Organizers of the U.N. Food Systems Summit have released 15 action track areas that include more than 50 “solutions clusters,” or ideas for how food systems transformation can take place.
Part of our The Future of Food Systems series
Find out how we can make food fair and healthy for all. Join the conversation using the hashtag #FoodSystems and visit our The Future of Food Systems page for more coverage.
The ideas grew out of a series of public dialogues, consultations, and calls for submissions to solicit ideas for how the food system can be reformed to be more equitable and provide healthy food for all people while caring for the planet. They are arranged around five summit “action tracks.”
Some of the solutions include focusing on promoting gender-transformative approaches for food systems; fortifying crops; strengthening Indigenous people’s food systems; supporting living wages for all agri-food workers; scaling up long-term conservation of agrobiodiversity; developing a global soil hub; and creating a pandemic-resilient food system.
“By putting the dignity of those who produce our food and work within the food systems first, we can change the whole system,” Shakuntala Thilsted, vice-chair of the summit’s Action Track 4 on advancing equitable livelihoods, told reporters Wednesday. “We need innovative solutions and strategies that really balance our food systems, that deliver healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems for all women, men, and children no matter where they live.”
“This summit therefore pushes the limits and commitments and actions of every one of us to be an agent of change.”
— Shakuntala Thilsted, vice-chair, U.N. Food Systems Summit Action Track 4Each cluster contains information about why a solution is needed, why and how it will work, and how it will support necessary changes and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
The U.N. Food Systems Summit is to be held in September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, while a presummit is scheduled for this month in Rome. Both events focus on the connections between food systems and challenges such as hunger, climate change, poverty, and inequality, and how reform of the food system can contribute to progress all 17 SDGs.
The presummit will take place mostly virtually, and will serve as a forum to consider the solutions, which organizers called “ a menu of possible actions” that will help countries spur food systems transformation.
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The solutions were distilled from more than 2,000 ideas that were shared during 18 months of dialogues and calls for submissions. Participants in the process include youth, producers, NGOs, Indigenous peoples, governments, and researchers.
Some have criticized the summit process as too driven by a corporate agenda of large agribusinesses, and Thilsted said it would be a “missed opportunity” if the summit process does not succeed in elevating the voices of people on the ground to decision-makers. She said one of the largest barriers for participation in the process was language, but that technology could be used to solve this problem.
“Going forward, this is just the beginning. And we do know that we have 10 years to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, but we have to even think about going beyond for the sustainability of the planet,” Thilsted said. “This summit therefore pushes the limits and commitments and actions of every one of us to be an agent of change.”
Visit the Future of Food Systems series for more coverage on food and nutrition — and importantly, how we can make food fair and healthy for all. You can join the conversation using the hashtag #FoodSystems.
About the author
Teresa Welshtmawelsh
Teresa Welsh is a Senior Reporter at Devex. She has reported from more than 10 countries and is currently based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage focuses on Latin America; U.S. foreign assistance policy; fragile states; food systems and nutrition; and refugees and migration. Prior to joining Devex, Teresa worked at McClatchy's Washington Bureau and covered foreign affairs for U.S. News and World Report. She was a reporter in Colombia, where she previously lived teaching English. Teresa earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin.
