Global food security: 900 specialists mobilize ahead of the United Nations Food Systems Summit

04/12/2020 - Press release

On the first day of the 4th edition of the International Conference on Global Food Security, the virtual event already gathered more than 900 participants. Less than a year away from the United Nations Food Systems Summit, this event offers scientists around the world an opportunity to share their progress and contribute to the promotion of sustainable food to help meet sustainable development needs.

To better understand the various driving factors, covering environmental, nutritional, agricultural, demographic, socioeconomic, political, technological, and institutional issues regarding food security for today and tomorrow... this is the ambitious objective of the International Conference on Global Food Security.

Multidisciplinary discussions with stakeholders from various backgrounds

Specialists in food security issues are meeting 4 to 9 December 2020 for this large-scale virtual event. Discussions focus on food security at all levels, from local to global, highlighting an interdisciplinary and systemic perspective on food systems.

For its 4th edition, the conference is highlighting integrated analyses and perspectives, uniting scientific stakeholders as well as non-academic players and decision-makers from civil society and the private sector.

In sight: the United Nations Food Systems Summit

Conference results will be shared at the United Nations Food Systems Summit to be held in September 2021 in New York. The Food Systems Summit is expected to provide an essential contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. The aim is to generate the commitments needed to transform food systems and thus help fight the threefold consequences of malnutrition – hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity – and to make transformation a lever for meeting future environmental, climate, health, and social challenges.

The programme features: plenary sessions, including some dedicated to sustainable development issues and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many sessions organized in parallel to cover the conference’s 12 main topics, along with about twenty mini-symposiums starting on December 4 to increase interactions between scientists.

"We need to totally transform food systems"

While the overriding priority for agriculture was for a long time to increase production, this century has brought very different issues. For Patrick Caron, the lead author of the article, a researcher with CIRAD and Chair of the United Nations High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, "We need to implement a comprehensive transformation in food systems, centring on different paradigms and models from those of the 20th century".

This call for profound change was prompted by the Milano Group's discussions, which gave rise to a proposed four-pillar strategy:

  • Drastic changes in consumption patterns, with a shift towards healthy eating
  • Ensuring that agricultural production and food supply chains play a greater role in sustainable development
  • Mitigating climate change by means of new farming practices
  • A package of operations aimed at rejuvenating rural territories

From "There can be no sustainable development without profound changes in food systems"

The event is co-chaired by CIRAD's Patrick Caron, University of Montpellier Vice-President for International Relations and member of the CGIAR Board of Directors. Etienne Hainzelin (CIRAD) is Chair of the conference organizing committee.

The 4th International Conference on Global Food Security is organized by Elsevier, I-Site MUSE/University of Montpellier, Wageningen University and Research (Netherlands), supported by Agropolis Fondation, Agropolis International, CCARDESA, CGIAR, CIRAD, IDRC/CRDI, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole and the Occitanie Region.