Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

El reconocimiento por parte de la ONU de las desigualdades basada en las condiciones referidas a género y la adhesión por parte de los países a dicho reconociendo, nos sitúa ante poblaciones vulneradas en sus derechos. Por lo cual se debate en términos de derechos humanos. La alimentación, el agua, la infraestructura, la educación, cuando son deficitarios, acentúan las condiciones de desigualdad y vulnerabilidad.

El acceso a alimentos, y a las condiciones mencionadas para mujeres y niñxs, requiere acciones coyunturales y estructurales.

La desnutrición en América Latina se agudiza en las regiones desde 2008, en diversas regiones y poblaciones, en que se registran índices de desnutrición, aun en quienes residen en el campo y producen alimentos. Otra evidencia son los bancos de alimentos creados en diferentes países, así como las ayudas alimentarias. Que se requieren en situaciones como las que se enfrentaron con la pandemia del COVID. Pero que las respuestas a esas situaciones coyunturales, pone aún más en evidencia las situaciones estructurales de los países.

La distribución delos alimentos, el acceso a los mismos, ser productoras, posibilidades de estudio y de conectividad (acceso a TICs), requieren de compromisos de los Estados. Facilitar acceso a ser productoras, a créditos, atener empleos formalizados, al reconocimiento del trabajo invisibilizado, son acciones que se pueden emprender con el compromiso de los Estados, pero que enfrenta a situaciones de concentración de recursos y de producción y elaboración de alimentos, que se debaten en los territorios, en las posibilidades de las poblaciones y especialmente de mujeres y niñxs. A situación siempre fue urgente hoy agravada por los efectos climáticos por lo cual las poblaciones se ven forzadas a migrar en busca de trabajo y de tierras habitables. Las mujeres en la ruralidad tienen el 48% del empleo informal y/o no remunerado, y según estudios de FAO (2015), cuando son productoras las tienen las peores tierras en calidad y difícilmente logran créditos para los ciclos de producción en el agro. El tema de producción de alimentos cada vez se ha vuelto más complejo, por eso se habla de complejos agro bio alimentarios, los mismos productos pueden ser utilizados para alimentos y para biocombustibles, temas que se expresan desde principios del año 2000, en Latinoamérica y en general en la crisis mundial del 2008.

¿Cuándo llega el momento de los compromisos de los actores públicos-privados para con situaciones cuyas imágenes de pobreza recorren el mundo desde los años noventa del siglo XX?

Saluda a usted

Marisa Gonnella

Personal comment only, not as a representative of the government/organisation.

The V0 draft is very comprehensive report, I have few comments though.

Admittedly, 'inequity' and 'inequality' are not the same but are not mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, the two aspects should be clearly and carefully defined and elaborated since they are relatively differed across regions, countries and even within countries, particularly developing countries with a huge gap between the two terms. More specifically, some countries with various population minorities need concrete and constant measures to bridge the gap for years.

In addition, the report should include executive summary to provide an overview of the context.

Given that the report was released as an early version, I assume missing references will be added in text and in the reference list.

As far as the questions posed in the consultation, I have no major concerns. I thought the report was extremely comprehensive and if anything a bit long.

I was not familiar with the sustainability dimension that was added to food security. I'm not quite clear on how sustainability differs from stability. Would sustainability not be an element of stability? This should be better clarified.

I agree with agency being added as a dimension that is critical to justice and equity.

The inclusion of Indigenous knowledge is important but it could be reiterated that Indigenous people are diverse with diverse knowledge systems and traditional knowledges. It is important to consider this diversity in informing policy. In this regard, the report would be strengthened by citing more Indigenous scholars.

This is a wonderfully comprehensive report which draws in so many facets that influence FSN around the world. I am pleased to see consideration for Indigenous food security in the US and Canada as well as emphasis on agency and a diversity of knowledges in the recommendations. I hope my suggestions will further add to the broad expertise captured in this document.

