Assessment and Communication of Climate Impacts of Food (CLIF)

Developing a systematic understanding of food systems transformation and future pathways

"There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says 'Morning boys, how’s the water?' And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, 'What the hell is water?'"

- David Foster Wallace, “This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life”

Entering the words Food Systems Transformation in a search engine yields close to five million results. By limiting the search to the specific term “Food Systems Transformation” this is narrowed to slightly over 300,000 results. Of roughly 1,100 scientific articles under this topic, the vast majority (987) have been published since 2018. The term Food Systems Transformation is therefore not only increasingly dominant in international debates around food security, but appears to be the most important link between agriculture and sustainability. It is used as a buzz word on many occasions. And for good reasons.
Food systems provide the foundation for global food security, nutrition, and livelihoods of almost eight billion people. At the same time, food systems are driving several intersecting social, ecological and health crises of global concern, and jeopardising progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The persistent and growing issues of hunger, food-borne diseases, poverty, environmental degradation, and climate change call for a transformation of food systems. However, despite increasing international attention and calls for food systems transformation, it remains unclear what transformation means in the different contexts, how it can be achieved and how seeming trade-offs between policies or various sustainability goals can be overcome.
TMG aims to address these knowledge gaps by undertaking new research activities. Coordinated by WWF as part of the Assessment and Communication of Climate Impacts of Food project, this body of work aims to promote sustainable consumption patterns and to empower companies, politicians, and consumers to make more sustainable decisions when it comes to food.
The TMG project contributes to the research component of CLIF, which seeks to develop a systematic understanding of the transformation of food systems. This includes the state of the debate, key actors and drivers, and strategies for concrete political and structural pathways to transformation. TMG, in collaboration with an extended group of experts, will convene a series of workshops and related strategic reports, as well as accompanying future high-level consultations on food systems transformation. Ultimately, it is expected that decision makers from the political, civil society and business spheres will use the expert group’s analysis to shape blueprints for concrete food system transformation pathways.
Project Name
Assessment and Communication of Climate Impacts of Food (CLIF)
Duration
2021-2024

News & Blog Posts

Food system transformation requires strong Rio Conventions!
News

Food system transformation requires strong Rio Conventions!

An open letter to heads of the three Rio Convention secretariats and other multilateral environmental bodies
New report series explores entry points for the global governance of agri-food system transformation
News

New report series explores entry points for the global governance of agri-food system transformation

Reports address gaps as well as windows of opportunity to safeguard the right to food amidst multiple crises
Just Biodiversity Transformations
News

Just Biodiversity Transformations

TMG and partners bring land rights agenda to CBD COP 15
An unfolding global hunger crisis?
Publication

An unfolding global hunger crisis?

A call for transforming food systems to render them more resilient to crisis
Making the hidden costs of our food systems visible
News

Making the hidden costs of our food systems visible

An article promoting the consideration of True Cost Accounting as a path to transform food systems
Transformation: does the term still have value?
Blog Post

Transformation: does the term still have value?

TMG think piece series

Publications

FORESEE (4C) Summary Report: The Transformation of Agri-Food Systems in Times of Multiple Crises

Report

FORESEE (4C) Summary Report: The Transformation of Agri-Food Systems in Times of Multiple Crises

Tavseef Mairaj Shah, Olivia Riemer

Exploring equitable, healthy, resilient and sustainable pathways for agri-food transformation.

FORESEE (4C) Report 3: Blindspots in the Debate on Agri-Food System Transformation

Report

FORESEE (4C) Report 3: Blindspots in the Debate on Agri-Food System Transformation

Patrick Caron, Maureen Gitagia, Michael Hamm, Ulrich Hoffman, Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Tania Martinez-Cruz, Kathleen Merrigan, Pat Mooney, Olivia Riemer, Nadia El Hage Scialabba, Tavseef Mairaj Shah

Analysing blind spots in the debate around agri-food systems transformation and how to address them.

FORESEE (4C) Report 1: Current Conditions and Policy Frameworks of Agri-Food Systems Transformation

Report

FORESEE (4C) Report 1: Current Conditions and Policy Frameworks of Agri-Food Systems Transformation

Olivia Riemer, Tavseef Mairaj Shah, Sarah Zitterbarth

Analysing the 4Cs and their interaction with agri-food systems

FORESEE (4C) Report 2: State of the Debate on Agri-Food Systems Transformation

Report

FORESEE (4C) Report 2: State of the Debate on Agri-Food Systems Transformation

Nadia El-Hage Scialabba, Sarah Zitterbarth, Tavseef Shah

A multi-actor review of current debates around agri-food systems transformation.

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