To transform the global food system and feed the world sustainably, start at the local level

In a recent meeting with a developing country policy maker, I was asked which among a flurry of recently-published global reports on achieving food and nutrition security would be best for her county to adopt as a road map for reform. Who, she asked, will be translating the global paradigms outlined in these reports—focused on sustainably feeding a global population by 2050—into policies and programs specific to her country context?

The reports outline overarching strategies for food system transformation and address several related concerns: Reducing all forms of malnutrition, sustainable use of natural resources, achieving high productivity and profitability of farming systems, reducing the drudgery of farm work, equality for women, engaging rural youth in agribusinesses, and other objectives. Importantly, all these reports agree that food system transformation is the core issue at hand. They also agree that political will and a good policy environment are needed to achieve it. On the food production side, they collectively call for action at the farm and community levels; on the consumption side, for achieving nutritional well-being at the individual level.

Photo: Melissa Cooperman/IFPRI