There is no mention of food sovereignty throughout the report. There is wide debate in the literature about addressing marginalized and colonized community disparity through the lens of food security or food sovereignty. When I originally learned about the 6-pillar approach, I thought, “yes!” there is finally come integration between the two!  I really like the 6-pillar food security concept as it brings in components of decision making, agency over land and resources, Indigenous stewardship, food choice, power etc. These are all elements of food sovereignty. I think this should be recognized in the paper. Food sovereignty is still the primary agent and preference for Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada as it embodies relationships with environment, food, and culture better than food security. It is also the lens that many Indigenous scholars consider issues raised in this report as Indigenous food security cannot achieved without food sovereignty. See:

Coté, Charlotte. "“Indigenizing” food sovereignty. Revitalizing Indigenous food practices and ecological knowledges in Canada and the United States." Humanities 5.3 (2016): 57.

Whyte, K.P. 2017 Food Sovereignty, Justice and Indigenous Peoples: An Essay on Settler Colonialism and Collective Continuance. Oxford Handbook on Food Ethics. Edited by A. Barnhill, T. Doggett, and A. Egan. Oxford University Press.

The measure of sustainability on page 28 seems solely focused on cultivated food, food security and nutrition also includes wild foods.

The part on FSN by ethnicity is buried in the section on gender. This is an important component to consider. I recommend giving it its own header.

Pg 43 Second to last paragraph: “Older Indigenous adults have a 5-7 times higher risk of experiencing food security compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts (Temple and Russell, 2018).” I suspect food security should be food insecurity.

Native Americans in the United States have some of the highest rates of food and nutrition insecurity in the US. That needs to be mentioned as part of the second to last paragraph on page 43. AI/AN are often left out of USDA reporting as they are not adequately surveyed. Mentioning the role that settler colonialism and denial of land and traditional foods in Indigenous food insecurity in the US and Canada would also be important for context.

See:

Jernigan, V. B. B., Huyser, K. R., Valdes, J., & Simonds, V. W. (2017). Food Insecurity Among American Indians and Alaska Natives: A National Profile Using the Current Population Survey–Food Security Supplement. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 12(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2016.1227750

Sowerwine, J., Mucioki, M., Sarna-Wojcicki, D., & Hillman, L. (2019). Reframing food security by and for Native American communities: a case study among tribes in the Klamath River basin of Oregon and California. Food Security, 11(3), 579-607

Pg 48 The section on Indigenous Peoples in US and Canada and land inequity: I recommend drawing in more focus on waves of land cessions by Tribes to settlers in return for often unfulfilled treaties, land grabbing by land grant universities, National Forests, relocation to ecological stressed land with greater implications for environmental change today etc. to demonstrate the truly diminishing land base. In addition to land, ability to harvest food and steward landscapes widely varies by Tribe with those who continue to live in their Aboriginal homelands lacking agency and jurisdiction to traditional foods. In its current form, this section more emphasizes relationship with land and resources which is a core concept of food sovereignty. Access to land and foods from that land are key to both food sovereignty and security but this section fails to directly address the root of land inequality and the one going struggle to access traditional territories still today

See:

https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities

Farrell, J., Burow, P. B., McConnell, K., Bayham, J., Whyte, K., & Koss, G. (2021). Effects of land dispossession and forced migration on Indigenous peoples in North America. Science, 374(6567), eabe4943.

It would be nice for some of the content on land inequities related to Indigenous people in the global north to be carried over to some components of the “Implications of inequalities for FSN”. A lack of land has grave implications for the ability of Tribes to access traditional foods as well as grave implications on the availability and health of those foods due to fractured Indigenous stewardship and nurturing. There are similar implications for sustainability of ecosystems. Without land, agency over food and nutrition is impossible, inhibiting true agency over diet.

See again: Sowerwine, J., Mucioki, M., Sarna-Wojcicki, D., & Hillman, L. (2019). Reframing food security by and for Native American communities: a case study among tribes in the Klamath River basin of Oregon and California. Food Security, 11(3), 579-607

This V0 draft synthetizes properly the present situation of inequalities for food security and nutrition in the World.

