IPES-Food has published its latest report on food security, food systems transformation and territorial markets.
The report, ‘Food from Somewhere: Building food security and resilience through territorial markets,’ comes amid news that global hunger has now gone into reverse. Against this backdrop, the report outlines that the global food system has been buffeted by the pandemic, the Ukraine war, and the escalating climate crisis and found “fundamentally lacking in resilience.”
“It is now clear that corporate controlled global food chains offer a flawed recipe for food security, and are full of risks and vulnerabilities,” the report reads.
It subsequently highlights the need for new approaches to strengthen food self-sufficiency, enhance resilience to shocks, and rebuild food security “on a new basis.”
Key findings include:
- Close-to-home supply chains and markets are robust and highly adaptable in the face of shocks.
- Territorial markets play a key role in making food accessible and affordable to low-income populations, helping to shield them from global price volatility.
- Territorial markets play a key role in supporting dietary diversity and healthy diets.
- Territorial markets underpin the livelihoods of millions of food producers, generally providing them with decent prices and steady incomes.
- Close-to-home markets and supply chains boost climate resilience and environmental sustainability by providing outlets for low-input, biodiverse, small-scale food production, and also reduce food miles.
- A number of actions are required to curb the power of corporate food chains, and bring supply chains and markets closer to home. This includes Investing in critical infrastructure, networks, and people that underpin territorial markets; systematically using state purchasing schemes to support sustainable small-scale producers; breaking up corporate retail and supply chain monopolies; and cracking down on coercive practices, among others.
For the full report, head here.