Delivering climate resilience through safe and sustainable food systems (OneFood project)
Country: South Africa
Partners: UK: Centre for Environment Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA); South Africa: Department of Science and Innovation , (DSI); Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC); National Agricultural Marketing Council, (NAMC); Agricultural Research Council, (ARC); Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, (DFFE); FCDO SIN regional office; Intergovernmental: FAO; plus 13 other partners.
Summary: The indivisible link between food production and nature means that actions on food security impact the environment and vice versa. Climate change adds further complexity to this problem and the combination of these facts is thus a difficult balance that requires a clear understanding of the impacts associated with exploitation of the natural resources and the needs of the communities consuming the food. Hazards drive inefficiencies in food systems. These include those that impact food production and those hazards posed to the environment by production itself. To date, little consideration has been afforded to linkages between specific hazards in driving inefficiencies within and between food sectors, or the impact that multiple hazards have on food system efficiency and sustainability. In addition, appropriate investment in hazard control has not been articulated relative to potential gains for biodiversity, or to reductions in climate impacts resulting from improved food sector efficiency. The OneFood project places hazard profiling and management at the heart of environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable food system design. It seeks to develop new tools for calculating the impacts of hazards occurring between food sectors and considers the consequences for human, animal and plant health and the environment. The project maps hazards across and between food sectors with selected partner countries, will inform modelling of terrestrial and aquatic sectors applicable across multiple geographic and food sector contexts and will examine the food systems in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as biodiversity targets.
Related links: OneFood Community website