As regards the guide to the e-consultation on the V0 draft,  the issue # 7 (Are there any other issues concerning…) there is, in my opinion,  an aspect that merits further consideration. I e  Inequalities in FSN and Food Systems when related to the double (under and overnutrition) burden of malnutrition in impoverished populations of high and middle income countries. Due to the growing prevalence of obesity, in comparison to steady status of underweight,  the overweight has  an important relationship with  (up)biased  food systems. Therefore it is important to consider the consequences of obesity in view of the risk on: Cardiometabolic disease (1), Colorectal cancer (2), Vascular diseases (3), Type 2 diabetes (4 ), Hyperuricemia (5), Cognitive impairment and dementia (6), this is particularly important due to brain damage already present and its image evaluated in adolescence (7, 8). Apart from these initially subtle clinical conditions, there are two social conditions that require a wider approach for controlling them; The first is the obesity trends and socioeconomic status (9, 10) and the second is the disparity on life expectancy when the Body Mass Index increases (11).

Probably these nutritional deviations are of greater importance and of greater extent in the whole world  after their  upward trends even in low income countries

References

1. Cheng HL, Garden FI, Skilton MR et al. Impact of growth , gonadal hormones, adiposity and the sodium to potassium ratio on longitudinal adolescent measures of blood pressure at puberty. J Hum Hypertens 2022 Nov 14, doi: 10.1038/s41371-022-00774-x
2. Chen X, Li H, Mandik M et al. Assessment of Body Mass Index, Polygenic Risk Score and Development of Colorectal Cancer. JAMA Network Open 2022; 5(12): e2248447. Doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.48447
3. Xie W, Wang Y, Xiao S et al. Association of gestational diabetes mellitus with overall and type specific cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2022;378: e070244. Doi: 10.1136/bmj-2022-070244
4. Jiang C, Cifu AS, Sam S. Obesity and Weight Management for Prevention and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes. JAMA 2022 July 26; 328(4): 389-390. Doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.10338
5. Qian YI, Kong YW, Wan NJ et al. Associations between body mass index in different childhood age periods and hyperuricemia in young adulthood: the China Health and Nutrition Survey cohort study. World J Pediatrics 2022; 18: 680-686. Doi: 10.1007/s12519-022-00573-x
6. Guo J, Wang J, Dove A et al. Body Mass Index Trajectories Preceding Incident  Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia, JAMA Psychiatry 2022 Oct 26. Doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry .2022.3446

7. Casey BJ, Cannonier T, Conley MI et al The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study: Imaging  acquisition across 21 sites. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 2018; 32: 13-34- www. Elsevier.com/locate/dcn
8. Lisdahl KM, Sher KJ, Conway KP et al. Adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) : Overview of substance use assessment methods. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 2018; 32: 80-96. Doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.02.007
9. Goto R, Nianogo R, Okubo Y et al. Evaluation of Obesity Trends Among US Adolescents by Socioeconomic Status. 1999-2018. JAMA Pediatrics 2022; 176(9): 937-940. Doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.20221838
10. Aris IM, Perng W, Dabelea D et al Associations of Neighborhood Opportunity and Social Vulnerability with Trajectories of Childhood Body Mass Index and Obesity Among US Children. JAMA Network Open 2022: 5(12): e2247957. Doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.47957
11. Dwyer-Lindgren L and the GBD US Health Disparities Collaborators. Life expectancy by county, race, and ethnicity in the USA, 2000-2019: a systematic analysis of health disparities, Lancet 2022; 400(10345); 25-38. Doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00876-S

Hi everyone:

After carefully reading each section, I think the report is fruitful but maybe includes too many dimensions. Following the Questions to guide this e-consultation, I want to share opinions on three points of Q1, Q3, and Q9.

>>> Q1

Do you find the proposed framework an effective conceptual device to highlight and discuss the key issues with regard to inequity and inequality for food security and nutrition (FSN)? Do you think that this conceptual framework can contribute to providing practical guidance for policymakers? Can you offer suggestions for examples that would be useful to illustrate and facilitate the operationalization of the conceptual framework to address issues relevant for FSN?

Comments:

The framework enriches too much knowledge to be operational. Focusing on two FSN issues at two scales (global and regional), I think it may be more beneficial for international and local policymakers to address two problems of urgent hunger and long-term hidden hunger.

