UN Food Systems Summit

ª There is a need to achieve the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030 and address climate change in view of food production, leaders and subject matter experts stressed at the United Nations Food System Summit which held on September 23, 2021 in New York.

ª More than 90 heads of states and governments submitted their national strategies and commitments to strengthening the food systems.

ª According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), food systems encompass the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products.

ª Five action areas to help inform the transitions needed to realise the vision of the 2030 agenda have emerged from the Summit process. These include:

1. Nourish all people

2. Boost nature-based solutions

3. Advance equitable livelihoods, decent work and empowered communities

4. Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses

5. Support means of implementation

ª Originally announced on 16 October 2019 by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the UN Food Systems Summit, including a Pre-Summit, was conceived following conversations with the joint leadership of the three Rome-based United Nations agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme – at the High-level Political Forum in July 2019.