UN calls for transformation of food systems to get back on track

The UN has launched an initiative to accelerate the transformation of global food systems and get the SDGs back on track. Amina J Mohammed, deputy secretary-general of the UN, said that transforming our food systems must be a priority as the world struggles to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Nearly half of the SDGs are “moderately or severely off track”, according to the UN, with 37% of targets showing no change. “Transforming our food systems is one key to getting the world back on track and reversing these worrying trends,” Mohamed said at the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment in Rome.

Access to financing for transforming food systems was identified by the UN as the “single most urgent need”, and Mohammed said the launch of the Food Systems Window investment strategy would help address the lack of resources and “turn the situation around”. She said the new initiative would “catalyse the rapid and system-wide action needed for food system transformation under the UN Food Systems Hub”.

The UN says that space technologies can be harnessed to help to boost sustainability, increase farmers’ yields, cut down on costs of fertilisers, fuel and pesticides, protect land from degradation and improve soil quality.