AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS
Making decisions differently for agrifood system transformation
Solutions to many of our world’s biggest challenges exist. The problem is that these solutions often work in isolation.
©FAO/Stuart Tibaweswa
Every day, 8.2 billion people make choices that shape our planet’s future. Most of these decisions happen in isolation, creating a cascade of unintended consequences that leave us with malnutrition amid plenty, environmental degradation amid innovation, and inequality amid abundance.
But something is shifting. Across the globe, a quiet revolution is underway, moving us from fragmented thinking to connected action, from systems thinking to systems doing. Countries are discovering that their biggest challenges cannot be solved by any single ministry, sector or intervention.
When Rwanda, for example, developed its agricultural strategy, it brought everyone to the table – trade ministers, farmers, environmental experts, youth groups and private sector leaders. The result was a blueprint for connected action.
Indonesia commissioned new evidence to understand how policy options simultaneously affect diets, poverty, and the environment.
Switzerland opened up a national conversation about the true costs of its agrifood systems across health, environment and economy.
Morocco’s finance partners spread investments across different parts of the agrifood system to tackle the underlying causes of food insecurity.
Mexico listened to a broad coalition when developing its General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food.
These decisions have one thing in common: they are made with a view to the bigger picture. Each may seem small, but they add up to transformative change.
Transforming food and agriculture through a systems approach, our new FAO publication, identifies six core elements that form the concrete framework for joined-up action: applying systems thinking, building systems knowledge, enabling systems governance, integrating actions through systems doing, securing systems investment, and fostering systems learning. These elements work together to move beyond fragmentation and tackle the underlying causes of complex problems.
Taking a systems approach, Mexico consulted with a broad coalition of actors when developing its General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food. © Alex Webb/Magnum Photos for FAO
The framework shows the concrete shifts in thinking, acting, and organizing needed to build bridges between different parts of agrifood systems. It reveals how small decisions, when made with awareness of their interconnections, can coalesce across communities, countries and continents to deliver transformative change.
Right now, many solutions exist within our agrifood systems, but these efforts do not always connect and sometimes even compete with each other. We have the technology to feed everyone, yet hundreds of millions of people go hungry every day. We have the knowledge to protect our environment, yet agrifood systems are still the cause of significant environmental damage.
The problem is not that we lack solutions, but that our solutions are working in isolation from each other.
Using a systems approach as the engine of transformation is our best hope for connecting these solutions and solving the interconnected challenges of reducing malnutrition, environmental crises and inequitable economic development.
Taking a systems approach requires extra effort. Building trust, forging new relationships and strengthening collaboration all take time. But the countries leading this transformation are proving that it is worth it. They are showing that we can move beyond fragmentation to create agrifood systems that deliver better outcomes both for people and for our planet.
Better agrifood systems will not emerge from business as usual, they will emerge from the kind of connected decision-making that is already beginning to signal progress in countries around the world.
About the author:
 | Corinna Hawkes is the Director of the Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division at FAO. |
The views and opinions expressed in this piece are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of FAO. FAO does not accept responsibility for, or endorse the views of the author(s).
Learn more:
- Original blog: Making decisions differently for agrifood system transformation
- Website: FAO & Agrifood Systems
- Publication: Transforming Food and Agriculture Through a Systems Approach