A new global food system for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals are charting a path towards meeting current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Over half of the SDGs relate to global food security and nutrition , including the goals that relate to poverty, gender equality, water and sanitation, responsible production and consumption, and climate change. The global food system needs to be reshaped to achieve a whole range of SDGs. While it feeds seven billion people, it leaves 795 million people hungry, about two billion micronutrient deficient, and over 600 million obese. It does not generate adequate livelihoods for millions of people employed in the food system. And it is not environmentally sustainable. The 2016 Global Food Policy Report , a flagship publication of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) proposes key policy options to achieve the SDGs through a new global food system. This new global food system should be efficient, inclusive, climate-smart, sustainable, nutrition- and health-driven, and business-friendly. What should a productive and efficient global food system look like? It should produce more food using the fewest resources possible. We need to close the 70 percent gap between the food needed to feed 9.7 billion people...

Written by Shenggen Fan