The world needs urgent action on agriculture and food systems.

Let's make the future grow!

2030 is the deadline to achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The next decade is a chance to remake our future. Through the “Decade of Action”, we all have a part to play in the transition towards sustainable economic, social and environmental development—with sustainable food systems at its heart.

In a rapidly changing world, food systems face substantial challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic acting as a multiplier of food and nutrition insecurity. Globally, two billion people are malnourished. More than 700 million adults are obese while at least 820 million suffer from hunger—a statistic that will no doubt increase as a result of the pandemic. And some one third of the global harvest is lost or waste. Biodiversity is declining, water and land are increasingly degraded, climate change is posing adverse impacts on agricultural production and livelihoods.

We must act now to address the impending global food emergency and avoid the worst impacts of the pandemic, while seizing upon the opportunity of resetting food systems. Over the next 20 years, food systems will need to nourish 10 billion people while also protecting precious natural resources for future generations. The spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated the fragility of global food systems, but it also offers opportunities to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume food.

ABOUT THE HOSTS

The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) Foundation (www.barillacfn.com) is a multidisciplinary and independent think tank that analyses the economic, scientific, social and environmental factors about food. Follow @BarillaCFN.

Food Tank (www.foodtank.com) is a global community pushing for food system change and a bold voice in the fight for health-based agriculture, alleviating hunger and poverty, stemming the tide of obesity, and improving nutrition and environmental sustainability. Follow @FoodTank.