Davos 2020: DSM and global leaders form alliance to address malnutrition in a “fragmented” food system

23 Jan 2020 --- With the global population set to hit nearly 10 billion by 2050, malnutrition issues could further worsen if radical action is not soon taken. Against this backdrop, over 20 global public and private organizations – including Royal DSM, Bayer and Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) – have come together to form the Food Action Alliance (FAA). Announced during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the FAA aims to address the significant hurdles in the transformation of food systems toward feeding a ballooning population sustainably.

“Partners in the Food Action Alliance believe that fragmentation within the current food system represents the most significant hurdle to feeding a growing population nutritiously and sustainably. We urgently need new business models and innovative partnerships to transform the way food is produced, supplied and consumed,” says Sean de Cleene, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Food Systems Initiative, World Economic Forum.

The World Economic Forum highlights that the current food system is not structured to cope with a rapidly growing population, climate shocks and the rise of hunger and obesity. It is estimated that 637 million people will be undernourished, while health systems could face a bill of US$1.2 trillion every year from 2025 for treating medical conditions related to obesity.

The FAA will work to accelerate and expand the impact of existing food value chain initiatives. It also says that it will provide a framework for collective knowledge and action on systemic issues, such as nutrition, which affect the sustainability of global food systems.

Feike Sijbesma, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board at Royal DSM, highlights that as the world’s largest producer of nutritional ingredients, DSM has the competences to contribute to addressing the hidden hunger problem. He also stresses the need for a multi-stakeholder approach to ensure long-term success.

“I support all business leaders to start connecting their company’s competences to the global challenges and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Where can you contribute? Where are the opportunities? Step away from corporate social responsibility as a side activity, but make it the core of your business model. Develop a clear roadmap, involve all stakeholders, and dare to focus on the long-term. The multi-stakeholder approach offers great future-proof perspectives for all companies,” he urges.

Initially, the flagship initiatives will be in Africa, Latin America, India and South-east Asia. Addressing interrelated fronts
To achieve a vision for efficient, sustainable, inclusive, nutritious and healthy food systems, the FAA brings together stakeholders from all sectors – government, business, farmer associations, international organizations, civil society and academia. This is to mobilize a country-driven initiative toward meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the 2030 Agenda. This will require food systems to accelerate and improve delivery on all fronts at the same time.

However, as all of these fronts are interrelated, progress on one cannot happen without affecting progress on another. The World Economic Forum thus argues that it is critical to pursue opportunities for win-win progress across food system functions, but also to manage possible trade-offs effectively and transparently.

The FAA has now set three distinct sets of objectives for the next five years, including establishing an effective, multi-stakeholder and action-oriented alliance, advancing concrete action and delivering tangible impact at scale towards the 2030 Agenda. This last point is by supporting flagship initiatives in three or more regions to make substantial progress across simultaneous targets, which include reducing hunger and improving nutrition.

Balancing global with regional
The FAA is structured around global and regional hubs in a bid to address both country-driven goals and local solutions. Initially, the flagship initiatives will be in Latin America (Columbia and Mexico), Africa (Ghana and Togo), India and South-east Asia. There are also various multi-stakeholder consultations taking place to identify opportunities for improving the scale and sustainability of existing agricultural value chains.

“The FAA provides the links between projects, initiatives and organizations needed to achieve change at scale. Together, we believe that coordinated action has the potential to improve the economic livelihoods of hundreds of millions of smallholder farming families and create a sustainable food system for future generations,” says Gilbert Houngbo, President of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Other partners of FAA include African Development Bank (AfDB), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Bharat Krishak Samaj (Farmers’ Forum India), Global Environmental Facility (GEF), Grow Africa, Grow Asia, IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative, Indigo Ag, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU), UPL, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and WWF International.

Plant-based proteins, benefitting both human and planetary health, are in clear focus at Davos 2020. The 50th World Economic Forum annual meeting has seen Tyson Foods create the Coalition for Global Protein, a multi-stakeholder initiative to advance the future of protein. This represents another promising avenue for helping address food security issues in a sustainable way. 

“Scarcity of natural resources, inequalities in access to protein and other challenges make the reality of feeding all our planet’s inhabitants improbable without major systems changes and cultural shifts. To continue offering diverse, nutritious and affordable protein options for generations to come, we must reimagine and revolutionize how protein is produced, provided and pioneered. We’re introducing the Coalition for Global Protein because we know that we cannot achieve this alone,” Caroline Ahn of Tyson Foods tells NutritionInsight.

Edited by Katherine Durrell