This year, the update to the global assessment of food security and nutrition reflects a particular moment in history. While the pandemic, the ensuing economic rebound, the war in Ukraine, and soaring prices of food, agricultural inputs and energy have all played out differently across regions with differing impacts, new estimates indicate hunger is no longer on the rise at the global level but is still far above pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels and far off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.
As past editions of this report have highlighted, the intensification of the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition – conflict, climate extremes, economic slowdowns and downturns, and growing inequality – often occurring in combination, is challenging our efforts to achieve the SDGs. There is no question these threats will continue, requiring that we remain steadfast to build resilience against them. However, there are still important megatrends that must be fully understood when devising policies to meet the SDG 2 targets.
One such megatrend, and the focus of this year’s report, is urbanization. As urbanization increases, rural and urban areas are becoming more intertwined, and the spatial distinction between them is becoming more fluid. The changing pattern of population agglomerations across this rural–urban continuum is driving changes throughout agrifood systems, creating both challenges and opportunities to ensure everyone has access to affordable healthy diets.
After presenting the latest updates of the food security and nutrition situation around the world, the report then examines the drivers, patterns and dynamics of urbanization through a rural–urban continuum lens and presents new analysis on how urbanization is changing food supply and demand across the rural–urban continuum. Complementing this, further analyses for selected countries explore differences in the cost and affordability of a healthy diet, and in food insecurity and different forms of malnutrition across the rural–urban continuum.
Building on these insights, the report identifies policies, investments and new technologies to address the challenges, and capitalize on the opportunities, that urbanization brings for ensuring access to affordable healthy diets for everyone, across the rural–urban continuum.
Food security and nutrition around the world
Food security indicators – latest updates and progress towards ending hunger and ensuring food security
The global assessment of the state of food security and nutrition in 2022 is a snapshot of the world still recovering from a global pandemic and now grappling with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, which has rattled food and energy markets. Encouraging signs of economic recovery from the pandemic and projections of a decline in poverty and hunger have been tempered by rising food and energy prices.
Global hunger in 2022, measured by the prevalence of undernourishment (SDG Indicator 2.1.1), remained far above pre-pandemic levels. The proportion of the world population facing chronic hunger in 2022 was about 9.2 percent, compared with 7.9 percent in 2019. After increasing sharply in 2020 in the midst of the global pandemic, and rising more slowly in 2021 to 9.3 percent, the prevalence of undernourishment ceased to increase from 2021 to 2022. It is estimated that hunger affected between 691 million and 783 million people in the world in 2022. Considering the projected midrange (about 735 million in 2022), 122 million more people faced hunger in 2022 than in 2019, before the pandemic.
The economic recovery from the pandemic helped to stem the rising tide of hunger at least at the global level. However, the positive effect could have been even larger without the countervailing winds caused by the global repercussions of the war in Ukraine and rising prices of food, agricultural inputs and energy, together with other drivers of food insecurity such as conflicts and weather-related events.
The relative lack of change in hunger at the global level from 2021 to 2022 hides substantial differences at the regional level. Progress was made towards reducing hunger in most subregions in Asia and in Latin America, but hunger is still on the rise in Western Asia, the Caribbean and all subregions of Africa. The proportion of the population facing hunger is much larger in Africa compared with the other regions of the world – nearly 20 percent compared with 8.5 percent in Asia, 6.5 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 7.0 percent in Oceania.
Updated projections show that almost 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, pointing to the immense challenge of achieving the SDG target to eradicate hunger. This is about 119 million more undernourished people than in a scenario in which neither the pandemic nor the war in Ukraine had occurred, and around 23 million more than in a scenario in which the war had not happened.
SDG Target 2.1 challenges the world not only to end hunger, but also to work to ensure access for all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. SDG Indicator 2.1.2 – the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) – tracks progress towards this ambitious goal.
New estimates of the prevalence of food insecurity based on the FIES confirm that for 2022 no progress was made on food insecurity at the global level. Following a sharp increase from 2019 to 2020, the global prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity remained unchanged for the second year in a row, far above pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels. In 2022, an estimated 29.6 percent of the global population – 2.4 billion people – were moderately or severely food insecure, meaning they did not have access to adequate food. This is still 391 million more people than in 2019, before the pandemic.
The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity rose slightly in Africa and in Northern America and Europe, and decreased non-significantly in Asia from 2021 to 2022. The only region showing encouraging progress was Latin America and the Caribbean, mainly in South America, although the food security situation deteriorated in the Caribbean subregion.