(1) Urgent hunger issue at a global scale across countries

For poor economies facing hunger, establishing an UN-dominated information and operational platform is necessary to ensure enough food for the poor economies to avoid famine and starvation, especially in emergency situations such as COVID-19 shocks, military conflict, and serve droughts. Under such emergent conditions, a special DYNAMIC mechanism should be activated to enhance specific cooperation across multiple UN organizations, such as FAO, WFP, UNHCR, WTO, WBG, IMF, WHO, and WMO. This platform uses modern technologies, including remote sensing, GIS, and communication, to share timely information. Through this platform, the possible roles of each UN organization or agency need to be carefully designed to promote food trade at a lower price to reach countries with hunger issues. In hunger situations, considering too many dimensions of FNS is impractical.

(2) Long-term hidden hunger issues at the local scale within a country

For rich economies or rich communities, resolving hidden hunger issues needs approaches, such as considering urban planning and increasing the number of small food retailers to increase the food's physical accessibility and diversity to reduce the food desert. Unlike the urgent one, the hidden hunger issue should be resolved in the long run. Multiple dimensions have been fully presented in the current report. In terms of the win-win healthy and sustainable diet, I proposed a system framework covering individual, regional or national, and global scales. This framework may be helpful and attached; if needed, I can translate or improve the attached into English for the next report version.

>>> Q3

This report considers inequalities as well as inequities, and to facilitate this consideration it makes some choices and simplifications. The report adopts definitions of inequalities, inequities, injustice, unfairness, exclusion, marginalization, discrimination, patriarchy, racism, colonialism, ableism, empowerment…Acknowledging that agreeing on definitions of these complex areas is difficult, do these definitions work with your own interpretations of these concepts? Are there any controversial or incorrect issues in terms of these proposed definitions?

Comment:

I was confused by the two concepts of inequality and inequity, two easily confusing but essential concepts for potential readers to understand the FSN issues correctly. On page 24 of the report, I think it would be better to illustrate the two concepts by using the cartoon, as attached.

>>> Q9

Can you suggest success stories from countries that were able to reduce FSN inequalities?

Comment

For physical accessibility, promoting the free development of small food stores contributes to the inequality of food access. For example, Li et al. (2019) analyzed the inequality of accessing 28 food categories of 3724 residential buildings in Dalian, China. In this small region, a total of 625 food retailers were located, which is so convenient that 38% of residents required only 5-0 min to access the nearest supermarket, while 10% required more than 20 min. In addition, high-wealth neighborhoods had better food accessibility than low-wealth neighborhoods. However, medium-low-wealth households had the highest level of food accessibility. Thus, encouraging the development of small markets or food stores freely is an avenue to reduce the inequality of food accessibility.

Thus, I think it is essential to integrate food accessibility into regional urban planning to improve the physical accessibility of diverse and healthy food. If possible, it is worth further investigating how food accessibility changes over time across typical cities in rapidly developing economies, such as in rapidly developing China or developed economies. By remote sensing, GIS, and extensive data analysis, successful experiences and unsuccessful lessons would be generated for other economies’ reference.  Besides, the role of aquaculture, such as seaweed farming, deserves in-depth investigation. 

References:

Li, J.J., Song, G.B., Semakula, M.H., Dou, Y.J. & Zhang, S.S. 2019. Food access inequalities in Chinese urban neighborhoods: a case study of the Dalian development zone. Food Security, 11(): 1087-1099. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00963-6.

The comment below is the answer basically transfers the conclusions of our IV Food Security Summit of Regions held in Temuco, Araucania, Chile. It emphasizes the star proposal of the Summit: "the strategic plan for food security" that each region should prepare. The answer also includes a very important reference to family farming, which is key in many countries.  

La celebración este pasado mes de noviembre de la IV Cumbre de Regiones sobre Seguridad Alimentaria de ORU-FOGAR celebrada en Temuco, Chile, puso de manifiesto las problemáticas relacionadas con las desigualdades sobre Seguridad alimentaria y nutrición también des del punto de vista de las regiones.

