While there are many successful development initiatives in the African region, entrenched structural inequalities and power asymmetries continue to lock out millions of people from taking charge of their own development aspirations.

The aim of this thematic research strand is to explore the role of digital solutions in further strengthening food security and livelihood opportunities for marginalised groups. We explore how digitalisation can enhance the empowerment of vulnerable groups through strengthening access to information and public services, lowering transaction costs, and improving the design and enforcement of relevant public policies. We recognise, however, that technology alone is not a panacea for all development challenges, and take a critical look at the threats, as well as opportunities, of increased digitalisation in the agri-food sector. We also explore how to link digital solutions to social capital in both formal and informal sectors, as well as successful digital business models that support disadvantaged groups.

The global food system is broken – it is unsustainable, unhealthy, unjust, and in dire need of transformation. Our food systems contribute to climate change, biodiversity loss, unhealthy diets, hunger, and social inequality. There is need for fundamental changes to the way our food is grown, processed, distributed, and consumed. This aspiration is at the heart of the shift from the old agricultural productivity paradigm towards food systems, in line with the concept of planetary boundaries and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

But what does transformation really mean? And what do transformative pathways look like? And how can sustainable transformation be implemented in a just way?

This TMG research stream explores the meaning of the much-used phrase “food systems transformation” by applying a systematic approach to find transformative solutions at all scales. By analysing some of the challenges as well as drivers of transformation, we aim to bridge existing knowledge gaps around the concept of food system transformation.

Standard accounting and economic evaluation systems do not take full account of all four capitals − produced, natural, social and human − that are involved in the production, processing, marketing and consumption of food, and related services. This means that businesses and other actors are often not held liable for the negative externalities of their activities. Instead, the costs are often borne by society, and the environment. Examples include paying more for clean water due to the cost of removing pesticides from water sources, or higher prices for food due to reduced harvests from poorly managed soils.

Some costs, such as environmental degradation, extinct species, or climate change, are often deferred to future generations, or borne by local communities and regions far removed from the source of the problem. Unsustainable food systems can therefore be attributed, in large part, to the failure of current economic systems and accounting standards to redress such injustices by pursuing “the polluter pays” and other approaches to internalise these non-financial costs. 

This body of work seeks to contribute to the emergence of integrated valuation frameworks at both the level of individual businesses, as well as the overarching public policies, regulatory frameworks, and monitoring and reporting systems, that govern the agri-food sector.