Towards the Future We Want - End Hunger and make the transition to sustainable agricultural and food systems
Improving agricultural and food systems is essential for a world with healthier people and healthier ecosystems. Healthy and productive lives cannot be achieved unless ?all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life? (FAO, 1996). Healthy ecosystems must be resilient and productive, and provide the goods and services needed to meet current societal needs and desires without jeopardizing the options for future generations to benefit from the full range of goods and services provided by terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems.
There are very strong linkages between the conditions to achieve universal food security and nutrition, responsible environmental stewardship and greater fairness in food management. They intersect in agricultural and food systems at the global, national and local levels. To emphasize these links, FAO has three main messages for the Rio+20 summit: - The Rio vision of sustainable development cannot be realized unless hunger and malnutrition are eradicated. - The Rio vision requires that both food consumption and production systems achieve more with less. - The transition to a sustainable future requires fundamental changes in the governance of food and agriculture and an equitable distribution of the transition costs and benefits. FAO believes that the Rio vision will remain unfulfilled as long as hunger and malnutrition persist. The sustainable management of agriculture and food systems is key to a sustainable future. Sound policies are needed to create the incentives and capacities for sustainable consumption and production and to enable consumers and producers to make sustainable choices.