A call to action for policymakers and researchers
Have food systems changed over time? What priorities should we focus on today? What kind of model is needed to shape future policy?
1975–2025: five decades of evolving food systems
These are some of the key questions addressed by the Food Policy – Lessons and Priorities for a Changing World report, released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to mark its 50th anniversary.
IFPRI is part of CGIAR, a global partnership dedicated to agricultural research for sustainable development.
The report offers more than a retrospective on five decades of food policy. It issues a call to action, urging governments and researchers to guide food systems toward meeting the needs of future generations while safeguarding the planet.
The context may change, but hunger remains a constant
Much has changed since 1975: from the Green Revolution to climate change, from rising inequality to digital innovation. Yet hunger remains a persistent and dominant force in this evolving landscape.
By revisiting the past, the report aims to draw a new roadmap for building food systems that are healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable, in short, fairer systems capable of meeting today’s complex challenges.
But no innovation can succeed without the right political environment.
This is why politics plays a central role in addressing hunger and malnutrition. Decisions must support a more integrated approach to managing water, energy, food, and environmental systems.
Food access, not just food production
In 1975, more than one-third of people in developing countries suffered from hunger, and agricultural policy was driven largely by state intervention. At the 1974 World Food Conference, Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen reshaped how food security was understood. He argued that adequate nutrition depends not only on food production, but also on people’s ability to access food, a political issue at its core.
In the following decades, food systems underwent significant transformation through liberalization, globalization, and technological advancement. Poverty declined, and food availability improved.
However, the new millennium brought new shocks: climate disruptions, wars, and growing inequality, all of which have slowed or reversed earlier progress.
Six priorities for food systems research
Research, and in some cases policy, has tried to offer new answers, rethinking agricultural production, food value chains, and the broader processes that shape nutrition, health, communities, and sustainability.
In the Food Policy report, editors Johan Swinnen and Christopher Barrett identify six urgent research priorities for global food systems:
- Strengthen resilience and inclusion across food systems, especially in regions affected by conflict or disaster and among vulnerable populations
- Improve diets and nutrition by addressing the root causes of food poverty and supporting healthier choices
- Harness new technologies responsibly, including digital tools and artificial intelligence, while ensuring equitable access and inclusion
- Engage the private sector to increase investment in food systems innovation, from R&D to sustainable value chains
- Mobilize and reform public spending, including the redirection of agricultural subsidies toward sustainability and nutrition goals
- Foster interdisciplinary research and policy by breaking down barriers between agriculture, health, environment, and trade
The world is facing increasingly complex and interconnected challenges. Addressing them will require bold ideas, new partnerships, and rigorous research.
Only through this kind of collective, forward-thinking effort can we hope to meet the challenges ahead, and the even greater ones to come.