The future of food: reimagining climate-resilient food systems in the post-pandemic world

This report reimagines the future of food, and how countries of the Global South, including India, can build resilient food systems. Thinking about the future of global food systems has now become more critical than ever. Climate change impacts—among them, shifts in soil quality, precipitation, pest regimes, seasonal growth patterns, along with land degradation and reduction in biodiversity—have impacted agricultural and aquatic food production systems across the world. Indeed, the causal links between climate change and food security are manifesting more clearly, particularly in the developing world, where nutrition deficiency is common, as is the predominance of rain-fed, farm-centred agricultural systems.

The report makes the following recommendations:

• Attention must be paid not only to the need to grow more food, but also to the safety of food by ensuring food produced and marketed is of high quality. Governments must work closely with organisations like the FAO to enforce appropriate food safety protocols in their respective countries in line with international standards.
• Given that the problem is more pronounced in the developing world, it is imperative that global commitments on climate finance be fulfilled and its architecture be changed to allow increased flow of funds to the Global South.
• Insofar as women are key players in the food value chain, empowering them by providing an impetus for female leadership and community integration, alongside technical assistance and subsidies, can help improve food security and safety.