Todos estamos viendo cómo, en todo el mundo, se está gestando la tormenta perfecta para que se produzca lo que Paul Roberts llamó “The End of Food” o “El hambre que viene”. En los últimos meses se ha producido, por los diferentes motivos, un inaudito aumento de precios de las materias primas y de los alimentos. Las desigualdades y acceso de a la Seguridad alimentaria lejos de disminuir, constatamos desde las regiones que aumentan.

Con este contexto, las medidas que desde las regiones con los acuerdos tomados durante IV Cumbre de Regiones sobre Seguridad Alimentaria proponemos son:

• Deben superarse estructures centralizadas y burocrática, a favor de funcionamientos más flexibles en los que todos los niveles de gobierno participen bajo el principio de subsidiaridad. Los gobiernos regionales, gobiernos de proximidad, son los que gestionan servicios. En estas circunstancias deberá tenerse el debate sobre la necesidad de que a las regiones se les asigne una parte más importante del presupuesto nacional.

• La agricultura sigue siendo uno de los instrumentos más promisorios para reducir la pobreza mundial. ORU Fogar insta, pues, a incrementar la inversión en agricultura en los países en desarrollo y se advierte que, a fin de alcanzar el objetivo, el sector agrario debe convertirse en el eje del programa de desarrollo. Los principales requisitos para conseguir un buen sector agrario serían los siguientes: mejorar el acceso a los mercados a través de un buen transporte, unas infraestructuras de procesado y comercialización, una política comercial, impuestos no discriminatorios, altos niveles de inversión en investigación y extensión agraria, un sistema de derechos de la propiedad que promueva la iniciativa privada, la creación de empleo no agrario y, finalmente, buen funcionamiento de las instituciones que haga eficientes todas estas políticas.        El principal problema no es la producción de alimentos –siendo importante–, sino la distribución y el acceso. Para ser eficaces en la erradicación del hambre en el mundo se requiere priorizar la atención a pequeños agricultores, pescadores artesanales, mujeres y otros grupos vulnerables, y su acceso a los recursos necesarios para producir los alimentos. Por tanto, el enfoque para alcanzar la seguridad alimentaria de esos mil millones de personas que viven en situación de hambre debe ser la soberanía alimentaria.

• En la actual alza de precios generalizada, proponemos que cada región elabore un plan de choque que garantice la provisión de alimentos, asegurando que las redes de distribución lleguen a todos los rincones del territorio. Este plan de choque, a nuestro entender, debe contemplar:
  • Que se garantice la provisión de alimentos a las poblaciones más vulnerables.
  • Que se dedique una especial atención a los niños y las niñas para que esta crisis no afecte su desarrollo.
  • Que se apoyen a la agricultura y al sector primario en general con redes locales y regionales de distribución de sus productos.
  • Que las redes de distribución y los mercados locales tengan protección y apoyo.

Superada esta situación de los próximos meses, los gobiernos regionales deben contar con un:

• Plan Estratégico de Seguridad Alimentaria, actualizado periódicamente.

Dr. Egal and the FAO may want to work with the Gates Foundation to address the food insecurity issues that Dr. Egal described in her recent comment (including the effect of governance and population shift on food security). Here is background information that may be of value.

Bill Gates and his advisors investigated methods for reducing global poverty in 1990. At the time Mr. Gates was forming a new company called Teledesic that planned to offer broadband connectivity using a constellation of low-earth-orbit satellites. He wanted ideas that concurrently addressed “Global Issues”. These “Global Issues” are:

• Health
• Food
• Water
• Energy
• Education
• Environment Protection
• Security
• Population Shift
• Governance
• Crime

Solving all Global Issues concurrently proved to be an overwhelming problem. My company management suggested to Mr. Gates that I hire people from ten different countries to prepare a report that showed how the Teledesic project might help solve one of the 10 Global issues in each of the 10 countries.  Instead, Mr. Gates decided to abandon the Teledesic project and concentrate on the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation in turn decided to focus on the Global Issues of Health, Food, Energy, and Education. In this way the Foundation would not be overcommitted financially.

