Global Agri-Food

System
An Overview
Global Agri-Food System

Food Production

Production Consumption
Global Agri-
Food System

Preservation of Ecosystem

Sustainable Resilient
The current food system is the product of
a historic development pathway.

Global Food Agricultural Production

The Green Revolution
- it played a significant
role in establishing
intensive agricultural
production methods
globally and shaping
the reigning
philosophies in
mainstream
agricultural practice.
Behavioral Trends
of the Food System
1. Intensification
2. Consolidation
3. Specialization
 Loopholes in
Trade
Agreements

• are widely abused by more

powerful nations, resulting
in unfair competition for
developing countries,
ultimately manufacturing
dependence and eroding
local food security.
Recent Trends
and Policies

• biofuels
• Biomaterials

- they are leading to re-

assignment of land and
other base resources,
resulting in less
availability of these
resources for food
production.
 Agriculture now occupies
roughly half of the plant-
The food system is habitable surface of the
the largest planet, uses 69% of
contributor to both
environmental and extracted fresh water and,
humanitarian together with the rest of
impacts. the food system, is
responsible for 25 – 30% of
greenhouse gas emissions.
• The agri-food sector is the
world’s largest economic
sector and is therefore
deeply entwined with
poverty. Half the global
workforce is employed in
agriculture.
• A majority of the world’s
poorest people are
subsistence farmers and
fishermen.
• Poverty is the largest threat
to producers of food globally
and the largest driver of
food insecurity.
• Small farmers and fishers
around the world are caught in
cycles of poverty, without
access to education,
employment, economic and
social infrastructure, and
political representation.
• Many do not receive adequate
compensation, work in
unacceptable conditions, or do
not have access to sufficient,
affordable, or proper-quality
food.
However, simply ensuring a
sufficient level of food
production will not address
the more entrenched
impacts and humanitarian
imbalances within the food
system.

We currently produce more

than enough food for the
global population, yet over
795 million people remain
undernourished.
 Increased population and
growing wealth suggest that a
doubling of food production may
be necessary by 2050
The planetary boundaries
and unsustainable resource
extraction are hard limits to
the food system’s further
expansion based on past
trends
Alternative pathways can
provide for the needs of
our growing population Over 30% of food is
without compromising currently wasted
human or ecological
health
Four Main Challenges for a
Sustainable and Resilient
Food System
Challenge 1:
Adaptive and Resilient Food System
Challenge 2:
Nutritious Food For All
Challenge 3:
Within Planetary Boundaries
Challenge 4:
Supporting Livelihoods and Wellbeing
Challenge 1:
Adaptive and Resilient Food System
1. Adaptive capacity and resilience must be
built into both biophysical aspects of the
system (through the preservation of biodiversity,
maintenance of healthy soil systems, maintenance of
buffering capacity in water bodies, etc.)

2. Socioeconomic aspects of the system

(knowledge transfer, development or organizational
capacity, elimination of poverty cycles, etc.)
Challenge 2:
Nutritious Food For All
1. reducing overall food demand (e.g., through
reducing food waste);
2. progressively shifting to lower-impact, less-
resource- intensive food sources;
3. ensuring that scarce resources (land, water) are
allocated to food production as a priority over non-
food uses
4. improving economic access to food;
5. improving farmer productivity in the developing
world.
Challenge 3:
Within Planetary Boundaries
• reducing the impact of existing agricultural and
extractive practices (e.g., applying conservation
measures, moving to lower-impact fishing techniques);
• placing limits on system expansion and
intensification, particularly when addressing the
global yield gap (e.g., reducing arable land expansion,
and if necessary, directing it towards marginal lands);
• investing in the development of new sustainable
agricultural techniques (e.g., organic cultivars, agro-
ecological practices).
Challenge 4:
Supporting Livelihoods and
Wellbeing
Reference:

https://www.metabolic.nl/publication/global-food-system-
an-analysis/