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    • Opinion
    • Food systems

    Opinion: Investing in agrifood systems is a safer bet than military spending

    Neglecting to nurture agrifood systems accelerates conflict and economic decline. Yet with strategic investment, these can become powerful drivers of stability, growth, and peace.

    By Máximo Torero Cullen // 28 January 2025

    While global military spending skyrocketed to $2.44 trillion in 2023 — $1.2 trillion among G7 countries alone — a critical yet underappreciated pillar of global stability keeps quietly crumbling: agrifood systems.

    These systems govern natural resources, sustain livelihoods, and form the foundation of global economies and trade. The continued neglect of agrifood systems in regions vulnerable to instability accelerates economic collapse and fuels conflict.

    Prolonged conflicts in Africa highlight this reality. In countries such as Sudan, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad, the degradation of agrifood systems — exacerbated by climate change and policy failures — has intensified tensions between farmers and pastoralists competing for dwindling resources. As rivers run dry and once-fertile pastures and fields wither away, desperation drives people to extremes, sparking brutal clashes and widespread displacement.

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    ► African countries adopt new 10-year agriculture strategy

    ► 150 Nobel and World Food Prize winners call for food security ‘moonshot’

    ► Opinion: Why I’m optimistic about peace-positive economic growth

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    • Agriculture & Rural Development
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    The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect Devex's editorial views.

    About the author

    • Máximo Torero Cullen

      Máximo Torero Cullen

      Máximo Torero Cullen is the chief economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Prior to joining FAO, he had been executive director at the World Bank Group since November 2016 and, before the bank, Torero led the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division at the IFPRI.

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