Two landmark reports say time is running out for change – but 2021 could be a turning point
Time is running out for mankind to make the changes needed to continue feeding itself. Food production has been the biggest destroyer of biodiversity in recent decades, the damage to the natural world has been dramatically undervalued, and radical change to production and consumption is urgently needed to avoid collapse of food systems.
So said two landmark reports in the past week – ‘The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review’ commissioned by the UK government, and ‘Food system impacts on biodiversity loss’ by Chatham House.
Yet the next 12 months could also see a new dawn for the world’s food systems. For decades, food has driven issues in public health, nutrition, and environmental sustainability, and 2021 presents a unique opportunity to put things right.
A series of international summits has raised hopes that governments can be catalysed into action in addressing the need to balance our ever-growing food demands against the burden such production can place on the natural world. Alongside that, governments will continue to pump unprecedented levels of public investment into economies recovering from the global pandemic, many in search of a ‘green recovery’.
The big issue is what the roadmap for food systems reform would be. It’s a question the two reports set out to answer.
So what are they proposing? What would those proposals mean for the food sector? And what are the prospects for change?
Ripoti mbili za kihistoria zinasema wakati unakaribia kwa mabadiliko, lakini 2021 inaweza kuwa hatua ya kugeuka, wakati unakaribia kwa wanadamu kufanya mabadiliko yanayohitajika kuendelea kujilisha. Uzalishaji wa chakula umekuwa mharibifu mkubwa wa bioanuwai katika miongo ya hivi karibuni, uharibifu wa ulimwengu wa asili umepunguzwa sana, na mabadiliko ya kikamilifu ya uzalishaji na matumizi yanahitajika haraka ili kuepuka kuanguka kwa mifumo ya chakula. "Hii ni kwa mujibu wa ripoti mbili za ""The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review"" zilizochapishwa na serikali ya Uingereza na ""Food System Impacts on Biodiversity Loss"" iliyochapishwa na Chatham House." Hata hivyo, miezi 12 ijayo inaweza pia kuona mapambazuko mapya kwa mifumo ya chakula ya dunia. Kwa miongo mingi, chakula kimekuwa kikisababisha masuala ya afya ya umma, lishe, na uendelevu wa mazingira, na 2021 inatoa fursa ya kipekee ya kurekebisha mambo. Mfululizo wa mikutano ya kimataifa umeongeza matumaini kwamba serikali zinaweza kuchochewa kuchukua hatua katika kushughulikia haja ya kusawazisha mahitaji yetu ya chakula yanayoongezeka kila wakati dhidi ya mzigo ambao uzalishaji huo unaweza kuweka kwenye ulimwengu wa asili. Pamoja na hilo, serikali zitaendelea kupomba viwango visivyo na kifani vya uwekezaji wa umma katika uchumi unaopona kutoka kwa janga la ulimwengu, wengi wakitafuta "kufufuka kijani kibichi". Suala kubwa ni nini ramani ya barabara kwa ajili ya mageuzi ya mifumo ya chakula itakuwa. Ni swali ambalo ripoti hizo mbili zilijitahidi kujibu. Kwa hiyo wao wanapendekeza nini? Mapendekezo hayo yangemaanisha nini kwa sekta ya chakula? Na kuna matarajio gani ya badiliko?