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WWF Identifies Tailored, Local Strategies for Transforming Global Food System

While no single set of policy interventions should be applied globally, the research reveals a universal need to optimize land use and restore biodiversity, improve education on healthy and sustainable diets, and redesign financial subsidies and incentives.

Published 3 months ago | About a 5 minute read

Image: The Great Food Puzzle

The Great Food Puzzle, a new tool and research published by WWF, helps identify the most appropriate actions on a national basis for fixing the many flaws in our global food system. The report highlights that while food systems — the complex network of activities that involves the production, processing, transportation and consumption of food — have major global impacts on nature and climate change, they can only be made sustainable with local solutions.

In the first global study of its kind, WWF analyzed more than 100 countries and classified them into six different Food System Types — based on their environmental and socioeconomic characteristics — and ranked the highest-impact actions in each. The inclusion of environmental factors — a critical consideration, given food systems’ widespread impact on nature and total dependence on a functioning natural world — sets the study apart from other food system typologies. For example, the need to develop nature-positive supply chains is identified as a priority in one group of countries — which could most accelerate impact by learning from and scaling existing approaches.

“Food systems are extremely complex and are shaped by lots of factors including cultural heritage, values and local contexts,” said Brent Loken, Global Food Lead Scientist at WWF. “That means there are no silver bullets that will work everywhere and reverse the devastating impact that current food systems have on nature and human health. The Great Food Puzzle approach helps all stakeholders to identify science-based actions based on local context, or place-based solutions, that will deliver the biggest wins for people and planet in the shortest time.”

While there is no single set of policy interventions that should be applied globally, the research revealed a consistent need across all countries to optimize land use and restore biodiversity, improve education on healthy and sustainable diets, and to redesign financial subsidies and incentives.

These actions have high-impact potential across all Food System Types (named 1-6 to avoid biases or preconceptions), but they are not necessarily the top three actions recommended for all countries. Although there are similarities, there are notable differences between priority actions in different Food System Types.

For instance, the greatest potential for adopting high-tech methods is in Type 4 countries — including China, Mexico, South Africa, Spain and UAE. There is already significant industrialization in these food systems, but they also face the highest levels of water risk — particularly, with forecast climate impacts in mind. High-tech methods that can preserve access to clean and safe water, such as the use of controlled environments for food production or desalinating salt water for irrigation, are likely to be of great importance.
In Type 5 countries — including Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, UK and US — strengthening existing commitments and implementation has higher potential. These countries frequently have regulations or agreements in place, but implementation is often lacking. Rather than developing new solutions, delivering on existing commitments will be most impactful.
Meanwhile, there is higher potential in promoting traditional foods (ex: nuts, legumes and nutri-cereals) in Type 2 (including Ethiopia, the Philippines and Viet Nam) and Type 4 countries — many of which are shifting away from healthy and sustainable food cultures toward increased consumption of ultra-processed and animal-based foods.

The 6 Food System Types and example strategies

Ecuador (Type 1) – Developing nature-positive supply chains: Working with Indigenous Ecuadorian communities to strengthen traditional cocoa-production practices, implementing a deforestation-free traceability system, and establishing a long-term supply chain with a German company to ensure farmers get a fair price for their cocoa beans and products.
Philippines (Type 2) – Developing supply chain infrastructure: Creating SoilMate — a mobile app that makes composting of food waste easier, faster and safer for businesses and residents in Manila — to keep food waste out of landfill and provide organic fertilizers to local farmers.
Kenya (Type 3) – Supporting smallholders: Establishing an alternative market owned and run by local farmers in the Naivasha Basin — to break reliance on brokers, minimize food losses suffered while food is transported to cities, and increase the availability of healthy and sustainable food available to rural communities.
South Africa (Type 4) – Adopt high-tech methods: Implementing an artificial intelligence-powered early-warning system that can prevent whales from becoming entangled in ropes used to grow mussels in aquaculture farms close to the West Coast National Park.
United States (Type 5) – Promoting public awareness: Establishing an education program that turns cafeterias into classrooms, empowering students to measure and reduce food waste; and introduce state legislation that increases funding for food-waste reduction systems in schools.
Argentina (Type 6) – Optimizing land use: Partnering with ranchers in Las Pampas to implement sustainable livestock-management practices that improve soil and water health, increase biodiversity and deliver significant economic benefits to ranchers.

“The Great Food Puzzle approach will help to accelerate the incredible food system transformation that is already underway — there are many examples of countries already applying the highest-impact actions,” Loken said. “By finding place-based solutions and building coalitions of actors who can learn from each other and share solutions and stories of success, we have the opportunity to create healthy and sustainable food systems for all.”