The global community is falling short on Agenda 2030’s sustainable development goals (SDG), especially on ending hunger and malnutrition in all its forms (SDG 2). The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and exacerbated the challenges that food systems were already facing and made it obvious that urgent and radical reforms are needed to guarantee the fundamental human right to adequate food for all. In this bold and forward-looking report, the HLPE’s Steering Committee sets out an analytical and conceptual framework and suggests strategic orientations for a radical transformation of food systems. The report calls for agency and sustainability to be elevated as essential dimensions of food security and nutrition (FSN), together with availability, access, utilization and stability.

Drawing on the findings of previous HLPE reports over the past decade, as well as the broader scientific literature, this report’s key messages are:

1. There is an urgent need for strengthening and consolidating conceptual thinking around FSN to prioritize the right to food, to widen our understanding of food security and to adopt a food systems analytical and policy framework.
2. FSN outcomes in recent years show the extent to which the global community is falling short on Agenda 2030 targets, especially SDG 2, and that food systems face a range of challenges – and some opportunities – linked to major trends in the drivers of food system change.
3. Policy approaches and actions for FSN, in light of the diverse challenges facing food systems, will require critical policy shifts and support for enabling conditions that uphold all dimensions of food security.