Opinion: Food crisis underscores urgency of systemwide transformation

In our careers, we have seen famine in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen, and also hunger spikes following the 2008 economic crisis. These crises have toppled governments, impoverished millions, and destroyed decades of economic and social progress. Yet the food crisis occurring now is the worst we have ever witnessed.

Prior to Russia’s invasion, the World Food Programme reported that 45 million people were on the brink of famine. Food prices, already the highest in a decade, spiked, and as UNICEF reports, this has put millions of children at risk of malnutrition. Thankfully, WFP and other organizations are working with national governments to mobilize resources to reach vulnerable people.

These efforts are desperately needed. But if we don’t take steps to address the underlying inefficiencies and insufficiencies in the food system, the crisis will be perpetual. The global community has a moral imperative to ensure that investments made in response to the current crisis promote global transformation to a more regenerative, resilient food system. Today’s food prices are rising in response to several concurrent crises.

The conflict, climate, and concentration crises

The conflict in Ukraine — and those in Ethiopia, Myanmar, Yemen, Venezuela, and the Democratic Republic of Congo — put millions at risk of food insecurity and famine. International conflicts are the primary cause of famine during the last half-century. During peacetime, human communities almost always find ways to ameliorate the consequences of droughts, floods, pests, and other natural disasters by moving food to where it is needed.

Unprecedented climate extremes across the globe have reduced crop yields, increased food loss, and damaged ecosystems. In the coming years, nighttime temperatures could well decrease yields of rice and wheat in some regions, and the nutritional content in many crops is likely to deteriorate due to increased carbon dioxide levels.

The world’s food supply is generated by very few varieties of crops. Seventy-five percent of the global food supply comes from only 12 plant and five animal species. Rice, maize, and wheat make up nearly 60% of calories from plants in the entire human diet.

In addition to concentration of production, a small number of agricultural, food trading, processing, and retail companies control ever-larger shares of global markets. Four corporations — Bayer-Monsanto, ChemChina-Syngenta, DowDuPont, and BASF — control over 70% of global agrochemicals and commercial seeds.

These crises exacerbate one another. Food systems damaged by conflict are further compromised by climate change, and our global response is hindered by the lack of strong, resilient, local, and regional supply networks. Therefore, we must solve multiple challenges in concert.

Transforming the food system

First, we need to appreciate that food is best planted and harvested in peace. Regional and global institutions must remember that hunger stirs conflict and that every day of combat undermines global food supplies.

Second, it is essential that we adopt and implement the concept of regenerative food systems. Today, the agricultural system contributes a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the right changes, the system could potentially sequester carbon and help mitigate climate change.

The following are some of the critical actions that can help us move in this direction:

• More broadly accessible carbon credits for smallholder farmers so they can store more carbon and improve their livelihoods.

• Tax incentives and favorable financing, such as lower interest rates, for producers and buyers of foods grown with regenerative practices, such as low- and no-till farming, use of more diverse rotational and cover crops.

• Investment in regenerative research, particularly on how practices will impact smallholders’ productivity and incomes.

• Incentives to change product formulation to encourage the consumption of more whole grain and blended foods.

• More circular systems that take a full-farm approach using the symbiotic nature of crop and livestock production systems.

• Using distributed solar energy, particularly for irrigation.

Third, governments must create a stable policy environment for farmers and small- and medium-sized enterprises, especially those run by women and young people. At the same time, the private sector must deploy data and digital technologies to create more agile, transparent, and shorter supply chains, with stronger market linkages to farmers. Big food businesses, global trading and shipping companies, wholesalers, and retailers must collaborate to ease the flow of commodities and food, fostering more efficient regional trade.

The invasion of Ukraine will have implications for our food system for years, if not decades, to come. Together, we can use this crisis as an opportunity to create a food system that is good for people and the planet.