2020 Global Food Policy Report: Building Inclusive Food Systems

Our food systems are at a critical juncture—the scale and the pace of change taking place in global, regional, national, and local food systems are unprecedented. Food systems are evolving quickly to meet growing and changing demand, but they are not serving everyone’s needs. When this report went to print, the coronavirus outbreak posed a new global threat. As the world battles this pandemic and as economies and livelihoods are disrupted, the poor and vulnerable are likely to suffer the most. Addressing the impacts of this shock—from supply chain and trade interruptions to severe unemployment to rising poverty levels—urgently requires effective, targeted social protection for the most vulnerable in the short term. For long term resilience, we must build inclusive food systems. As we modernize food systems to make them climate-smart, healthy, and sustainable, we must also strive to make them inclusive of smallholders, youth, women, conflict-affected people, and other poor and marginalized people.