Interview with Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist

With the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development around the corner, FAO has been hard at work preparing a wide array of engagements around sustainable, inclusive and resilient agri-food systems transformation for Zero Hunger. The soon-to-be-launched State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2021 flagship report is of special interest, being the first global report with updated food security and nutrition data since the COVID-19 pandemic. We spoke to Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist, who tells us what we can expect ahead of the HLPF and the 2021 SOFI report launch.

1. As FAO prepares for the launch the State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition (SOFI) 2021 flagship report during next month's High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, what are some of the key drivers of food insecurity in 2020 that we can expect to read about in the report?

Migration, conflict, climate extremes and slowdowns and downturns have all been responsible for pushing millions onto unprecedented levels of hardships and vulnerabilities. These were in turn further accentuated by the loss of employment and restriction measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The longer and tougher the measures to control the epic curves of COVID-19, the bigger the negative impact over GDP growth. This means that we must pay special attention to the interconnected, multidimensional and compounding economic, social and environmental impacts of the current structure of our agri-food systems, which have shown certain structural weaknesses in the midst of the pandemic.

As such, these weaknesses are also renewed or untapped opportunities for them to become more inclusive, resilient and in sync with our natural resources and the needs and limitations of fragile ecosystems.

2. We find ourselves at the outset of the UN Decade of Action, on the road to 2030. Was the world on track to reach Zero Hunger before the COVID-19 pandemic? What additional or at scale efforts are needed today to get back, or remain, on track to ending hunger by 2030?

Unfortunately, the world was not on track prior to the pandemic to achieve SDG 2 – Zero Hunger by 2030. While certain countries and regions were driving forward commendable progress in reducing food insecurity levels, alongside poverty reduction, the world's hungry population had increased by 10 million people from 2018 to 2019, and by 60 million altogether in the 2015–2019 period.

Nearly one in ten people in the world were exposed to severe levels of food insecurity. Globally, about 2 billion people were considered moderately or severely food insecure according to the Food Insecurity Experience Scale by the end of 2019, and over 3 billion people could not afford a healthy diet. Overweight and obesity were continuing to increase in rich and poor countries alike; and, since 2012, the number of people living with obesity exceeded that of people in hunger. These figures did not suggest the level of progress needed to be a Zero Hunger generation by 2030.

More than a year into the pandemic, we are witnessing the scale of its long-term effects on agri-food systems, and how it has worsened the food security situation around the world. Another 132 million became chronically hungry by the end of 2020 and 155 million people in 55 countries manifested crisis-level acute food insecurity. The pandemic and related containment measures have intensified pre-existing drivers of fragility, widened inequalities, exposed structural vulnerabilities of local and global agri-food systems, and hit the most vulnerable groups particularly hard.

In a recent modelling study, FAO and partners found that doubling this investment for 10 years, with poorer countries keeping up their investment to promote a series of low-cost interventions, could help 500 million people escape from hunger. Moreover, an additional US $39 billion to US $50 billion per annum is needed to end hunger by 2030, as envisaged by the SDG2. Public, private, bilateral, multilateral and innovative forms of funding and partnerships are all needed to support the transformation of our economic and agri-food systems, particularly in low-income countries. Including the agri-food sector in the hybrid Financing Frameworks and extending the use of blended financing mechanisms can help address the funding gap for SDG achievement.

In this respect, rethinking what policies, development paradigms and types of investments led the world to these levels of hunger and poverty is paramount. Taking stock of what has worked well and what has not is critical in carving a new road ahead to build back better, stronger and differently, especially as the world prepares to redouble efforts during the Decade of Action through 2030.

3. The post-pandemic recovery efforts have shed light on the high degree of interconnectivity between sectors, where a public health emergency touched virtually every other sector. What can you tell us about FAO's approach to ensuring that agri-food systems are resilient, inclusive and sustainable because of – and not necessarily in spite of – their interconnectivity with other sectors?

