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The ‘toxic cocktail’ of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate and conflict has slowed progress on nutrition. Where long-standing budgets for nutrition have been constrained in these times, broad stakeholder engagement and non-traditional approaches to nutrition financing are needed.
Start-ups are now the predominant source of innovation in all categories of food technology. Venture capital can accelerate innovation by enabling start-ups to pursue niche areas, iterate more rapidly and take more risks than larger companies, writes Samir Kaul.
The transport of live animals across European Union (EU) member states indicates socio-economic benefits of moving animals instead of meat, in spite of animal welfare. In the revision of EU animal welfare legislation for farmed animals, socio-economic reasons for long-distance, cross-border live animal transport should be considered.
Commitments to food systems transformation were made at the UN Food Systems Summit, but game-changing solutions for the welfare of farmed and wild animals that are part of human food systems are critically needed, argues Philip Lymbery.
Basic and applied research too often remain divided in agriculture. With stagnating and, in some cases, declining research funding, the innovation we need in agriculture for food systems transformation calls for greater connection and communication between the two.
Indigenous Peoples’ and other traditional knowledge systems are deemed ‘unscientific’ when assessed against conventional hierarchies of evidence. Science–policy processes building on the commitments of the UN Food Systems Summit must ensure that due recognition, acceptance and prominence are given to traditional knowledge.
At the field, farm, household and market levels, multiple options exist for diversification of activities, building resilience of food systems to stresses and shocks.
The anticipated failure of many countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 necessitates the assessment of science–policy engagement mechanisms for food systems transformation. We explore options for enhancing existing partnerships, mandates and resources — or reimagining a new mission — for science–policy interfaces.
Political ecology approaches are relatively absent from food systems research. With deep inequalities in food production, distribution and consumption, the study of power asymmetries is central to food justice and the co-creation of alternative futures.