The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and choices for global sustainability - Executive summary

The Foresight project Global Food and Farming Futures final report was released by the UK government. It follows a two-year study by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for International Development (DFID) with the involvement of over 400 experts from 35 countries. The report provides an overview of how to feed a growing global population in a healthy and sustainable way. It presents the evidence and discuss the challenges and choices for policy makers and others whose interests relate to all aspects of the global food system. One of the major challenges highlighted in the report is ending malnutrition. The authors stress the importance of making agriculture work harder for reducing malnutrition and of implementing measures that impact the entire food system. Among the recommendations is the need to embed "direct nutrition components within larger resource flows," particularly in existing agriculture programs. This includes biofortification of staple crops with nutrients, which they deem to be a "promising innovation". Additional recommendations include minimizing waste in all areas of the food system, balancing future demand and supply in the food system, and improving governance of the global food system. The challenges identified in the report show an urgent need to link food and agriculture policy to wider global governance agendas such as climate change mitigation, biodiversity, and international development.
Download the full final report :http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/foresight/docs/food-and-farming/11-546-future-of-food-and-farming-report.pdf

 
Foresight, Département du gouvernement britannique pour la science - Mars 2011