Food systems are evolving quickly to meet growing and changing demand. But many poor and marginalized people are not benefiting. Building inclusive food systems will help reduce hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and other inequities. Learn more about the obstacles to participation of smallholders, youth, women, and refugees in our food systems, and opportunities to make food systems work for everyone.
Key Findings
But inadequate infrastructure and skills are limiting the development of food supply chains in low-income countries of Africa and Asia, especially in small towns and intermediate cities.
Smallholders and Rural People
Food markets are expanding rapidly as a result of urbanization, rising incomes, and changing diets in Africa and South Asia. This is creating enormous potential for job and income opportunities along food supply chains.
Key Findings
By 2050, the working-age population in Africa south of the Sahara will be growing by 30 million a year, raising questions about whether the region can create enough jobs for young people.
Given the continued growth of rural populations in Africa, the continent’s rural areas and food systems will have to play a big role in absorbing young job seekers.
Key Findings
Although women play many roles in food systems, their contributions often lack formal recognition and numerous obstacles prevent them from engaging on fair and equitable terms.
Food system transformation—including changing production processes and diets and expanding value chains—presents new opportunities and challenges for women’s participation.
Women
Key Findings
More than half of all undernourished people live in countries affected by conflict, and most conflicted-affected countries are overwhelmingly rural.
Integrating conflict-affected people into food systems—either in their new homes or the places they fled—can help them rebuild their lives.
Refugees and Conflict-Affected People
Recommendations
Invest in infrastructure, market incentives, inclusive business models, and technology to give smallholders greater access to value chains and enable food transporters, distributors, processors, and retailers to thrive.
Increase data collection and analysis across the entire food system, and particularly on the critical midstream of agrifood value chains, to inform policies for inclusiveness.
Recommendations
Foster broad-based growth, not just youth-focused policies, to create an economic environment in which agrifood-system businesses can thrive and generate jobs for both young and old.
Strengthen rural economies and support policies and initiatives aimed at enhancing young people’s long-term economic prospects and creating more inclusive food system opportunities.
Recommendations
Increase women’s control over resources (such as credit and land) and decision-making power within their households and communities and strengthen their voices in market negotiations and political processes.
Ensure that food system transformations do not increase women’s workloads or reduce their decision-making power, but rather create a virtuous cycle of inclusion and empowerment that benefits women and men.
Recommendations
Provide long-term refugees access to land and livelihoods to help them achieve food security while also strengthening local economies.
Rebuild local agrifood value chains to help conflict-affected people move beyond subsistence agriculture, rejoin exchange markets, adopt climate-smart practices, and become resilient to shocks.
What are the next steps for
inclusive food systems?
CHAPTER 5:
Youth
To learn more, read Chapter 3 in the 2020 GFPR
To learn more, read Chapter 4 in the 2020 GFPR
To learn more, read Chapter 5 in the 2020 GFPR
To learn more, read Chapter 2 in the 2020 GFPR
Integrate inclusion into the global agenda.
Inclusion must be addressed at the global policy level. Global forums can leverage growing awareness of inequality to discuss the importance of inclusive food systems and push for large-scale investments in research and programming.
A world free of hunger and malnutrition
Seize opportunities.
As challenges mount, food system policies can be tailored to address hurdles and seize new opportunities. For example, some challenges of urbanization can be tackled by providing marginalized people with the necessary skills to participate in healthy value chains and the ICT revolution.
Identify needs early on.
The early stages of food systems research should focus on identifying marginalized people’s needs and priorities. Ensuring that excluded people are represented in policy and intervention design and implementation can yield important insights and help create better food system opportunities.
Recognize existing contributions.
Excluded people already make immense contributions to food systems in terms of their time, workloads, and the health risks they take on. Their participation should be recognized in policies that secure them more equal benefits.
Read More
Learn more about building inclusive food systems in the 2020 Global Food Policy Report.
Key Findings
Recommendations
Foster broad-based growth, not just youth-focused policies, to create an economic environment in which agrifood-system businesses can thrive and generate jobs for both young and old.
To learn more, read
Chapter 3 in the 2020 GFPR
Strengthen rural economies and support policies and initiatives aimed at enhancing young people’s long-term economic prospects and creating more inclusive food system opportunities.
Although women play many roles in food systems, their contributions often lack formal recognition and numerous obstacles prevent them from engaging on fair and equitable terms.
Key Findings
Recommendations
Increase women’s control over resources (such as credit and land) and decision-making power within their households and communities and strengthen their voices in market negotiations and political processes.
To learn more, read
Chapter 4 in the 2020 GFPR
Ensure that food system transformations do not increase women’s workloads or reduce their decision-making power, but rather create a virtuous cycle of inclusion and empowerment that benefits women and men.
More than half of all undernourished people live in countries affected by conflict, and most conflicted-affected countries are overwhelmingly rural.
Key Findings
Recommendations
Provide long-term refugees access to land and livelihoods to help them achieve food security while also strengthening local economies.
To learn more, read
Chapter 5 in the 2020 GFPR
Rebuild local agrifood value chains to help conflict-affected people move beyond subsistence agriculture, rejoin exchange markets, adopt climate-smart practices, and become resilient to shocks.