Food System

COP27 debrief: What’s at stake on agriculture and climate in the coming year?

Introduction Governments met at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6-20 in a context of converging climate and food system crises.

Fertiliser Crisis Cost G20 Almost $22 Billion While Fertiliser Companies Set to Make $84 Billion in Profits

Farmers and governments in the G20 spent $21.8 billion more on key fertilisers imports in 2021 and 2022, while the world’s biggest fertiliser companies are expected to make almost US$84 billion profit over the same period, according to new analysis released by GRAIN and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) today.

The Fertilizer Trap

The global food system is addicted to chemical fertilisers. For the past 50 years, these fertilisers have been heavily promoted by global institutions, governments and agribusiness as the means for increasing crop yields, while other options for increasing soil fertility and food production have been ignored or undervalued. The era of cheap fertilisers is over, and the costs have become too much to bear — both in terms of the financial burden for farmers and public budgets, the severe environmental and health impacts, and the long-term risks to food security.

[Watch] Recording of "Confronting the challenges in our food systems: What can we do?"

On September 29, IATP hosted an in-person two-part panel discussion with international experts on what causes food shocks, and how we can protect and promote healthy food systems the world over.

Agroecology takes center stage in the global agenda for transforming agriculture and food systems

Introduction

Advancing interconnected solutions to the food, energy and finance crises

The governing body of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) met in Rome on April 8, 2022 in an Extraordinary Session

New IPCC report highlights urgent need for adaptation investments for agriculture

The latest science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes clear that climate change is already disrupting food systems across the globe and that significant investments in adaptation strategies are needed urgently.

What is systems thinking?

It is not easy to describe systems thinking. After all, the very heart of a systems approach is the opposite of simple: complexity. That is exactly why IATP chooses a systems approach — because in complexity, we find the possibility of transformative change. Beware “win-win” solutions and silver bullets.

[Watch] Agroecology: Food system transformation from farm to plate

Watch a recording of our two-hour virtual seminar held on October 20, 2021 that provides an in-depth look at the transformative power of agroecology. Agroecology experts, advocates and practitioners discuss how agroecology, as a systems approach, can address multiple ongoing global crises, both ecological, economic and sociocultural.

United States farmers, food and trade justice advocates call on Biden administration to reorient approach to global food and agriculture issues

MINNEAPOLIS—Today, in advance of World Food Day, more than 65 United States-based farmers, food and trade justice advocates delivered a letter to the Biden administration urging the U.S.