A comparison of food insecurity in rural, peri-urban and urban populations at the global, regional and subregional levels using the Degree of Urbanization (DEGURBA) classification, a new international standard, shows that at the global level, food security improves as the degree of urbanization increases. Moderate or severe food insecurity affected 33.3 percent of adults living in rural areas in 2022 compared with 28.8 percent in peri-urban areas and 26.0 percent in urban areas.
Persistent gender inequalities are revealed by the new FIES data. Food insecurity is more prevalent among adult women than men in every region of the world, although the gap narrowed considerably at the global level from 2021 to 2022. In 2022, 27.8 percent of adult women were moderately or severely food insecure, compared with 25.4 percent of men, and the proportion of women facing severe food insecurity was 10.6 percent compared with 9.5 percent of men.
Cost and affordability of a healthy diet
The revised analysis presented in this year’s report shows that almost 3.2 billion people worldwide could not afford a healthy diet in 2020, with a slight improvement in 2021 (a decrease of 52 million people). The cost of a healthy diet increased globally by 6.7 percent between 2019 and 2021, with a notable single-year increase of 4.3 percent in 2021. The cost increased by more than 5 percent between 2020 and 2021 in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania, but only marginally in Northern America and Europe.
In many countries, the increase in the cost of a healthy diet occurred in combination with a decline in disposable income following the persisting effects of the pandemic. Lockdowns, economic downturns, and other pandemic-related disruptions in 2020 led to job losses and reduced incomes for many people, affecting low-income households the most as they spend a higher share of income on food.
A slight turnaround occurred in 2021, when the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet declined by 52 million compared to 2020, but this is still 134 million more people than in 2019 before the pandemic. Most of the people unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021 lived in Southern Asia, and in Eastern and Western Africa.
The state of nutrition: progress towards global nutrition targets
Nutrition is mentioned specifically in SDG 2 but is central to the achievement of all 17 SDGs. This section presents an assessment of progress towards global nutrition targets for stunting, wasting and overweight among children under five years of age, exclusive breastfeeding and low birthweight. Updated data were not available for anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years and for adult obesity.
Stunting, the condition of being too short for one’s age, undermines the physical and cognitive development of children. Stunting and other forms of undernutrition early in life may also predispose children to being overweight and developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) later in life. Globally, the prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age has declined steadily, from an estimated 33.0 percent (204.2 million) in 2000 to 22.3 percent (148.1 million) in 2022.
Child wasting is a life-threatening condition caused by insufficient nutrient intake, poor nutrient absorption and/or frequent or prolonged illness. Affected children are dangerously thin, with weakened immunity and a higher risk of mortality. The prevalence of wasting among children under five years of age declined from 8.7 percent in 2000 to 6.8 percent in 2022. The estimated number of children with wasting declined from 54.1 million in 2000 to 45.0 million in 2022.
Children who are overweight or obese face both immediate and potentially long-term health impacts, including a higher risk of NCDs later in life. Child overweight has been on the rise in many countries, hastened by increasingly inadequate levels of physical activity and increased access to highly processed foods. Globally, the prevalence of overweight among children under five years of age showed a non-significant increase from 5.3 percent (33.0 million) in 2000 to 5.6 percent (37.0 million) in 2022.
The latest estimate for low birthweight revealed that 14.7 percent of newborns (19.8 million) were born with low birthweight (less than 2 500 g) in 2020, a non-significant decline from the 16.6 percent (22.1 million) in 2000. Infants born weighing less than 2 500 g are approximately 20 times more likely to die than those with adequate birthweight, and those who survive face long-term development and health consequences.
Optimal breastfeeding practices, including exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, are critical for child survival and the promotion of health and cognitive development. Globally, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding among infants under six months of age has risen from 37.0 percent (24.3 million) in 2012 to 47.7 percent (31.2 million) in 2021. Worldwide, over half of all infants under six months of age did not receive the protective benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.
Low- and lower-middle-income countries bear the greatest burden of stunting, wasting and low birthweight but also have the largest proportion of exclusively breastfed children. Most overweight children live in these country income groups. At the global level, the prevalence of stunting and wasting was higher in rural areas than in urban areas while overweight was more commonly found in urban areas.
The results from these analyses help to identify vulnerable population groups, contributing to evidence to inform decision-making and effective action through the appropriate targeting and design of policies and programmes. Sound nutrition is fundamental to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and must be central in government policy and supported by key stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector.
