"Food systems involve all actions it takes to produce and consume our food on a daily basis, from farm to fork to landfill. It includes any activity that produces, aggregates, processes, distributes, or disposes of food. While food systems have fed a growing population, the cost is unsustainable. As per the estimate by FOLU, the hidden cost of food and land use systems sum to $12 trillion, compared to a market value of the global food system of $10 trillion. In addition, current food systems also negatively impact natural habitats, pollute the planet, intensify rural poverty and trigger ill health and disease. This situation calls for an urgent need to transform the current unsustainable (economically and environmentally) food systems into sustainable one.

FOLU’s work in India focuses on various segments of agriculture sector (Production, Distribution, Consumption and Nutrition) to generate evidence and create enabling conditions for accelerating food system transformation. This session showcased FOLU’s engagement with the government and farmers in the rural and urban areas towards creating a sustainable food system in India. The session includes

1. Presentation by FOLU partners—sharing key insights from their work on nutrition and livelihood security and crop diversification (TERI), building a roadmap for reducing food loss and waste (WRI India), facilitating rainfed agriculture mission (RRAN), and repurposing government support to agriculture (CEEW)

2. Moderated panel discussion—Discussing key issues and potential strategies for accelerating food system transformation in India.