Two of the major challenges of our times are malnutrition in all its forms and the degradation of environmental and natural resources. Both are happening at an accelerated pace. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report (SOFI 2019) shows that the number of the undernourished has been slowly increasing for several years in a row, and at the same time the number of overweight and obese people all over the world is increasing at an alarming rate.

More than 820 million people go to bed hungry every night. In 2018, 1.3 billion people experienced food insecurity at moderate levels, meaning they did not have regular access to nutritious and sufficient food. Overweight and obesity and their associated diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are  contributing to 4 million deaths globally. Today, 2 billion adults and over 40 million children under five are overweight. Moreover, over 670 million adults and 120 million girls and boys (5-19 years) are obese. Malnutrition is costly to the health of individuals, their wellbeing and productivity. It also has high socio-economic costs for societies in all regions of the world.

Poor diets are a major contributory factor to the rising prevalence of malnutrition in all its forms. Moreover, unhealthy diets and malnutrition are among the top ten risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease. In addition, the way we produce and consume food is taking a toll on the environment and natural resource base. For example, food production accounts for the use of 48 percent and 70 percent of land and fresh water resources respectively at the global level.