Urbanization is transforming agrifood systems and affecting access to affordable healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum
Drivers, patterns and dynamics of urbanization
Urbanization is the result of urban population growth, urban expansion (i.e. reclassification of rural areas to peri-urban or urban) and migration from rural to urban areas. This process is fast-changing, context specific and driven by intertwined factors.
Many parts of the world have rapidly urbanized, with the urban share of the world’s population rising from 30 percent in 1950 to 57 percent in 2021. It is projected to reach 68 percent by 2050. In most regions, this has been largely driven by structural transformation, which entails an economic transformation from mainly agriculture to a more diversified national economy, in the process attracting rural people to urban areas.
While urbanization often goes hand in hand with economic growth and structural transformation, this does not hold for all countries and regions. Urbanization without economic growth can be linked to poor rural living conditions, including poverty, lack of employment or underemployment, lack of infrastructure, lack of access to services, and food insecurity.
Another factor that may contribute to urbanization is climate change and/or environmental degradation, which can affect rural-to-urban migration movements. Populations that depend on natural resources for their livelihoods can be compelled to migrate to urban areas in search of work, due to the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. There is also an increasing occurrence of forced displacement from rural areas to urban areas, often as a result of disasters and/or conflict.
With urban expansion and improving road and communication infrastructure across larger parts of rural areas, the distinction between rural and urban areas is increasingly blurred. A large share of the new urban dwellers are expected to live in peri-urban areas, as well as in small cities and interconnected towns. Increasingly, rural and urban areas are less separate spaces in their own right, but rather two ends of a spectrum, connected via numerous linkages across a rural–urban continuum.
Almost half of the global population (47 percent) live in peri-urban areas (less than 1 hour to large, intermediate and small cities or towns) and rural areas (1 to 2 hours or more to an urban centre). Given the increasing connectivity of peri-urban and rural areas and the convergence of high food purchases in both, it is clear that peri-urban and rural markets are significant drivers of agrifood systems transformation.
The degree of connectivity between rural and urban areas shapes agrifood systems, and thus the availability of affordable healthy diets, and the livelihoods of urban and rural primary producers, processors and traders. Depending on where urban growth takes place, whether in large, intermediate and small cities or towns, there will be different effects on rural populations’ access to services, markets and inputs. A rural–urban continuum framework is therefore critical to understand the links between urbanization and agrifood systems changes and how these changes are affecting the availability and affordability of healthy diets, and in turn, food security and nutrition.
Urbanization affects agrifood systems, creating challenges and opportunities to ensure access to affordable healthy diets
Urbanization, combined with other contextual factors such as rising incomes, growing employment and changing lifestyles, is driving changes throughout agrifood systems across the rural–urban continuum. Increases in food demand in urban areas are occurring simultaneously with increases in the amount of food that agrifood systems have to produce, process and distribute, which, together with changes in consumer behaviour, are being seen across the rural–urban continuum. These changes may also lead to disparities across the rural–urban continuum, with both positive and negative effects on the availability and affordability of healthy diets, and in turn, on food security and nutrition outcomes.
One of the most important pathways through which urbanization is driving changes in agrifood systems is through a shift in consumer behaviour and diets. Higher average incomes, combined with changing lifestyles and employment, are driving a diet transition characterized by changes in the types and quantities of food consumed, with diets shifting beyond traditional grains into dairy, fish, meat, vegetables and fruits. There is a diffusion of food purchases in rural areas, more so than is commonly understood. The diet in these areas has shifted from mainly home-produced foods to increasingly market-purchased products.
However, urbanization has also contributed to the spread and consumption of processed and highly processed foods, which are increasingly cheaper and more readily available and marketed. Changes in the lifestyles and employment profiles of both women and men, as well as increasing commuting times, are resulting in greater demand for convenience, pre-prepared and fast foods. The diet transition is also occurring in rural areas, though lagged and to a lesser extent compared to urban and peri-urban areas.
Urbanization is also leading to changes in midstream and downstream food supply chains, which have become longer, more formal and more complex following rising consumer demand and increased regulation of agrifood systems. Importantly, growing midstream and downstream activities provide important off-farm employment opportunities, which can provide steady and liveable incomes, increasing the affordability of healthy diets.
Supply-side factors, coupled with an increase in demand for readily available foods, have contributed to a substantial expansion of supermarkets and hypermarkets that use modern food technology. While these markets can be linked to increased access to nutritious foods – through reduced waste, enhanced sanitation and reduced adverse effects of seasonality, for example – they have also been associated with increased supply of energy-dense and highly processed foods.
