Perspective article: Actions to reconfigure food systems

Loboguerrero, Ana María; Thornton, Philip K.; Wadsworth, Jonathan; Campbell, Bruce M.; Herrero, Mario; Mason-D’Croz, Daniel; Dinesh, Dhanush; Huyer, Sophia; Jarvis, Andy; Millan, Alberto; Wollenberg, Eva K.; Zebiak, Stephen E.

doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100432

Cited by 30 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Food system sustainability frameworks are often designed to shed light on such complex dynamics in food systems and to facilitate the informed dialogue and negotiation necessary for the design of integrated food policies ( Weaver and Jordan, 2008 ). Given the plurality of perspectives to achieving transformation in food systems ( Béné et al, 2019b ; Herrero et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Klerkx and Begemann, 2020 ; Klerkx and Rose, 2020 ; Leach et al, 2020 ; Loboguerrero et al, 2020 ; Rose et al, 2021 ) and the growing urgency to manage trade-offs ( Oliver et al, 2018 ; Zurek et al, 2021 ), it is vital that such frameworks accommodate evaluation of ‘directionality’ and ‘reflexivity’ ( Kugelberg et al, 2021 ; TEEB 2018 ) to support decision making for equitable sustainability strategies ( Leach et al, 2010 ; Patterson et al, 2017 ). Interest to design sustainability policies for food systems continues to grow among actors representing countries and regions ( Global Alliance for the Future of Food, 2021 ; Global Panel, 2020 ; IPES-Food and ETC Group, 2021 ; UN Food Systems Summit, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Hebinck

Zurek

Achterbosch

et al. 2021

Global Food Security

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Growing acknowledgement that food systems require transformation, demands comprehensive sustainability assessments that can support decision-making and sustainability governance. To do so, assessment frameworks must be able to make trade-offs and synergies visible and allow for inclusive negotiation on food system outcomes relevant to diverse food system actors. This paper reviews literature and frameworks and builds on stakeholder input to present a Sustainability Compass made up of a comprehensive set of metrics for food system assessments. The Compass defines sustainability scores for four societal goals, underpinned by areas of concern. We demonstrate proof of concept of the operationalization of the approach and its metrics. The Sustainability Compass is able to generate comprehensive food system insights that enables reflexive evaluation and multi-actor negotiation for policy making.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Hebinck

Zurek

Achterbosch

et al. 2021

Global Food Security

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“…Achieving food security in the face of accelerating food demand, competition for depleting resources, and the failing ability of the environment to buffer increasing anthropogenic impacts is now widely seen as the foremost challenge of our time [1]. Current food systems are not on a sustainable trajectory that will enable us to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and major failures are related to production and nutritional targets, inclusivity, and environmental footprint [2]. Moreover, climate change is one among a set of interconnected trends and risks facing agriculture and food systems [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, climate change is one among a set of interconnected trends and risks facing agriculture and food systems [3]. According to Loboguerrero et al [2], in relation to climate resilient food systems, we are falling short on taking the actions needed to limit global warming and we may be on track to a 3.1-3.7 • C warmer world, which is over the target of the Paris agreement and would be disastrous for food systems [4]. Indeed, Meyers et al [5] reported that the world is now facing growing constraints in our capacity to appropriate new land, new water, or new fisheries to meet the growing food demands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming Food Systems in Africa under Climate Change Pressure: Role of Climate-Smart Agriculture

