Project
Food System Papers and Special issue Food Security
Upscaling, specialisation and globalisation have decreased the number of dominant species and varieties of crops, farm animals and fish in the global food system. Biodiversity is under pressure worldwide, as is the genetic diversity of key species in our food systems. Optimal use and exploitation of genetic diversity can contribute to the much-needed transition to more sustainable and more resilient food systems.
As part of the 2021 Food System Summit, several studies were conducted to draw lessons from and make recommendations for rural development in low-income and middle-income countries. These studies used the food system approach in their research. Most of the results were incorporated into IFAD’s Rural Development Report. In order to make this knowledge widely accessible, the studies were rewritten and published as articles in the journal Food Security.
Several blog posts were also written about the articles to draw attention to the insights gained and the measures taken. This project has ties to two other projects: Going Bananas (KB 35-008-001) and Food Systems African Deltas (KB35-008-007). IFAD used both project papers as references for its 2021 Rural Development Report.
Publications
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Towards food systems transformation—five paradigm shifts for healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems
Food Security (2021), Volume: 13, Issue: 6 - ISSN 1876-4517 - p. 1423-1430. -
Unravelling the interplay between water and food systems in arid and semi-arid environments : the case of Egypt
Food Security (2021), Volume: 13, Issue: 5 - ISSN 1876-4517 - p. 1145-1161.