The food systems approach is gaining momentum as an ideal way of providing nutritious, affordable and sustainable food to an ever-increasing global population. As opposed to production approach and markets approach, food systems takes a holistic and multi-dimensional approach to solve the complex problems of agriculture and food space; and thus can enable achieving the SDG goals through the integrated lens of People, Planet and Prosperity.

As India assumes the G20 presidency, it has a huge opportunity to call on the global leadership to foster international cooperation in prioritizing and integrating “Food System Transformation” as an area in the G20 mandate.

The Global Dialogue on Food Systems Transformation is being held on April 20-21, 2023, with the objective of engaging industry stakeholders in G20 countries to shape the future of food systems and showcasing implementation models for food system transformation.

Given the diverse yet interconnected aspects of food systems, the first day of the Global Dialogue (April 20) will see multiple thematic sessions around curated topics impacting food systems, such as nutrition, data science, agro-ecology, food waste, food safety etc. This will be followed by the inaugural session and three plenary sessions around the themes of People, Planet and Prosperity on April 21, 2023.

The food systems approach is gaining momentum as an ideal way of providing nutritious, affordable and sustainable food to an ever-increasing global population. As opposed to production approach and markets approach, food systems takes a holistic and multi-dimensional approach to solve the complex problems of agriculture and food space. This is essential in the context of increasing incomes, changing consumer preferences, rapid urbanization on one hand and depleting natural resources and climate change on the other. While one third of the food produced globally is being wasted, there are 800 million hungry and 3 billion malnourished people worldwide waiting to be fed. The UN Food Systems Summit 2021 emphasized the need for food systems to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 through the integrated lens of People, Planet and Prosperity.

The development in food systems is critical for achieving the SDG goals especially in developing countries such as India. India, which transformed its food systems from a highly food deficit in the 1960s to a food sufficient and marginally surplus nation, faces different set of challenges now. Indian agriculture is characterized by relatively low productivity and consequently have higher levels of poverty and food insecurity. With about 86 per cent of agricultural households having less than 2 hectares of land, India is primarily a small holding economy. This leads to limited economies of scale, limited penetration of technology, climate dependent production and access to nutrition.

As India assumes the G20 presidency, it has a huge opportunity to call on the global leadership to foster international cooperation in prioritizing and integrating “Food System Transformation” as an area in the G20 mandate. This will require G20 nations to come together on the need to find ways to transform the food system globally and move from ideas to implementation.

Given this backdrop, as the B20 secretariat, CII is organising the Global Dialogue on Food Systems Transformation. The objective will be to:

• Engage industry stakeholders in G20 countries to shape the future of food systems,
• Showcase implementation models for food system transformation, and
• Build and support collaborative networks and partnerships for food system transformation in India and connect them to global networks