Commentary [Volume 21 No. 7 (2021)]

Very simply, what do we mean by Food Systems?

The September 2021 Food Systems Summit to be convened by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres will be part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems.To better understand what is meant here by Food Systems, and how different the actions from this summit are likely to be from past summits, visit a brief by Hanh Nguyen (Value Chain Development Consultant of the Sustainable Markets, Agribusiness and Rural Transformations Team, FAO), whose concept and “why the summit?” are both very well captured.

The summit is meant to generate actionable steps that will implement and bring to life the SDGs. We had the MDGs for 15 years (2000 to 2015) and now we have the SDGs for another 15 years (2016 to 2030).There is plenty of food grown in the world. Even though a lot is wasted, there still is plenty to cater for everyone. The concern is: what will have been achieved in the totality of 30 years to reduce human suffering in form of poverty, hunger and malnutrition?

Many have too much food, and even overconsume while thousands of millions have been left with inadequate diets—deficient in calories, vitamins, minerals and/or amino acids. According to FAO, before COVID-19 struck, an estimated 750 million people (10% of world’s population) were affected by “severe food insecurity,” and 690 million were “hungry.” “Hungry” means lack of sufficient purchasing power to access even 1,800 calories per day, not enough for an adult to put in a medium level of physical activity [1]. So, we ask ourselves: What difference will the upcoming summit make? Or will it be just another one of the same, where lofty promises are made, and nothing is achieved? Goal 17 in the SDGs, on PARTNERSHIPS is one goal that excites me; it is different. The summit will, through this goal, remind us that we must work together to transform the food systems: the way we produce, consume and think about food. It has been described as a people’s summit, for everyone everywhere. It is also a solutions summit that will require everyone to take action to transform the world’s food systems.

1. FAO. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020.

Ruth Oniang'o
Editor-in-Chief, AJFAND

 

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