-organized by FAO and WHO, in Rome, in November 2014. They were joined by 164 civil society and private sector organizations as well as other UN and intergovernmental organizations.
According to the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, a food system “gathers all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, instructions, etc.) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food, and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes.
At the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), it was universally acknowledged that current food systems are being increasingly challenged to provide adequate, safe, diversified and nutritious food for all that contribute to healthy diets. The Conference adopted the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and its Framework for Action, committing to “enhance sustainable food systems by developing coherent public policies from production to consumption across relevant sectors to provide year-round access to food that meets people’s nutrition needs and promote safe and diversified healthy diet.”
One year later, in September 2015, at the historical global summit, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted to guide global development through 2030 while ensuring that no one would be left behind. The SDG Goal “to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” as well as many other SDG goals reiterate and reinforce the commitments made at ICN2. Further building momentum for nutrition, the Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016 to 2025) was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2016, following the recommendation of the ICN2. Its Action Areas focuses on food systems for healthy, sustainable diets. Find out more about the Nutrition Decade here.
The Decade of Action creates an enabling political environment for turning commitments made into action but countries need further technical support in order to do that. FAO and WHO propose to hold an International Symposium on 1-2 December, 2016 to focus mainly on illustrating solutions to implement food systems related ICN2 Framework for Action recommendations. Participants will include government officials with policy-making and programme-design mandates coming from Health and Agriculture ministries.
Latest content relevant to Sustainable Food Systems
School Nutrition Inventory
20/12/2020 - School Nutrition Inventory, edition 1-2020 Schools offer an opportune and favorable setting to accelerate action and contribute to the systemic action required to end malnutrition in all its forms. [...]
Our Basic Texts: “Raising levels of nutrition” - FAO’s contribution to global nutrition
14/12/2020 - Monday 14th December, 15:00-17:00 CETRegister HereFull Agenda available here. Interpretation will be provided in English, French and Spanish. FAO was established 75 years ago as the first [...]
3rd Global Conference of the SFS Programme: Achieving the SDGs through food systems transformation - on the road to the Food Systems Summit 2021
25/11/2020 - 25, 26, 27, 30 November and 1, 3 December 2020 Register here The 3rd Global Conference of the Sustainable Food Systems Programme will be held virtually. The purpose of this 3rd [...]
The UN Food System Summit
19/10/2020 - In 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a Food Systems Summit as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit will [...]
Nutrition-sensitive investments in agriculture and food systems. Budget analysis guidance note
23/09/2020 - This publication outlines methods and actions for countries to monitor nutrition-related spending. It will contribute to understanding the importance and opportunities for countries to use costing and [...]
COVID-19 pandemic: The evolving impact on how people meet the food system
28/05/2020 - For more than two months now, the world has been living in semi-confinement and the world’s economy moving in slow motion due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Both the disease and the measures [...]
2020 Global Food Policy Report: Building Inclusive Food Systems
07/04/2020 - Food systems are evolving quickly to meet growing and changing demand, but they are not serving everyone’s needs. IFPRI’s flagship report looks at the obstacles and opportunities as well [...]
Ag2Nut discussion on COVID-19, food systems, and interaction with malnutrition
02/04/2020 - Thursday 2 April 2020Time (1hour): 10:00a NY/Boston, 3:00p London, 4:00p Rome, 5:00p Addis, 7:30p Delhi With COVID-19 dominating the news, is it a priority to think about agriculture, food systems [...]
International Symposium: Sustainable food systems - Going beyond food security
07/02/2020 - 7-8 February 2020Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Organisers: Food Systems 2020, Justus Liebig University Giessen www.foodsystems2020.de The symposium addresses the challenge of [...]
Policy Seminar - Food Systems Dashboard: How it will work
27/01/2020 - Monday, 27 January 202012:15 pm to 1:45 pm (EST)IFPRI (Washington, DC) IFPRI, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and [...]
