Global food experts have called for an urgent shift to more localised food provision to achieve the goal of zero hunger by 2030 as nearly 30% of the world’s population are facing food insecurity.
With over 600 million people projected to face hunger in 2030, the goal of zero hunger by the end of the decade set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “is further away than ever”, according to experts.
The Food From Somewhere report published by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) today (Tuesday, July 2), highlights the need for greater resilience to ensure food security.
“In recent times, the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine, and escalating climate shocks have led to supply chain chaos, volatile food prices, empty shelves, and a surge in hunger levels,” the food security experts said.
Global industrial food chains are particularly vulnerable to trade disruptions, climate impacts, and market volatility, while often undermining the livelihoods of small-scale producers, according to the report.
Local markets to combat global hunger
The panel of food security experts said that a fundamental shift towards close-to-home food supply chains through “territorial markets” offers a more resilient, robust, and equitable approach to food security.
These territorial markets include public markets, street vendors, co-operatives, urban agriculture, online direct sales, food hubs and community kitchens, which rely on smaller-scale food producers and vendors serving communities.
“Huge volumes” of fresh foods are supplied outside of corporate chains, often directly to the consumer. In Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, small-scale and family farmers produce 80% of the food supply, according to IPES-Food.
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, over 400 markets feed more than 25 million people every day, and 95% of the city’s urban poor purchase most of their food from these fresh food markets, the food security experts said.
Territorial markets are the “backbone” of food systems in many countries and regions and contribute to feeding 70% of the world’s population every day. According to the experts, these markets build resilience on multiple fronts, including:
- Ensuring access to seasonal, diverse, more nutritious foods and diets
- In low-income neighbourhoods in Asia, Latin America, and Africa fruit and vegetables are more affordable in public markets than in supermarkets;
- Demonstrating high degrees of resilience and adaptability to shocks
- Territorial marketing channels rapidly adapted to continue supplying food to communities through the pandemic;
- Providing decent prices and steady incomes for small-scale producers, including women and youth
- In Thailand, “green farmers’ markets” offer producers higher margins than big retailers;
- Enhancing environmental sustainability by promoting low-input, biodiverse farming, and reducing food miles and waste
- Territorial markets are also the main source for diverse indigenous seeds, particularly essential in the face of droughts;
- Sustaining traditional food cultures and fostering community connections, solidarity, and social capital.
IPES-Food expert in India, Shalmali Guttal said localised food systems are “vital” for feeding an increasingly hungry planet and preventing food insecurity and famine.
“They provide nutritious, affordable food, and are far more adaptable to global shocks and disruptions than industrial supply chains. Bigger is not always better,” Guttal said.
“Global industrial food chains and ultra processed foods are not feeding the world, they’re starving it. Our food systems must become more localised and more resilient.
“Local food webs rooted in communities and cultures – or territorial markets – are our best bet to tackle hunger and sustain the livelihoods of small-scale producers, in Africa and worldwide,” IPES-Food expert in Ethiopia, Million Belay said.
The IPES-Food panel calls for urgent policy shifts to increase resilience and identified a series of joined-up actions for governments, including the redirecting of public procurement to support sustainable small-scale producers.
Further actions include the shifting of subsidies to invest in infrastructure that underpin territorial markets; protecting local markets from corporate takeover; and encouraging sustainable, biodiverse farming and diverse diets.
