Home / Themes / Food Systems Approach / The food systems approach: sustainable solutions for a sufficient supply of healthy food

The food systems approach: sustainable solutions for a sufficient supply of healthy food

Report by Wageningen Economic Research
Report Food Systems
July 6, 2018 By: F&BKP Office Image: via Flickr (by: neiljs)
Share:

A food systems approach (FSA) is a useful interdisciplinary conceptual framework for research and policy aimed at sustainable solutions for the sufficient supply of healthy food. A new report about this approach, entitled “The food systems approach: sustainable solutions for a sufficient supply of healthy food”, was recently published by Wageningen Economic Research and commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

The report1 may serve as a useful resource for all stakeholders interested in food systems approaches (FSA), and in how these could help strengthening the effectiveness of their work. The report is part of a broader learning agenda: the aforementioned Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intend to pilot the food systems approach as a tool for policy planning in the course of 2018, following up one of the main conclusions of the IOB Review of Dutch food security policy 2012-2016. Wageningen Economic Research and the Food & Business Knowledge Platform will facilitate a multi-stakeholder discussion on the practical use of the food systems approach during the WUR SDG conference August 30, 2018.

Summary of the report

A food systems approach (FSA) is a useful interdisciplinary conceptual framework for research and policy aimed at sustainable solutions for the sufficient supply of healthy food. An FSA analyses the relationships between the different parts of the food system and the outcomes of activities within the system in socio-economic and environmental/climate terms. Feedback loops are a distinguishing factor in systems thinking: they occur between parts of the food chain (production, processing, distribution and consumption) and from the socio-economic and environmental outcomes of food production and consumption (such as food security and soil depletion) back to that production and consumption. The FSA sheds light on non-linear processes in the food system, and on possible trade-offs between policy objectives. Systems thinking also broadens the perspective when seeking solutions for the root causes of problems such as poverty, malnutrition and climate change. The framework offers at least three benefits. First, it provides a checklist of topics that should at the very least be addressed when it comes to improving food security, certainly in relation to other policy objectives. Second, FSA helps to map the impact of environmental and climate changes on food security by pointing to the various vulnerabilities of the food system. In that sense the approach can contribute to the search for possibilities for strengthening the system’s resilience to climate changes. Third, it helps to determine the most limiting factors for achieving food security, and hence identify effective interventions aimed at improving food security.

Please download the full report here (PDF).

More information

  • Please keep an eye on our Events Calendar for further information on the WUR SDG conference session on food systems on August 30 at 14:00.
  • Please find here further reading on the IOB Review of Food Security Policy 2012-2016 “Food for thought”.
  • Please find here the summary and outcomes of the IOB dialogue on May 31, 2018, with links to a video impression and blogs on the breakout sessions.
  • Please read the blog “Turning the food system around to achieve inclusive nutrition security” on the breakout session 1 during the IOB dialogue on May 31, 2018

 

Footnotes

  1. 1. Full reference of the report: Siemen van Berkum, Just Dengerink and Ruerd Ruben, 2018. The food systems approach: sustainable solutions for a sufficient supply of healthy food. Wageningen, Wageningen Economic Research, Memorandum 2018-064. 32 pp.; 9 fig.; 0 tab.; 39 ref.
Share:

Leave your contribution here

(will not be published)

Latest F&BKP posts
F&BKP Office
March 23, 2021
F&BKP Office
March 23, 2021
F&BKP Office
March 23, 2021
F&BKP Office
December 18, 2020
FBR end conference
F&BKP Office
December 18, 2020