Urbanization, in particular, by increasing the connectivity of rural and urban areas, also affects agrifood systems through changes in agricultural production. While urbanization is often associated with a diversification of diets, the availability of vegetables and fruits, in particular, is insufficient to meet the daily dietary requirements in almost every region of the world.
As urban areas become better connected to rural areas, rural producers may also have better access to agricultural inputs and services, allowing for improved productivity that typically increases income levels. However, urban expansion can lead to land-use change. In some countries, farmers receive high compensation for selling their land, whereas in others, dispossession of agricultural land is not compensated, resulting in loss of livelihoods and potential issues around land rights.
Access to affordable healthy diets is generally better and food security and nutrition levels are higher in cities than in rural areas because of the better availability of food, higher average purchasing power in urban areas, and better access to health care, education and other services that are essential for health and nutrition. However, this does not always hold true given the transformations underway in agrifood systems, the stark inequalities that exist within urban populations, and the increasingly spatial and functional connectivity between cities, towns and rural catchment areas.
The interplay of food supply and demand and the cost and affordability of healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum
Understanding food supply and demand across the rural–urban continuum
Urbanization, combined with rising incomes, increases in the opportunity cost of time related to work, lifestyle changes and demographic shifts, is changing food demand. These factors together with many supply-side considerations, including food pricing, marketing and promotion, among others, in turn are changing agrifood systems, so there is a reinforcing compounding effect on the food produced, supplied and consumed.
Most notably, rapid urbanization is leading to rising and changing food demand, and shifts in patterns of food supply – especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, the two regions exhibiting the highest urbanization rates. Projections of overall food expenditure estimate an approximate 2.5-fold increase in sub-Saharan Africa and a 1.7-fold increase in Southern Asia by 2050.
Analysis of food demand, defined as household food consumption (at market value), across the rural–urban continuum in selected countries was conducted and revealed interesting patterns. This was made possible by applying the newly available geospatial Urban Rural Catchment Areas (URCA) dataset combined with georeferenced data from nationally representative Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) surveys. For reasons of data availability, the surveys used covered the period 2018/19 for Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo, and 2019/20 for Malawi.
Given it is expected that diets become more diversified with higher levels of food consumption, income and employment, the 11 countries were classified into two groups according to their food budget (i.e. the market value of their total food consumption per capita per day): high-food-budget countries (average 2.3 PPP dollars per capita per day) and low-food-budget countries (average 1.6 PPP dollars per capita per day).
New empirical evidence from this analysis, challenges traditional thinking and reveals important food consumption patterns, including dietary convergence across the rural–urban continuum. For example, across the 11 countries, food purchases form the majority of total food consumption in value terms, including food for home consumption and food away from home.
While high shares of food purchases in urban areas are to be expected (78–97 percent), shares are surprisingly high even for rural households living 1 to 2 hours from a small city or town (56 percent on average) and for those living more than 2 hours travel to any urban centre (52 percent on average). The finding that in most of the countries analysed, the "majority" of household food consumption in rural households comes from purchases is a major deviation from the traditional image of rural subsistence households.
Own production never becomes the main source for food – not even in rural areas. In rural areas, the average share of own production represents only 37 percent and 33 percent of total consumption in high- and low-food-budget countries, respectively. Given that rural households in the 11 African countries do not produce the majority of the food value they consume, the affordability of healthy diets is equally critical across the rural–urban continuum.
While the diffusion of processed foods, including highly processed foods, is already advanced in Asia and Latin America, it is spreading quickly in Africa as well. In the 11 African countries studied, the analysis clearly shows a diffusion of purchases of processed foods across the rural–urban continuum. While highly processed foods are a small proportion of total purchases and their consumption is higher in urban areas, the results highlight the penetration of highly processed foods in rural areas, even those living 1 to 2 hours or more from a city or town. The econometric analysis indicates that higher levels of household income and more non-farm employment are associated with a higher consumption value share of highly processed foods in the 11 African countries.
In the 11 African countries, looking at household food composition in terms of the value shares of food consumption by food group, a diet transition is clearly occurring across the rural–urban continuum, with increases in the consumption of more expensive food items, like animal source foods and fruits. The econometric analysis indicates that animal source food consumption value shares are strongly driven by income across the rural–urban continuum, while the consumption value shares of fruits and vegetables are driven more by access and availability.
