1 No poverty

Actions for Transformation

Nothing short of a transformation is required if we are to meet global targets for agriculture, food systems­ and climate change. But where, in the complexity of food systems, are the most strategic levers for change?

This initiative aims to identify the high priority actions that we must collectively take now. Building on extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, a comprehensive literature review, and commissioned background papers, we propose 11 transformative actions across 4 action areas: reroute, de-risk, reduce, and realign.

Learn more about how you can take action in our flagship report.

Reroute
Reroute

farming and rural livelihoods to new trajectories

Ensure zero agricultural land expansion on high-carbon landscapes
The challenge:
Avoid expansion on 250 million hectares of tropical forests and 400 million hectares of peatlands.

Most agricultural expansion in carbon-rich landscapes is driven by only a few market commodities. Multiple initiatives already exist to hold investors and purchasers of these commodities accountable to zero deforestation, regulate land use, and reduce pressures for land-use change. Building on these efforts to more comprehensively include all high-carbon landscapes will enable more rapid and ambitious mitigation to be achieved.

Full Report
Enable markets and public sector actions to incentivize climate-resilient and low-emission practices
The challenge:
Bring 200 million farmers into appropriate markets by 2030 through increased profitability and market development.

Persistent yield gaps, poverty and climate vulnerability are apparent in much of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Central America. There are many well known climate resilient practices that would improve productivity, but adoption is low. Market-based approaches can provide incentives to adopt, if producers see the benefits to their livelihoods. The high risks to production and marketing, including climate risks, need to be overcome. Such approaches will also have winners and losers. Those unable to engage markets need to be targeted for livelihood security. Advancing gender equality and youth opportunities is a priority.

Full Report
Support prosperity through mobility and rural reinvigoration
The challenge:
Build attractive rural livelihoods, including exits from agriculture, and create 20 million rural jobs by 2030, investing in infrastructure and youth.

Common trends in rural areas include: diversification of rural livelihoods, increased agricultural and non-agricultural wage labor, and temporary and permanent migration to new livelihood options. The challenge is to create attractive rural livelihoods, in or out of agriculture, and to build skill levels and opportunities so that exiting agriculture is a viable and better option. This may involve the development of new industries and jobs, and/or integrated landscape approaches that increase productivity, enhance resilience and maximize the value of ecosystem services. Migration, and the remittances that result from it, can help improve livelihoods, for both migrants and the relatives who remain behind.

Full Report
De-risk
De-risk

livelihoods, farms and value chains

Secure resilient livelihoods and value chains through early warning systems and adaptive safety nets
The challenge:
End dependence on humanitarian assistance for 40 million rural dwellers by 2030, realigning US$5 billion per year for adaptive safety nets.

In 2019, according to the FAO, of the 113 million people in the world suffering acute hunger, 74 million suffer due to conflict and insecurity, 10.2 million due to economic shocks, and 29 million due to natural disasters. Increasing emergency preparedness and improving early response systems has proven to be a cost-effective way to improve resilience in these complex situations. Major investments in proactive climate risk management strategies, including early warning and adaptive safety net programs, have the potential to secure more resilient livelihoods for millions of farmers in low- and middle-income countries.

Full Report
Help farmers make better choices
The challenge:
Take climate services to scale by connecting 200 million farmers and agribusinesses to ICT-enabled bundled advisory services by 2030.

The knowledge, tools, and technology to enable farmers to make better, climate-smart choices exist, and have been amply demonstrated in limited settings. The challenge is to make these resources available at scale, and equitably, to meet the needs of diverse beneficiaries (across gender and socioeconomic status) throughout the most vulnerable regions of the world. The challenge includes capacity, technical, and institutional elements. Successful delivery of services at scale requires fully leveraging ICTs and other digital technologies, and the support of public-private partnerships.

Full Report
De-risk
Reduce

emissions from diets and value chains

Shift to healthy and sustainable climate-friendly diets
The challenge:
Incentivize dramatic reductions in beef and dairy consumption in 15 high- and middle-income countries and all C40 cities by 2030.

Consumption of beef and dairy is the largest single driver of agricultural greenhouse gases globally. Beef production contributes 41% of total agricultural emissions, while dairy contributes about 20%. The primary targets for reducing consumption-related emissions are those high- and middle-income countries where meat and dairy consumption is or will be high. In low-income countries, livestock will continue to play important social, economic and nutritional roles.

Reduce food loss and waste
The challenge:
By 2030, target 50% reductions in food loss and waste in five major supply chains where both greenhouse gasses and loss or waste are high.

Numerous opportunities for reducing food loss and waste—as well as the associated unnecessary emissions—exist. Following SDG 12.3, we set the target at 50% reduction and focus on five major supply chains where both greenhouse gases and loss or waste are high: bovine meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and roots and tubers. Industrialized Asia, and South and Southeast Asia are priority regions.

Realign
Realign

policies, finance, support to social movements, and innovation

Implement policy and institutional changes that enable transformation
The challenge:
By 2025, realign US$300 billion of agricultural subsidies to a climate change agenda in 16 countries, improve “ease of doing business” in 24 sub-Saharan African countries, and significantly improve the readiness score of the ND-GAIN Index in 49 countries.

Private sector action is fundamental to the “Rerouting,” “De-risking” and “Reducing” action areas above. Thus, public subsidies to incentivize private sector investment can be a game changer in financing the transformation of the rural world. At the same time, the global food system has come to be dominated by a small number of very large companies and thus policy actors need to address issues of power, and how those issues impact producers and consumers. This also means a focus on local power dynamics related to gender, social inclusion and youth.

Full Report
Unlock billions in sustainable finance
The challenge:
Unlock US$320 billion in public and private capital per year to realize business opportunities in the implementation of the SDGs.

Global food systems will need to produce food more efficiently and sustainably to feed a growing population, achieve the SDGs, and meet the 2°C climate commitments of the Paris Agreement. Governments, food and agriculture companies, and public and private investors need to better identify and address the numerous climate-related risks they face. However, this can also be an inflection point to take advantage of new investment opportunities that the transformation to sustainable, low-carbon and resilient food systems presents. Addressing core market failures to move sustainable land-use financing into the mainstream will be required to unlock the private investment needed.

Full Report
Drive social change for more sustainable decisions
The challenge:
Reach 10 million young people by 2025 through science-based social movements to catalyze climate action in food systems.

Large-scale behavioral change, by producers and consumers alike, is necessary for transformation. Social movements have the power to trigger transformation, spurring change by businesses. At the same time, policies can promote changes in consumer habits. This action is about linking science to social movements to support transformation, e.g. using behavioral science to design interventions, translating scientific knowledge for a broad audience, communicating messages in innovative ways, bringing youth into the discussion, and improving education to raise awareness.

Transform innovation systems to deliver impacts at scale
The challenge:
By 2025, significantly change the approach of public agricultural research for development, with at least 50% of public investment in this research providing end-to-end solutions that support meeting the SDGs related to food.

Globally, over US$30 billion a year is spent on agricultural research and development. These resources drive growth in the agricultural sector and have the potential to catalyze innovation for a transformation in food systems under climate change. However, to achieve this impact, research needs to be better linked to societal needs and aimed at delivering end-to-end solutions for actors in food systems. This will require rethinking how research and innovation can be part of a wider systemic change.

Full Report
Download the full report