State of the food system at country level
Even if your role is not to conduct a food system analysis, it is critical for you to understand the various components of a food system to inform solutions and coordinate action at UNCT level. Food systems contain multiple components in dynamic interaction with each other and interrelated systems which collectively deliver multiple functions and underlie the problems and weaknesses in food systems. Wanting to transform a system without understanding the most important problems and its components and interconnections relevant to these problems reduces the potential to take effective action to achieve and sustain impact.
The CCA provides a comprehensive framework that can reveal the interconnected challenges of food production, distribution, consumption, and waste management, all linked to critical systems like health, environment, and economic development. It serves as the primary mechanism through which you can understand the specific challenges and opportunities within your country's food system. The specific food system challenges will vary by country, but the CCA framework helps identify common themes. This also allows you to bring together people and institutions who can collaboratively address challenges. At the same time, food systems face many challenges, including:
- Food security and nutrition: Countries face issues with populations struggling to access affordable, nutritious food. Malnutrition, including both undernutrition and obesity, is a major concern. More than three billion people are unable to afford healthy diets, contributing to a "triple burden" of malnutrition. 1
- Inequality and social justice: There are disparities between different communities or social groups and how they are impacted by the food system. Disparities also extend to access to resources and agency, impacting how different groups and communities are able to engage in transforming the food system.
- Food loss and waste: A substantial amount of food is wasted at different stages, increasing resource inefficiency and environmental stress.
- Climate change: Current methods of food production contribute to environmental degradation, water scarcity, or greenhouse gas emissions. Every stage, from agricultural production to processing, distribution, retail, home food preparation, and waste, plays a part.
- Biodiversity loss: Intensive agriculture significantly threatens biodiversity by disrupting natural habitats and decreasing the diversity of plant and animal species. This decline in biodiversity can weaken ecosystems and their resilience, resulting in long-term ecological impacts.
You can refer to section 6 for more insights on food systems challenges.
While understanding the challenges is key, knowing the food system's structure is useful for understanding the environment you are working in, informing solutions, and bringing together the diverse expertise needed to address the complex challenges.
Let us look at key components shown in Figure 3 to consider when engaging with your country’s food system:
- The set of activities of producing/harvesting, processing, distributing, and consuming food and agricultural products that bring food from production to human consumption and disposal or re-use.
- Functions and outcomes. Here we consider food and nutrition security, health, environmental sustainability, economic growth, and social well-being.
- Interconnections, that is, how different parts of the food system interact with each other. The linkages and interactions between actors in the system shape and influence the system’s functioning and behaviour (you can refer to section 3 for more insights on food systems’ stakeholders). Interlinkages not only exist within the food system but beyond, connecting with other systems. These interlinkages influence not only the immediate outcomes of food systems transformation, but also other developmental outcomes linked to identified key transitions.
Figure 3. Agrifood systems: key drivers, activities, outcomes and priority triggers for transformation
Source: FAO. 2022. The future of food and agriculture – Drivers and triggers for transformation. The Future of Food and Agriculture, No. 3. Rome.
https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0959en
Given your role coordinating the different agencies working on food systems, one key element to understand is the interconnections in the system. This involves systems thinking, the practice of visualizing and identifying interactions in systems. Visualizing relationships through simulation software like Vensim can help gain a sense of the relevant interconnections in systems. The tool provides a visual representation of interconnected variables and the impact of changes, allowing users to better understand the issues at stake.
The same approach can be used to brainstorm the relationship between food systems transformation and the six key transitions. Figure 4 demonstrates how addressing a food system issue such as malnutrition can impact different transitions and how causal loop diagrams are developed.
Figure 4. A graphic showing the multifaceted nature of the challenge of malnutrition across the six transitions
Source: Authors' own elaboration
Food Systems Food systems transformation is complex and is faced with a myriad of challenges. One of the challenges we can think of is malnutrition. In dealing with an issue such as malnutrition, it is important to acknowledge its multifaceted nature, deeply entwined with different elements of the food system but also with other systems, such as the complex web of the other key transitions and other agendas.