Cost and affordability of a healthy diet, and food security and nutrition across the rural–urban continuum
On average, across the 11 countries in Africa analysed, the cost of a healthy diet in urban centres is much higher (on average 1.2 times higher) than in peri-urban areas and it then decreases the smaller the city size and moving closer to rural areas. The higher cost of animal source foods, compared to the other food groups, drives up the cost of a healthy diet across the rural–urban continuum, especially in urban and remote rural areas.
The cost of a healthy diet exceeds average food expenditure for low- and middle-income households in both high- and low-food-budget countries in the 11 countries analysed. Low-income households living in peri-urban and rural areas are especially disadvantaged, as they would need to more than double their current expenditure on food to secure a healthy diet.
Although the cost of a healthy diet in peri-urban areas is lower than in urban areas, this does not translate into a more affordable healthy diet in the former. On average, the percentage of the population unable to afford a healthy diet in peri-urban areas is 1.5 times higher than in urban centres and similar to rural areas.
An analysis of food insecurity based on the FIES for 9 of the 11 African countries shows that in many of these countries, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in urban and peri-urban areas is similar to that in rural areas, and in some cases, slightly higher, indicating that food insecurity is not exclusively a rural problem.
The prevalence of malnutrition across the ten URCA categories was only estimated for 3 of the 11 countries, due to data limitations. In the three countries (Benin, Nigeria and Senegal), generally the prevalence of stunting in children under five years of age gradually increases as cities become smaller and as one moves away from urban centres.
The prevalence of wasting in children under five years of age is lower than that of stunting in all three countries and exhibits less evident trends across the rural–urban continuum. Nevertheless, there are hints of increased wasting in some peri-urban and rural areas in Nigeria and Senegal. Similarly, the prevalence overweight among children is low in all countries and does not present a clear trend across the rural–urban continuum. However, it is worth noting there is a suggestion towards lower overweight in peri-urban areas and higher overweight in some rural areas compared to urban areas.
Policies and solutions to leverage agrifood systems transformation for healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum
The increased links across the rural–urban continuum coupled with closer interactions between the components of agrifood systems create a number of opportunities and challenges for the availability and affordability of healthy diets. Such interactions also create a number of policy and programme entry points to support agrifood systems transformation towards affordable healthy diets.
Policies and investments for healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum
Supporting healthier food outlets will be key for enabling access to healthy diets, as this has shown positive impacts on dietary quality. Policy incentives are necessary to encourage shops to stock and sell greater amounts of fresh and minimally processed foods, for instance, by improving their cold storage facilities, while the availability of healthier food outlets in particular areas across the rural–urban continuum can be improved through land-use planning and zoning regulations; tax credits or exemptions; and licensing agreements.
In urban and peri-urban settings, an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide consume street foods every day, which are especially convenient for low-income workers and households who may not have the resources, facilities and/or time to prepare dishes at home. However, street foods do not always contribute to healthy diets. There are multiple infrastructure and regulatory gaps that need to be addressed to improve the nutritional quality and safety of these foods. These include ensuring a supply of water of acceptable quality for food preparation, clean places for preparation and consumption of food, sanitary facilities for workers, training for street vendors and consumer education.
Given that one-fourth of the global population live in peri-urban areas of small and intermediate cities and towns (SICTs), investing in these can have a more significant impact on healthy diets for their populations compared to the benefits that trickle down from growth in large cities. Addressing some of the challenges faced by SICTs can allow agrifood systems to be the driver of inclusive rural development, and create development opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The presence of processed foods in household diets across the whole rural–urban continuum constitutes a driving force for the expansion of the services provided by SMEs. Strengthening their efficiency and expansion can also contribute to gains in production of nutritious foods, and a parallel reduction in the cost of food for consumers.
Building rural infrastructure, including quality rural and feeder roads to connect remote farms and enterprises to main road networks, is essential for unlocking the productive potential of SICTs and their catchment areas. Other public investments to support linkages between (mainly small) farms and SMEs could include warehousing, cold storage, dependable electrification, access to digital tools and water supply.
Finally, considering that the availability of fruits and vegetables per capita per day is insufficient to meet the requirements of a healthy diet in most parts of the world, it is essential to boost the production of nutritious foods and, in general terms, support the diversification of food production.
