Agrifood Systems Transformation Through A Climate Change Lens

This paper discusses how adapting food production systems to respond to consumer demand for healthier diets is a major opportunity to mitigate and adapt to climate change in agro-rural economies. It also addresses how existing technological solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation need to create more balance between the production and consumption tiers of agrifood systems. Policy dialogue includes managing trade-offs between different sector and stakeholder interests and exploring synergies rather than focusing on exclusivity and competition. This requires a new framework that goes beyond sector-specific policy development. Political economy issues compound the outcome of evidence-based policy dialogue results. For example, political motivation for exporting protein-rich foods may lead to negative impacts on local food sovereignty and food production for local markets. In this regard, the use of concrete policy dialogue tools (food-based dietary guidelines, land use planning and discussions on a protein production strategy) can facilitate a more interactive policy process. The document also stresses how specific rural transformation efforts (e.g., adopting territorial approaches for conceiving and implementing policies; targeting specific producer and consumer groups; strengthening resource ownership; and empowering women and young people) are an integral part of agrifood systems transformation.

This report assesses the cost of adaptation to climate change across a range of future climate scenarios and investment options. We focus on offsetting climate change impacts on hunger through investment in agricultural research, water management, and rural infrastructure in developing countries. We link climate, crop, water, and economic models to (1) analyze scenarios of future change in the agriculture sector to 2050 and (2) assess trade-offs for these investments across key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for poverty, hunger, and water. Our reference projections show that climate change slows progress toward eliminating hunger, with an additional 78 million people facing chronic hunger in 2050 relative to a no-climate-change future, over half of them in Africa south of the Sahara. Increased investments can offset these impacts. Achieving this would require that annual investment in international agricultural research increase from US$1.62 billion to US$2.77 billion per year between 2015 and 2050. Additional water and infrastructure investments are estimated to be more expensive than agricultural R&D at about US$12.7 billion and US$10.8 billion per year, respectively, but these address key gaps to support transformation toward food system resiliency. Findings on ranges of costs and trade-offs and complementarities across SDGs will help policymakers make better-informed choices between alternative investment strategies.

Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to the world’s food systems. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events threaten agricultural production and the biodiversity and ecosystem services that underpin agriculture. Within food systems, climate change affects processing, storage, transport, and retailing of food and affects our food environments. These growing climate risks impact food security, nutrition, and human health, as well as equity and livelihoods, with poor food producers and consumers hit hardest. They make food systems a riskier source of income and reduce the availability of food — worsening poverty and inequity, disrupting livelihoods, and contributing to hunger and malnutrition. At the same time, food systems are failing to provide healthy diets for all, and are generating one-third of human-caused greenhouse gases. Solutions must address this complex nexus of problems. Climate change adaptation and resilience-building efforts for food systems must be accelerated to reverse growing malnutrition, ensure that all people can access healthy diets, and provide sustainable livelihoods. At the same time, efforts to transform food systems work to reduce their environmental footprint. Farmers and small businesses along food value chains in low- and middle-income countries will have to adapt their practices to a climate marked by extreme weather events and changing seasonal patterns in order to meet growing and changing food demand, while also contributing to mitigation. Support for this critical transformation requires not only the development, dissemination, and adoption of appropriate low-emissions, climate-smart technologies and practices, but also a focus on the policies, institutions, governance, and behavior change that can promote sustainable, inclusive food systems.

Our food systems have performed well in the past, but they are failing us in the face of climate change and other challenges. This book tells the story of why food system transformation is needed, how it can be achieved and how research can be a catalyst for change. Written by a global interdisciplinary team of researchers, it brings together perspectives from multiple areas including climate, environment, agriculture, and the social sciences to describe how different tools and approaches can be used to tackle food system transformation. It provides practical, actionable insights for policymakers and advisors, demonstrating how science together with strong partnerships can enable real transformation on the ground. It also contributes to the academic debate on the transformation of food systems, and so will be an invaluable reference for researchers and students alike. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This paper summarizes the findings of the Working Group II contributions to the International Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report which runs into over 3 000 pages, focusing on the assessment’s conclusions and their effect on agrifood systems. The Assessment Reports of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are important as they provide policy makers with state of knowledge assessments on climate change, its implications, and potential future risks. These assessments also put forward adaptation and mitigation options.

The UNDP–FAO Climate Action Review (CAR) Tool aims to support adaptation planners' and practitioners' transition from the planning to the implementation stages to accelerate transformative climate action in the agriculture and land-use sectors. [Author] To do so, the tool presents a practical, step-by-step approach that users can follow to identify actionable entry points for transformative change in the sector, drawing from adaptation actions included in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), among others. [Author] The tool is flexible in nature so that it can be easily adapted to country context and the user’s strategic priorities. [Author] This user handbook aims to: Provide the background and rationale for agriculture and land-use system transformation within the context of climate change. [Author] Outline step-by-step guidance on how to apply the CAR Tool and interpret the results for evidence-based adaptation planning using participatory methods. [Author] Present guidance on the formulation of an actionable roadmap for locally relevant NDC/NAP adaptation action programming and resource mobilizations to accelerate transformative climate action in the agriculture and land-use sectors. [Author]

Snapshot of the status and way forward for transforming agrifood systems in the Pacific – Identifying entry points and analysing trade-offs for policymakers," describes the impact of climate change on the agrifood systems of Pacific Island countries. The changing temperature, precipitation, and sea level patterns have a significant impact on food production and trade, leading to food insecurity, malnutrition, and non-communicable diseases, particularly in vulnerable groups like women and youth. The report provides an overview of entry points for sustainable food system transformation, such as traditional Pacific farming practices, crop diversification, agroforestry, and community-managed marine protection zones. The report also emphasizes the need for socioeconomic, health, and environmental impact assessments to manage these trade-offs and to understand the potential revenue generation from taxes on unhealthy commodities, which could be used to subsidize local food production and transport.