Agri-food systems helping to foster a cleaner, greener future

Agrifood systems transformations contribute to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and are deemed fundamental for their ultimate achievement by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Delivering more food with less and cleaner energy and providing small-scale producers with access to innovative technologies, are essential elements of sustainable agrifood systems. So says the FAO, which has also made it clear that pursuing food systems transformations has never been more critical than it is today. It also makes clear that action towards more sustainable agrifood systems is a fundamental prerequisite to putting the world back on course to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

In Ireland, we are guided by the Food Vision 2030 Strategy for the Irish agri-food sector. Its vision is that Ireland will, over a ten-year period, become a world leader in Sustainable Food Systems (SFS).

The Strategy consists of 22 goals, grouped into four missions. One of those is a climate-smart, environmentally sustainable, agri-food sector. Another is an innovative, competitive and resilient agri-food sector driven by technology and talent.

According to UN data, in 2020, two billion people lacked safely managed drinking water, and 771 million of those were without basic drinking water. These facts are difficult to contemplate. Sustainable food systems can ensure the maintainable use of this precious resource and increase access for those who do not have drinking water, while also reducing the amount of pollution in our natural water systems.

In 2020, 45.4 million children under five were affected by wasting. This is a devastating fact. It is the UN’s stance that sustainable food systems will support adequate nutrition, to help people of all ages to achieve good health.

Closer to home, the recent Teagasc/Bord Bia Conference on Science, Consumers and Irish Food, was a forum for lively discussion on the role of science and technology, and consumer and market insights, as part of a sustainable food system. More than 100 food companies, scientists, agencies and policymakers.

It was announced at the Conference, that Food Vision 2030, Ireland’s agri-food strategy, foresees an innovative, competitive and resilient agri-food sector, driven by technology and talent as an enabling mission in fulfilling its ambition for Ireland to be a world leader in sustainable food systems.

The dynamic environment facing food companies was also highlighted, as were evolving consumer and market developments and advances in science and technology. The point was made, that together they offer opportunities to enhance the Irish food system.

Mention was also made of the research being carried out in Ireland and Europe to facilitate the production of plant-based protein. Interestingly, Teagasc’s Dr Linda Giblin pointed out that an environmentally sustainable food system may not necessarily deliver healthier foods.

At the Conference, a Teagasc spokesperson spoke of the development of AgNav, the digital platform developed by Teagasc, Bord Bia and ICBF, which will encourage and support farmers in implementing practices that have been proven to improve sustainability of Irish farming systems.

From all sides, and around the clock, all of us are being inundated with the message that the planet’s energy and food systems must be transformed is being heard, and much needs to be done. Understandably perhaps, that message regularly gets drowned out when other pressing and often distressing news events command the news feeds. 

That said, the importance and the urgency of the message doesn’t diminish and there’s no dearth of information available online, with the digital pages of Knowledge4Policy, the European Union’s official website, being a particularly good source.

The reasons why energy and food system transformations must take place are made abundantly clear on this website. The 2030 Agenda must be complied with. The terms of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change must be met. Also, the reason with which most of us will be familiar: the necessity to meet growing demand.

Worldwide, energy consumption in agri-food systems is on the increase, growing by more than 20% between 2000 and 2018. The link between energy and food systems is apparent when we consider that agri-food systems consume almost one-third of the world’s energy, while one-third of agri-food systems' greenhouse gas emissions stem from energy use.

The European Commission is working to make the EU agri-food industry greener, more digital and resilient. It follows the publication of an analysis of EU policies that support the ‘greening’ of the agri-food sector, with greater use of digital technology.

According to a ‘sustainable agrifood systems for a post-growth world’ study, published last year in the Nature Sustainability Journal, sustainable agri-food systems are critical to averting climate-driven social and ecological disasters, to overcoming the growth paradigm and to redefining the interactions of humanity and nature in the twenty-first century.

The study points out that global agrifood systems — contemporary knowledge, institutions, infrastructures, practices and crops that define the predominant patterns of food production and consumption — are major forces of climate change, ecological degradation and rural decline.

The authors say that tackling these challenges requires the reimagination and re-creation of circuits of food production, processing, distribution, consumption and governance on the basis of humankind’s best experience in agriculture, as an immediate source of community well-being and fundamental field of interaction with nature.

They make clear that we do not have the luxury of ignoring viable, successful options when it comes to agri-food system sustainability. Wisely, they assert that we must question the reliance on economic growth as the dominant paradigm.

In this paper, researchers are urged to seek solutions to take sustainability challenges seriously, ‘by overcoming ideological blindness’ to the profound practical and theoretical meaning of already existing agrifood system solutions.

The authors argue that while there might be strong positions held for or against certain types of solutions, the challenges of sustainability in general — and agri-food systems sustainability in particular — are so complex and urgent, that all types of solutions with real potential for post-growth transformation are needed.

They conclude by stressing that efforts made must not perpetuate discourses of delay and should go beyond Sustainable Development Goals.

Here in this country, Origin Green, Ireland’s food and drink sustainability programme led by Bord Bia, has made substantial progress in driving sustainability improvements in the agri-food sector. The programme was established over 11 years ago and today, Bord Bia works with 58,000 Irish farmers and over 330 Irish food and drink companies to measure and improve sustainability across the supply chain.

According to Bord Bia’s Deirdre Ryan: "Over 800 farm audits take place every week, with sustainability criteria being measured including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity, water measures, energy efficiency, soil management and socio-economic factors. To date, Bord Bia has conducted over 355,000 carbon footprint assessments on Irish farms and uses this information to help drive change and improvements at farm level.” 

Ryan says that Origin Green aligns with national climate plans and targets, including Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, the Low Carbon Development Bill and EU policies such as the Farm to Fork strategy.

She says that Bord Bia also shares the ambition, optimism and values expressed in Food Vision 2030 and that it recognises that collaboration, both nationally and internationally, is key to delivering on the new level of ambition required by industry.

Deirdre said: “In its first decade, Origin Green has provided a unique infrastructure through which we can measure and guide the improvement of the agri-food industry’s sustainability performance at a national level.

“As we embrace the next set of challenges we will build on that success through a collaborative approach that matches knowledge with ambition, to support the industry and meet the national agricultural targets set out in the Climate Action Plan and in international commitments.”