A problem with the Gates Foundation more focused approach is that a poverty program may fail due to a “Global Issue” not being addressed.  In many countries political violence and crime could ruin a well-constructed food security, youth employment, and poverty reduction project.  The FAO needs to ensure that all “Global Issues” are addressed even though their primary focus is on food. University personnel with help from government officials, technical personnel, and NGO personnel can support the FAO by identifying better methods for small farmers to earn a living. University personnel must fully flush out the risks of “Global Issues” ruining their good intentions.  The Harvard “Case Method” and Business Process ReEngineering (BPR) principles have proven to be helpful in providing a structured method to study the consequences of each idea.

Thanks for sharing this very interesting draft on a very timely topic. And for the great comments.

In many ways the V0.draft echoes past literature on poverty. And as for poverty, the issue is not only economic. At a time so much attention is given to sustainable development and complexity, an integrated – and therefore local specific - approach is essential as the social and cultural (including psychological) dimension is key.

In my experience, understanding the causes of malnutrition at local level gives a concrete idea of what are local inequalities and inequities (and related indicators). This kind of inter institutional and participatory/approach can be revisited/adapted as it aims to generate a common vision and set the basis of a common strategy https://elearning.fao.org/course/view.php?id=192

Looking at inequalities and inequities cannot be limited to a national approach. Local-global linkages are essential to appropriate governance https://ecoagriculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/PolicyBrief_GovernanceUNFSS-16.pdf. Territorial approaches (usually cross-border) and rural-urban linkages, with specific attention to seasonal or permanent migration, are key. Decent work and Living Incomes and Wages also require priority attention https://foodsystems.community/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Coalition-of-Action-Decent-Work-and-Living-Incomes-and-Wages-6ea925c677d1af16486f865636d1f300.pdf

Ensuring that “no one is left behind” in the necessary participatory governance process is essential but requires sensitive approaches: in most societies, bringing together village people and local authorities is a challenge, and expecting women to function on equal terms in public meetings is unrealistic. Migrants are usually ignored and the “poorest of the poor” have no say. Civil society (in particular confessional or caritative organizations) can play a mediator/ambassador role.

It is urgent to insist from the start on the fact that food insecurity, climate change, health, finance are not separate issues but overlapping dimensions of a complex crisis generated by an unsustainable economic model. This report should therefore seek synergies with relevant processes to avoid consolidating existing gaps, misunderstandings, duplication and waste of resources, e.g.  https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-determinants-of-health - tab=tab_1.

In more general terms, it is surprising that so little mention is made of the work carried out during the preparation of the UN Food Systems Summit, which involved scientists and experts. Like in many scientific publications, jargon remains prominent (the effort to explain the different terms is most appreciated but should probably be put in an annex). It is regrettable that in the academic world (in developed countries?) more attention seems to be given to generate “new” concepts rather than seek to build and disseminate a common and widely understandable vision. The four pillars of food security were already bad (as they reflected conflicting and unresolved institutional policy  positions) and should have fallen into oblivion but now we have six pillars, and I still believe the term of agency introduces additional confusion at a time when people had finally understood empowerment.

I would be happy to clarify any of the above issues as I have voluntarily summarised them.

The relationship between food and culture has been considered from a range of disciplines and approaches including anthropology, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, and women's studies. The UNESCO list of world intangible cultural heritage embraces to date 677 items. Food has much to offer to the “reflective society,” a syntagma that has been receiving increased usage among researchers since 2013, because it was the title chosen by the European Commission for posting Social Sciences and Humanities related calls within the sixth societal challenge of Horizon 2020, which is about “Innovative, inclusive and reflective societies.” Biodiversity is to be studied in relation to the mobility of migrants, which has an impact on the agri-food systems. It is necessary to combine global climate change models with local scenarios of social and economic growth. We expect food to trigger a change in the mind-set as regards locating culture (anthropology of space and place) for inclusion and reflection in education, life-long learning, healthcare, urban development and regeneration. Culture cannot be but plural, changing, adaptable, constructed. Inclusion and reflection are constructed whenever we are in contact with other human beings, regardless where they come from.

Thinking of future generations, cultural diversity and biodiversity are a heritage and a common good to be protected as a commitment of global citizenship. They are also fundamental resources to face new challenges and find with an integrated approach solutions to planetary problems such as climate and water regulation, food quality and safety, urbanization through fair employment opportunities and careful protection of ecosystems.