Zougmoré

Läderach

Campbell³

2021

Sustainability

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Low-income producers and consumers of food in Africa are more vulnerable to climate change, owing to their comparatively limited ability to invest in more adapted institutions and technologies under increasing climatic risks. Therefore, the way we manage our food systems needs to be urgently changed if the goal is to achieve food security and sustainable development more quickly. This review paper analyzes the nexus “climate-smart agriculture-food systems-sustainable development” in order to draw sound ways that could allow rapid transformation of food systems in the context of climate change pressure. We followed an integrative review approach based on selected concrete example-experiences from ground-implemented projects across Africa (Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, in West Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania in East Africa). Mostly composed of examples from the Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) Research Program of the CGIAR (former Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) and its partners, these also included ground initiatives from non-CGIAR that could provide demonstrable conditions for a transformative agriculture and food systems. The lessons learnt from the ground implementation of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), in the African context, were instrumental to informing the actions areas of the food-system transformation framework suggested in this paper (reroute, de-risk, reduce, and realign). Selected CSA example-cases to inform these action areas included 24 initiatives across Africa, but with a focus on the following studies for an in-depth analysis: (1) the climate-smart village approach to generate knowledge on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices for their scaling, (2) the use of climate information services (CIS) to better manage climate variability and extremes, and (3) the science–policy interfacing to mainstream CSA into agricultural development policies and plans. The analysis of these examples showed that CSA can contribute driving a rapid change of food systems in Africa through: (1) the implementation of relevant climate-smart technologies and practices to reroute farming and rural livelihoods to new climate-resilient and low-emission trajectories; (2) the development and application of weather and climate information services (WCIS) that support de-risking of livelihoods, farms, and value chains in the face of increasing vagaries of weather and extreme events; (3) the use of climate-smart options that minimize waste of all the natural resources used for growing, processing, packaging, transporting, and marketing food, and therefore mitigating the carbon footprint attached to this food loss and waste; and (4) the realignment of policies and finance that facilitate action in the four proposed action areas through the identification of news ways to mobilize sustainable finance and create innovative financial mechanisms and delivery channels.

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“…We do this by examining CCAFS' efforts to enhance credibility, salience and legitimacy in knowledge generation for its key stakeholders. We aim to provide insights relevant for theories of institutional design (e.g., Biermann, 2007;Young et al, 2008;Ostrom, 2011), not only for the benefit of the CGIAR, but also the wider knowledge system for agriculture under climate change, as there has been increasing focus on transforming knowledge systems to catalyze a transformation in food systems (Fanzo et al, 2020;Herrero et al, 2020;Klerkx and Begemann, 2020;Loboguerrero et al, 2020). We also aim to contribute to the literature on sciencepolicy engagement, addressing a prominent knowledge gap, being the systematic empirical study of knowledge systems for sustainable development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Changing Climate for Knowledge Generation in Agriculture: Lessons to Institutionalize Science-Policy Engagement

Dinesh¹,

Hegger²,

Vervoort³

et al. 2021

Front. Clim.

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Effective science-policy engagement efforts are crucial to accelerate climate action. Such efforts should be underpinned by high-quality knowledge generation that enhances salience, credibility and legitimacy of research results. This is particularly important for the agricultural sector. Agriculture has been identified as a priority for climate action. The sector also constitutes well-established institutions set up to help achieve food and nutrition security. Institutionalizing high quality knowledge generation for climate change adaptation within these institutions presents a major opportunity to catalyze climate action within the sector. To contribute to insights about this institutionalization, we draw on and develop Cash et al.'s 2002 success conditions for enhancing salience, credibility and legitimacy: (1) increased accountability, (2) use of boundary objects, (3) participation across the boundary, (4) mediation and a selectively permeable boundary, (5) translation, and (6) coordination and complementary expertise. We examine how these success conditions apply in a major global case of agricultural research for development under climate change: the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). We explore these success conditions in the wider context of CGIAR reform and response to climate change as the international system for Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D). Our results specify and confirm the practical relevance of the six success conditions for institutional design and reform, but also point to the need to complement these with two inductively-derived success conditions: effective leadership and presence of incentives. To institutionalize these success conditions among AR4D institutions, there is an urgent need to create a conducive environment that enables the development of context-specific science-policy engagement strategies, along with leadership development and efforts to break traditional disciplinary silos which constrain user-oriented knowledge production.

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Perspective article: Actions to reconfigure food systems

Cited by 30 publications

References 16 publications

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Transforming Food Systems in Africa under Climate Change Pressure: Role of Climate-Smart Agriculture

A Changing Climate for Knowledge Generation in Agriculture: Lessons to Institutionalize Science-Policy Engagement

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