The global population will surpass 9 Billion by 2050, while agricultural production limited both by land and other factors will not meet the increasing food demand unless agricultural systems are improved. According to FAO, almost 690 million people in the world (8.9 percent of the world population) are estimated to have been undernourished in 2019.
Food systems (FS) encompass the entire range of actors and their interlinked value- adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded.
In the context of rapid population growth, urbanization, growing wealth, changing consumption patterns, and globalization as well as climate change and the depletion of natural resources, adoption of food system’s approach is critical.
As part of initiatives to end global hunger, Filatec experts in Agriculture and food systems have significantly contributed to adoption and implementation of approaches, policies and transformative solutions across the eastern and southern African countries.