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The future of food and agriculture - Trends and challenges











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Last updated 21/03/2022



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    The Future of food and agriculture: Trends and challenges—Overview 2017

    This is a brief executive summary of the report of the same name, The future of food and agriculture

    The purpose of this report is to increase understanding of the nature of the challenges that agriculture and food systems are facing now and will face into the 21st century. Its analysis of 15 global trends provides insights into what is at stake and what needs to be done. Most of the trends a re strongly interdependent and, combined, inform a set of 10 challenges to achieving food security and nutrition for all and making agriculture sustainable. ‘Business-as-usual’ is not an option. Major transformations in agricultural systems, rural economies and natural resource management will be needed if we are to realize the full potential of food and agriculture to ensure a secure and healthy future for all people and the entire planet.

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    The future of food and agriculture – Drivers and triggers for transformation 2022
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    This report aims at inspiring strategic thinking and actions to transform agrifood systems towards a sustainable, resilient and inclusive future, by building on both previous reports in the same series as well as on a comprehensive corporate strategic foresight exercise that also nurtured FAO Strategic Framework 2022–31. It analyses major drivers of agrifood systems and explores how their trends could determine alternative futures of agrifood, socioeconomic and environmental systems. The fundamental message of this report is that it is still possible to push agrifood systems along a pattern of sustainability and resilience, if key “triggers” of transformation are properly activated. However, strategic policy options to activate them will have to “outsmart” vested interests, hidden agendas and conflicting objectives, and trade off short-term unsustainable achievements for longer-term sustainability, resilience and inclusivity.
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    The future of food and agriculture: Drivers and triggers for transformation
    Summary version
    2022
    This is the summary version of the FAO corporate report "The future of food and agriculture – Drivers and triggers for transformation", which aims at inspiring strategic thinking and actions to transform agrifood systems towards a sustainable, resilient and inclusive future, by building on both previous reports in the same series as well as on a comprehensive corporate strategic foresight exercise that also nurtured FAO Strategic Framework 2022–31. It analyses major drivers of agrifood systems and explores how their trends could determine alternative futures of agrifood, socioeconomic and environmental systems. The fundamental message of this report is that it is still possible to push agrifood systems along a pattern of sustainability and resilience, if key “triggers” of transformation are properly activated. However, strategic policy options to activate them will have to “outsmart” vested interests, hidden agendas and conflicting objectives, and trade off short-term unsustainable achievements for longer-term sustainability, resilience and inclusivity.

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    Stories of change: Building competence and confidence in agricultural innovation 2019
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    This book tells stories. Stories from very many people. Stories of change – triggered by this complex project, Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS). The stories relate to changes. Personal change. Organizational change. Changes in attitudes. Changes in practice. They tell of improvements in livelihoods. But more importantly, they tell of positive and appreciated changes in individual and organizational approaches – in how people see things and do things. They give some examples of the rich learning experiences stimulated by the CDAIS project, but of course don’t show them all. Also, each is only a ‘snapshot’ – having been written and published on www. cdais.net at different times over the past 12 months, though some have been updated, others show where people were at that point in time. But they all show how competence – but perhaps more importantly – confidence – amongst those involved has changed. Though the main aim of the CDAIS project was to test how and in what ways the approach used worked (or didn’t work), how it could be improved, and in what ways the results could help donors when deciding on the design of future projects. But this is not the purpose of this book. Other publications will explain that in detail. This book just tells stories, with images and testimonies from the field. The ‘end users’, ‘beneficiaries’ or whatever other impersonal terms some in ‘development’ want to call them – the people – here, they air their views. In context. Honestly. Frankly. And, as it seems, positively. But this would not have been possible without the great efforts of very many people. First and foremost are the 40 contributors we have supported – almost all ‘national innovation facilitators’ trained by CDAIS to implement innovation in agricultural systems, to collect these stories. And we are so very proud of their achievements, and the help provided by many others within Agrinatura, national partner organisations, and others in the partnerships concerned. And even after working in rural development for 30 years, some of these experiences have moved us deeply. We are seeing real change. Of that there is no doubt. “Other projects bring us machines, but CDAIS brings us knowledge and a new way of working together” was a common thread to many of the conversations. “And thanks to that it has helped us so much. Thank you.” I visited six of the eight pilot countries during the preparation of this work, so can vouch personally, for many of the testimonies. And as for seeing the faces of those as they spoke the words that are included in the book, the photographs can’t do them justice. I saw the impacts. And now you can seen them too. Enjoy! Nick Pasiecznik, editor
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    The future of food and agriculture – Alternative pathways to 2050 2018
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    The report 'The future of food and agriculture – Alternative pathways to 2050' explores three different scenarios for the future of food and agriculture, based on alternative trends for key drivers, such as income growth and distribution, population growth, technical progress in agriculture, and climate change. Building on the report 'The future of food and agriculture – Trends and challenges', this publication provides scenario-based quantitative projections to 2050 for food and agriculture. Quantitative evidence and qualitative assessments, shed light on possible strategic options for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of eradicating hunger, improving nutrition and ensuring that food and agricultural sectors become economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.
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    Technical book
    Climate change and food security: risks and responses 2015
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    End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition are at the heart of the sustainable development goals. The World has committed to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2030. But climate change is undermining the livelihoods and food security of the rural poor, who constitute almost 80 percent of the world’s poor. The effects of climate change on our ecosystems are already severe and widespread. Climate change brings a cascade of impacts from agroecosystems to livelihoods. Climate change impacts directly agroecosystems, which in turn has a potential impact on agricultural production, which drives economic and social impacts, which impact livelihoods. In other words, impacts translate from climate to the environment, to the productive sphere, to economic and social dimensions. Therefore, ensuring food security in the face of climate change is among the most daunting challenges facing humankind. Action is urgently needed now to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience of food systems to ensure food security and good nutrition for all.