The Food Systems Countdown Initiative (FSCI) is producing annual publications to measure, assess, and track the performance of global food systems toward 2030 and the conclusion of the Sustainable Development Goals.
About the Food Systems Countdown Initiative
Food Systems Face Great Challenges
Food systems today are under great stress. The last 100 years saw an incredible increase in the productivity of food production, increasing the diversity and quality of foods available to many consumers worldwide and delivering us into a world where there is enough food for all people on Earth. Yet those great gains have not been evenly shared, still many go hungry, and even more cannot afford a healthy diet. Undernutrition persists (including insufficient calories and micronutrients), while at the same time new forms of malnutrition have emerged as the foods we eat are linked to six of the top ten risk factors for disease and death globally. The environment is reaching its limits to support future food production, caused in part by the way we currently produce food. Food systems are responsible for an estimated 30% of greenhouse gas emissions threatening the long-term viability of life on Earth while at the same time being threatened by the impacts of climate change. Continuing on the present path is untenable for current and future generations.
Food System Transformation Presents a Great Opportunity
Food systems connect people and the Earth and offer a clear entry point to address the numerous health, environmental, and socioeconomic challenges of our day. Food system transformation is central to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by their 2030 deadline as well as to meeting the targets and commitments established in the three Rio Conventions on climate change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Meeting these goals is possible, but requires decisive and deliberate decisions to set countries, companies, and consumers on a more sustainable, healthy, equitable, and resilient path. Choosing those right actions requires rigorous evidence.
Learn more at https://www.foodcountdown.org/