Caritas welcomes the newly-released UN report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023 and its focus on urbanization’s effects on the changing global agrifood systems. Caritas echoes this report’s calls for sustainable cities and communities as promoted in SDG 11 as well as for sustainable agroecological practices.
Poor public policy continues to lead to food wastage and systemic problems due to low investment in agriculture, unsustainable production, and poor quality of consumption that often prevent availability and access to adequate and nutritious foods by populations that need them the most. Caritas emphasises that policies should take a holistic approach to enhance food and nutrition security, meaning all interventions should be locally led and as inclusive as necessary to achieve sustainable development for those people most vulnerable to food insecurity, hunger and starvation.
For humanitarian organisations to sustainably supplement development, a robust, transparent and needs-based food distribution system must be upheld. No policy nor process connected to any policy should ever cause obstacles or delays in the distribution of food to the aforementioned at risk populations.
As further regards urbanization, Caritas agrees that urbanization is changing agrifood systems and patterns at a rapid speed. Caritas also purports the recognition of the rights based approach – that puts people and their needs first – to address the key drivers of negative changes to the world’s agrifood systems, over and above food systems that focus on production efficiency and profit maximization. Caritas therefore upholds the fundamental role small holder farmers play in sustaining local supply chains.
Furthermore, Caritas localization programs show the success of agroecology based farming techniques and systems that use local and natural products and practices reinforced by a context specific approach that focuses on biodiversity protection, knowledge sharing, and the sociocultural values of food for each specific city and community. As such, Caritas urges the global community to anchor responses on agroecological practices in the principles of subsidiarity.
In conclusion, Caritas calls on the global community to move away from focusing on attaining short term food security and instead focus on long term innovations that build sustainable local food systems rooted in local realities, inclusive and resilient to shocks worldwide.
Read The State of Food Security and Nutrition 2023 report here.