2022 Articles

Food systems transformation requires science–policy–society interfaces that integrate existing global networks and new knowledge hubs

Singh, Brajesh K.; Fraser, Evan D. G.; Arnold, Tom; Biermayr-Jenzano, Patricia; Broerse, Jacqueline E. W.; Brunori, Gianluca; Caron, Patrick; De Schutter, Olivier; Fabbri, Karen; Fan, Shenggen; Fanzo, Jessica C.; Gajdzinska, Magdalena; Gurinovic, Mirjana; Hugas, Marta; McGlade, Jacqueline; Nellemann, Christine; Njuki, Jemimah; Tuomisto, Hanna L.; Tutundjian, Seta

Sustainable food systems are key to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but food systems fall short on multiple fronts as they place pressure on natural capital and ecosystem services while generating significant greenhouse gas emissions. To future-proof food systems, the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) called for a transformation of food systems that guarantees equitable access to affordable, healthy, and safe food, produced in fair and environment-friendly ways. Such a transformation will be challenging.

Efficient science–policy interfaces (SPIs) that effectively bridge the local to global span of food systems in a coordinated way will be key to transformation. Effective SPIs need to support six key functions: forecasting and monitoring, capacity building, data collection, independent assessment, engagement and diplomacy3,4. We, the members of a European Commission high-level expert group (HLEG), have suggested three pathways to achieve effective SPIs: (a) strengthening and adapting existing SPIs with additional resources and a broader mandate to engage across the food sector and across scales and engage with society, (b) enhancing the multilateral institutions’ capacity to cooperate with member states and fund a series of task forces to fill priority knowledge and data gaps, and (c) creating a global coordination hub comprising multilateral institutions through collective investment in a ‘network of networks’.