FAO's recently adopted Strategic Framework 2022–2031 pays special attention to the interconnectivity between economic sectors and the societies, communities and ecosystems touched by them. The current challenges I mentioned before had to be resolved in a world where we need to achieve land degradation neutrality, increase the efficiency of water use in agriculture, and reach the Paris Agreement targets. At the same time, other pressing issues need to be addressed with urgency to achieve Zero Hunger: climate change affecting agriculture unevenly across the world; population growth and urbanization trends that mean that by 2050 we will have to produce 50 percent more food; and the fact that in some parts of the world, food security will continue to be threatened by instability and conflict. 

Therefore, the only way we can achieve the needed transformation of agri-food systems is to take into account the interconnectivity between sectors, and the tradeoffs that increasing productivity and production to achieve healthy diets for all will generate over soil and water use, energy consumption, biodiversity protection and greenhouse gas emissions, so that policies can be put in place to minimize these tradeoffs.

Likewise, FAO's work, alongside the World Health Organization (WHO), on food safety, animal diseases and anti-microbial resistance is a testament to our commitment to researching, responding and understanding these issues from a holistic One Health approach, whereby human and animal health are understood as a nexus and from which humanity's relationship with nature is recognized. This approach also recognizes humankind's nexus with fragile, yet essential ecosystems, and is based on sustainability, restoration and protection. This type of interconnectivity is what we are talking about when speaking of transforming our agri-food systems, with science, data and innovation at the heart of all that we do, where sustainable development is not practiced in silos and the innate complementary nature of the SDGs comes to fruition.

We clearly need to increase even more the resilience of agri-food systems, and this means we need to minimize risks (vulnerabilities) and to cope with the risks when they occur (strengthen capacities). This is at the core of the new Strategic Framework of FAO and of our Four Betters: Better production, Better environment, Better nutrition and Better life for all, leaving no one behind.

4. The flagship report is the result of close collaboration with IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. Why are inter-agency efforts such as this one especially noteworthy when assessing, analysing and communicating data and key messages on hunger, nutrition and food insecurity in all its forms?

When we talk about protecting the most vulnerable, promoting economic recovery and enhancing risk management capacities to boost the resilience of communities in a post-pandemic recovery, working together with other UN agencies and partners and tapping into each other's expertise, knowhow and networks at all levels is the only way to deliver on the 2030 Agenda in a sustained, inclusive and holistic manner. The SOFI flagship report is a testament to that commitment.

We also talk of data, science, technology and innovation as key accelerators in the quest towards agri-food systems transformation. Bolstering data, technology and innovation at all levels needs to happen across sectors and within mandates of UN specialized agencies, funds and programmes, but it is also important to bring complements of governance, institutions and human capital, to assure that the three accelerators of data, technology and innovation are inclusive. A united front against hunger and food insecurity is not only smart and cost-effective – it is indispensable. New dimensions of cooperation in producing evidence-based guidance and solutions, such as those facilitated by the SOFI 2021 report, can help achieve the ambitious transformative changes before us.

5. This year's launch of the SOFI report takes place at the crossroads of a handful of decade-long efforts under the auspices of the UN and its Members, including the Decade of Action on Nutrition, the UN Decade on Family Farming and, most recently, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, all of which include FAO as a key actor. What does this tell us about FAO's role in supporting Members achieve the SDGs which, by definition, are multidimensional in nature yet interconnected in practice?

All of these global efforts have placed agri-food systems innovations and transformations on the radar and offers a great opportunity to start the needed transformation, beyond the agricultural and rural development space. This means that FAO's work is more important and relevant than ever, as is the need for strengthened partnerships and joint efforts to improve coherence and coordination of policies across countries and between public and private actors.

South-South and Triangular Cooperation Partnerships, for instance, have proven crucial in helping pool resources and leverage the rich experiences, knowledge, expertise, innovations and investments from the Global South, the North and international society, in order to accelerate agri-food systems transformation in developing countries. By leveraging accelerators or drivers of sustainable, inclusive and resilient development, such as data-based and digital innovations, improved governance, and repurposed political will, FAO can play a central role in propelling forward key achievements and milestones under the umbrella of each of these decade-long efforts and global commitments.