The Food Systems Approach: Sustainable Solutions for a Sufficient Supply of Healthy Food

The food systems approach highlights the interdependent nature of global challenges in the agrosector. It shows how production systems, consumer behavior, food security, climate change, natural conditions (i.e. the available natural resources), and socio-economic trends interact with one another. It prevents people from becoming mired in silo thinking, whereby possibilities for enhancing food security are sought within a single subsystem without taking into account the effects of an intervention on other parts of the system, thereby overlooking possible trade-offs. 

By mapping out the interactions between different subsystems, food systems thinking can contribute to an integrated approach that makes smart use of solutions at other levels of scale. By looking at how different subsystems complement one another, optimum use can be made of existing feedback mechanisms and multiplier effects. That has proved useful, for example, in identifying opportunities to promote climate-smart agricultural methods, such as by making vital inputs (seeds, credit, training) available, improving water management, or adapting grazing methods. In addition, climate risks for agricultural production can be limited by taking measures outside the food system, such as reforestation programmes or further tightening the rules for carbon credits trading.