A unifying framework for food systems transformation
More than 800 international organizations, NGOs, farming groups and experts want agroecology, organic, and regenerative agriculture to top the agenda at this year’s UN Food Systems Summit.
The voices from six continents are calling on governments and businesses to take action once and for all on the “damaging” status quo in global farming.
“In the run up to this UN Summit, certain groups have been playing fast and loose with the meaning of sustainability,” warned Emile Frison of IPES-Food, and co-founder of the call. “Conventional agriculture – with its heavy reliance on chemical inputs – has failed millions. It continues to deplete soils, damage biodiversity, drive climate change, and destroy livelihoods. Nothing short of a food systems transformation will steer us to safety.”
The Call sees proponents of agroecology, organic, and regenerative agriculture unite around the 13 principles of food system transformation set out by the High-Level Panel on Food Security and Nutrition in a landmark 2019 report.
The need for transformational change in global agri-food systems has now been widely acknowledged in order to address the climate emergency and the growing environmental , socio-economic and health challenges these systems generate.
Addressing these challenges cannot be achieved alone by incremental improvements to the current industrial model. Instead, a bold paradigm shift is needed to redesign our agri-food systems. Food systems reform will prove critical to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement and Convention on Biological Diversity, and to uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.
To break away from the current industrial logic, agroecology, regenerative agriculture, ecological organic agriculture and other approaches are being widely taken up in different regions of the world. Each seeking to transform agri-food systems in an integrated way, these different approaches find common ground in upholding all 13 principles outlined by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) to guide the transformation we need. Your organization can now join us as we call for the adoption of these principles!
Further information:
Read the call in English: bit.ly/3jBB2ri
http://www.ipes-food.org/
Original source: iPES-food, A unifiying framework for food systems transformation
Image credit: Vince Veras, Unsplash