The National Pathways for Food Systems Transformation in Support of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda is a sectoral document that highlights how transforming agriculture and food systems can contribute to reducing the burden of malnutrition, improving agricultural productivity, and strengthening social protection for vulnerable groups. However, achieving a sustainable transformation requires a holistic and integrated approach involving all key actors across the food system. Environmental, territorial, technological, political, socioeconomic, and demographic factors shape the food system at every stage, from production and collection to processing, transport, distribution, and consumption. These interconnected factors influence the overall performance and sustainability of the food system and can contribute to environmental degradation, territorial inequalities, socioeconomic vulnerabilities, and challenges to food security, nutrition, and health, including resource depletion, rural poverty, unequal access to land and nutritious food, limited livelihood opportunities, unhealthy diets, and malnutrition. The interventions are structured around 5 action tracks. Action Track 1 focuses on ensuring access to safe and nutritious food through stronger food-safety regulations, promotion of diverse and traditional nutritious foods, biofortification, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, school feeding, social protection, and nutrition education. Action Track 2 promotes sustainable consumption through dietary guidelines, healthier and more diverse food production and diets, responsible food processing, improved food environments and markets, and measures to reduce food loss and waste. Action Track 3 supports nature-positive production by scaling climate-smart and conservation agriculture, improving access to sustainable technologies, irrigation, finance, research and extension services, agro-processing, and better land and water management. Action Track 4 aims to strengthen equitable livelihoods and value distribution through improved access to land, finance, technology and markets, particularly for women, youth and smallholder farmers, while promoting inclusive value chains, agribusiness, cooperatives, and fair and transparent market systems. Finally, Action Track 5 focuses on building resilience to shocks and stresses by strengthening climate-resilient agriculture, promoting drought- and disease-tolerant traditional crops, restoring degraded land, strengthening seed systems, and expanding targeted social protection and safety-net programmes.
Zimbabwe · 2021-09-01