A ground-breaking study, published early this week in Nature Food, a nutritional branch of the science journal Nature, has presented experts with the first comprehensive analysis of change since 2000 in key food system indicators.

Lawrence Haddad, executive director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) said in a circulated summary that this new report reveals a mix of encouraging advancements and concerning setbacks.

This underscores the urgency of accelerating food systems transformation since, as this report shows, trade-offs are inevitable between food system goals such as jobs, climate, nutrition, food security and resilience, he said

GAIN is a non-profit foundation established in 2002 to address malnutrition by working with governments, businesses and civil society to improve food systems. 

The report, titled ‘Governance and resilience as entry points for transforming food systems in the countdown to 2030’ identifies governance and resilience as pivotal leverage points for food system transformation.

Targeted improvements in these areas could catalyse positive changes across other indicators, amplifying global progress, he said in the remarks, insisting that stronger governance and better data “the negative trade-offs can be mitigated and even flipped into synergies.”

“This report helps us to understand how to do this and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he said.

Jessica Fanzo, professor of climate and director of the food for humanity initiative at the Columbia Climate School in New York, said that the world needs wholesale reform of its food systems.

This way it could provide the world’s population with the nutritious food needed to grow and develop, she said, underlining that “the world is facing a syndemic of challenges: increasing diet related disease, continued undernutrition, and a changing climate.”

Combating these challenges requires significant and rapid change, she emphasized, noting that the study is vital because it shows the speed of change so far, “to guide more action as we can only manage what we measure.”

José Rosero Moncayo, chief statistician at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that the report provides a clear roadmap for evidence-based policymaking. 

“As we enter the final five years of the SDG process, we have to double down on areas of progress while addressing persistent gaps, keeping the interconnectedness of food systems at the forefront,” he said. 

At the same time efforts are needed to improve the pool of indicators available to describe and analyse different elements of the system, he further noted.

The peer-reviewed research was conducted by the food systems countdown initiative (FSCI), a collaboration of leading experts and organizations, coordinated by Columbia University, Cornell University, FAO, and GAIN, the report indicates.