Energy access and affordability Energy access and affordability influence malnutrition dynamics. Inadequate access to clean and affordable energy slows down food production, processing, storage and preparation, impacting the availability, safety, and nutritional quality of food. Increased malnutrition potentially decreases productivity and the ability to work, resulting in lower income, which again reduces the ability to afford energy, reinforcing a vicious cycle. In Georgia, the UN resident coordinator led the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in carrying out a multidimensional analysis of food and energy prices and their impact on vulnerable people and small businesses to support policy and decision-making in response to the crisis. A new analytical tool will now enable relevant state institutions within the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture to conduct a rapid assessment of the impact of changes in key food and energy prices on vulnerable groups.2 This type of tool gives policymakers a picture of how food and energy price fluctuations impact vulnerable populations, enabling quicker intervention through targeted food-assistance programmes, policy adjustments like subsidies, and support for local food production, ultimately improving access to nutritious food and preventing malnutrition before it takes hold.
Increased digital connectivity Increased digital connectivity can positively impact on different parts of the food system from farm to fork. For example, digital connectivity potentially improves access to information and resources (agriculture, nutrition education, market access), which increases food security and nutritional outcomes and decreases malnutrition. Technologies such as NutVal, Cost of the Diet, and the Partnership for Child Development School Meals Planner support school meal planning by calculating the cost-to-nutritional-content ratio of foods and the combinations of foods required to meet recommended calorie, macro- and micronutrient intakes at the lowest cost. This software has already helped schools in Botswana, Ghana and Nigeria to create nutritionally balanced, market-costed school meals based on recommended nutrient intake (RNI).3 The digital connectivity gap increases inequality in nutritional outcomes, especially for marginalized populations, which increases malnutrition. Increased malnutrition, in turn, decreases resources for education and technology access, perpetuating the digital connectivity gap. This cycle limits opportunities for socioeconomic advancement, particularly among marginalized populations.
Education Education plays a crucial role in mitigating the effects of malnutrition by empowering individuals to make informed choices about health and nutrition, leading to improved nutritional outcomes. For instance, a programme aimed at promoting home and school gardens in Bangladesh, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal and Timor-Leste addressed household food insecurity and malnutrition by integrating nutrition into the school curriculum and supporting the use of garden-based learning for schoolchildren. These children gained practical skills and knowledge in food production, nutrition, and environmental conservation, which they could then apply in their family and neighbourhood home gardens.4 This initiative not only enhanced nutritional outcomes, but also contributed to environmental sustainability by teaching children sustainable farming techniques. Improved nutrition enhances children's cognitive abilities, enabling them to achieve their goals and secure employment, thus also contributing to social protection by increasing their employability.
Jobs and social protection Increased malnutrition hinders cognitive development, which reduces educational attainment, resulting in job insecurity and lack of social protection, perpetuating a cycle of poverty, increased risk of malnutrition, and poor health. Malnutrition frequently correlates with poverty, as families facing financial struggles may encounter difficulties in accessing sufficient or nourishing food. Social protection programmes can serve as a safety net, furnishing families with the necessary resources to afford a nutritious diet. For example, a conditional cash transfer programme in the Philippines reduced severe stunting in children aged 3–6 months.5
Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution Events such as droughts, floods and heatwaves have a detrimental impact on agricultural production. Droughts parch fertile lands, floods devastate crops, and heatwaves diminish yields. This volatility disrupts food supply chains, resulting in shortages and price hikes, thereby rendering nutritious food less accessible, especially for vulnerable populations. Mitigating climate risks can help reduce malnutrition in various ways. For example, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, the World Food Programme (WFP) equips refugee and host communities with fuel-efficient stoves so they can cook nutritious foods safely and adequately. Households receive an e-voucher top-up to cover the cost of refuelling stoves, mitigating several protection, nutrition, health and environmental concerns, while increasing the intake of fresh foods and vegetables. This initiative not only addresses immediate nutritional needs but also promotes sustainable practices, ultimately curbing malnutrition in the community. In a different example, a circular bioeconomy project in Côte d’Ivoire is using black soldier fly larvae to convert food waste into organic fertilizer and to provide protein for poultry, pig and fish feed. This efficient food waste management system enhances sustainable agricultural production, creates green jobs, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.6
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