Technology and innovation: a key enabler for agrifood systems transformation under urbanization
In an urbanizing world, the strategic deployment of technology and innovation can be a critical catalyst of agrifood systems transformation. Countries have varied needs and capacities, and while there is a plethora of technologies and innovations available, no single “silver bullet” technology or innovation will meet all needs in all contexts across the rural–urban continuum.
Whether these technologies and innovations are inclusive for all depends not only on their adoption and impact, but also on how research and development (R&D) is shaped. Between 1981 and 2016, there was a doubling of global public investment in agricultural R&D, with significant increases in larger middle-income countries (MICs); however, smaller lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to have insufficient investment compared to other components of general services support such as infrastructure investments.
In urbanizing contexts, where consumers are increasingly exposed to highly processed foods, different technological and innovative food environment solutions can contribute to reducing their consumption. For instance, behavioural science is an essential innovation that enables governments, scientists and the public to work together to develop evidence-based approaches to increase access to affordable healthy diets, as well as empower consumers to choose healthy diets.
As already noted, urbanization is leading to a growing demand for packaged and pre-prepared foods. Innovations in food packaging can maintain the quality, safety and nutritional value of food products, meet consumer needs and preferences, reduce food loss and waste, and reduce the cost of nutritious foods, especially across longer distribution chains.
Finally, there are numerous technologies and innovations that can be leveraged for enhancing productivity in rural, urban and peri-urban areas, as well as for closing the productivity gap in LMICs, especially in the face of the climate crisis and the disappearance of natural resources. For example, vertical farming requires only a small plot of land and can be carried out indoors, allowing for the cultivation of food in urban and industrial spaces, and leading to shorter supply chains.
Integrated planning and governance mechanisms across the rural–urban continuum
Transformative policies, technologies and innovations require adequate governance mechanisms that, while engaging multiple actors, can coherently address the challenges and leverage the opportunities created in agrifood systems under urbanization.
Due to the multisectoral nature of the challenges and opportunities that urbanization creates across the rural–urban continuum, subnational governments are important actors for formulating and implementing coherent policies that go beyond agrifood systems and outside normal administrative borders. These governments are in close contact with local stakeholders and can ensure that policies are adapted to local conditions by promoting advantages and addressing bottlenecks.
An important starting point towards streamlining governance across the rural–urban continuum is the development of locally based agreements between multiple administrative zones and multistakeholder platforms and networks. Among such mechanisms, food policy councils serve as advisory bodies to local or subnational governments, support policy design and implementation, promote stakeholder engagement, and facilitate monitoring and evaluation of progress in policy implementation, effectiveness, efficiency and impact.
The design and implementation of local agrifood systems policies, investments and legislation for addressing multiple agrifood systems challenges and opportunities requires working outside “silos” and bridging the gaps between policy areas in order to achieve systemic changes.
Policy coherence at national and subnational levels remains a key challenge in establishing the appropriate enabling environment. Therefore, these policies and investments will require strong multilevel governance across national and regional agrifood systems policies. The establishment of national networks engaging various levels of governments appears an important starting point to initiate such multilevel governance mechanisms.
Conclusion
Hunger at the global level did not worsen between 2021 and 2022, but there are many places in the world where hunger is on the rise – where people are still struggling to recover income losses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, or have been hit by climbing food and energy prices, or whose lives and livelihoods have been disrupted by conflicts or extreme weather events. Progress on important indicators of child nutrition is to be celebrated, and some regions are on track to achieve some of the nutrition targets by 2030. However, rising overweight and obesity in many countries portends growing burdens of non-communicable diseases.
Urbanization has featured as the theme of this year’s report. With almost seven in ten people projected to live in cities by 2050, this megatrend is shaping agrifood systems and, as a consequence, their capacity to deliver affordable healthy diets for all and to help eradicate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.
A key conclusion is that the ways in which urbanization is shaping agrifood systems can only be understood through a rural–urban continuum lens; the simple concept of a rural–urban divide is no longer useful to understand the growing links across urban, peri-urban and rural areas. This growing connectivity across the rural–urban continuum is a key aspect today to understand the functioning of value chains. Only then can the challenges and the opportunities that urbanization creates for agrifood systems be clearly mapped onto appropriate policy, technology and investment solutions.
Implementing these solutions requires that the agrifood systems governance mechanisms and institutions cross sectoral and administrative boundaries and rely on subnational and local governments. Local governments in particular are fundamental actors in leveraging multilevel and multistakeholder mechanisms that, as shown with concrete examples in this report, have proved effective in implementing essential policies and solutions for making healthy diets available and affordable for all.
