Consumer-oriented policies and investments crucial to ensure food security

“Do not be afraid to invest in consumers to help farmers.” That was the key message underlining the recent event organized by Agrinatura, the FAO Investment Centre and the European Union on the sidelines of the 52^nd Committee on World Food Security.

To respond to whether “farmers feed consumers or consumers feed farmers”, the hybrid side-event gathered around 70 participants on 25 October to discuss how consumption-related policies could contribute to transforming agrifood systems.

In this respect, Mohamed Manssouri, Director of the FAO Investment Centre, gave welcoming remarks on the central role of relevant investment and policy change to address low purchasing power, population growth, dietary nutritional needs and poor infrastructure, as well as other factors hindering food security and nutrition.

Tristan Le Cotty, economist at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), part of the Agrinatura alliance, introduced the event by stating that supply-driven policies, that encourage farmers to produce more and better, are widely spread. However, “low food demand stemming from low incomes makes investments in new technology to increase food production ineffective. If no one can buy these new products, farmers cannot sell them, and food insecurity remains”.

He advocated for a greater focus on policies to drive consumption, and thus demand for food production and higher revenues for farmers.

Martin Bwalya, Senior Food Systems Regional Consultant (Africa), at the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, emphasized this point saying that “in Africa, despite decades of massive production and productivity-focused investments, agricultural production and productivity has remained well below global averages and has not translated into the reduction of poverty and food insecurity for Africa's populations”.

He advocated for a systems approach to food security, promoting a combination of economic, social, environmental and climate policies and investments. An approach that promotes better understanding of the local context of food consumption and nutrition, as the primary entry point, will bring new energy and galvanize new players into driving cross-sectoral agrifood systems transformation.

As far as consumers are concerned, does a better revenue ensure access to healthy diets? Julia Tagwireyi, board director from the Africa Catalyzing Action for Nutrition (AfriCAN) argued that in Sub-Saharan Africa, current conventional diets cannot deliver healthy nutrition, mainly due to the reduced diversity in available foods. Even with higher incomes, people need to know more about the value of different food. Policies should encourage all types of crops to be produced, including edible insects for example.

Lorenzo Giovanni Bellù, Senior Economist, leading FAO’s report on the Future of Food and Agriculture, highlighted two actions to trigger transformation in consumers’ purchasing power: consumer and citizen awareness on healthy and sustainable diets and better distribution of income and wealth from the agrifood sector in producing countries.

The interesting debate and questions from the audience concurred on the power of consumers to drive the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of agrifood systems.

The event was organized in the framework of the Sustainable Agrifood Systems Intelligence (SASI) initiative, funded by the European Union and implemented by Agrinatura and the FAO Investment Centre.