Navigating the Future of Food: Towards a just transition in global food systems
Global food demand is projected to increase by over 50% between 2010 and 2050. Simultaneously, rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events are exerting immense pressure on food production and crop yields. At the core of this challenge are 570 million smallholder farmers who feed one-third of the world’s population yet remain vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
On UN World Food Day, the urgent, complex, and interconnected challenges facing our planet are more evident than ever - especially within the global food system.
To address these pressing issues, The Skoll Centre and the Oxford Martin School’s Programme on the Future of Food, supported by Nestlé, the global food company, convened a diverse group of over 80 expert participants from the private, public, and social sectors earlier this year.
The discussions centred around three key questions:
- How can we catalyse a just transition at scale within the global food system?
- What roles and responsibilities must various players in the food value chain assume?
- How can purpose-driven businesses balance the competing demands of sustainability, human rights and profitability?
In a new report, Towards a Just Transition in Global Food Systems, we outline the five critical key approaches that emerged from these discussions:
1. Catalysing multi-stakeholder collaboration
Addressing the challenges in the food system requires collaboration among diverse stakeholders, even when their interests and resources are misaligned. Innovative collaborative approaches are beginning to emerge. For example, the Africa Sustainability Commodities Initiative unites government, private sector, community, and civil society actors. By cultivating trust, transparency, and accountability, such collaborations lead to more effective problem-solving. Including local players ensures that outcomes are tailored to community needs, promoting sustainable development and resilience.
2. Realigning incentives and shifting resources
To foster multi-stakeholder collaboration, aligning incentives and reallocating resources is essential. Profitable nature stewardship aligns economic incentives with environmental conservation, making protecting nature both ethically sound and economically viable. This might involve introducing payment schemes for those who actively engage in conservation practices. Additionally, reallocating subsidies towards regenerative food practices while accounting for the costs associated with climate change presents a promising path forward.
3. Developing new narratives
Reframing key terms and creating compelling narratives is crucial for engaging all stakeholders, especially farmers, who are often marginalised in decision-making processes. Instead of abstract concepts like carbon markets or regeneration, narratives that highlight tangible benefits, such as ‘soil health’, are likely to resonate more effectively with farmers and foster greater engagement.
4. Adopting a both/and mindset
Beyond the strategies outlined above, it is vital for global firms to adopt a ‘both/and’ mindset, seeking integrative solutions that reconcile profit with purpose, short-term with long-term goals, and immediate action with thoughtful analysis of long-term implications. This mindset should be embedded in organisational governance and decision-making structures to create accountability. The B Corporation (B Corp) movement exemplifies this approach, requiring businesses to consider the interests of both shareholders and stakeholders, including workers and community members.
5. Experimenting, learning and adapting
Even with supportive governance structures, integrative solutions may not always be straightforward. Therefore, nurturing a culture of experimentation, learning, and adaptation is critical. Leaders should encourage small-scale experiments in specific markets or product lines, allowing employees to take risks, learn from failures, and celebrate the insights gained from experimentation. Building the capacity to adapt is essential, as navigating dilemmas and shifting complex global systems is rarely a linear process - it requires ongoing dynamism and flexibility.
Our thanks to all those who participated in the ‘Towards a just transition in the global food system’ convening, which underscored the importance of bringing together diverse voices and experiences, bridging theory with practice, purpose with profit, and local with global perspectives.
To explore the insights from this report in greater detail read the full report.
