The Lancet Planetary Health (Jan 2021)
Articulating the effect of food systems innovation on the Sustainable Development Goals
- Mario Herrero, ProfPhD,
- Philip K Thornton, PhD,
- Daniel Mason-D'Croz, MA,
- Jeda Palmer, BSc,
- Benjamin L Bodirsky, PhD,
- Prajal Pradhan, PhD,
- Christopher B Barrett, ProfPhD,
- Tim G Benton, ProfPhD,
- Andrew Hall, PhD,
- Ilje Pikaar, PhD,
- Jessica R Bogard, PhD,
- Graham D Bonnett, PhD,
- Brett A Bryan, ProfPhD,
- Bruce M Campbell, PhD,
- Svend Christensen, ProfPhD,
- Michael Clark, PhD,
- Jessica Fanzo, ProfPhD,
- Cecile M Godde, PhD,
- Andy Jarvis, PhD,
- Ana Maria Loboguerrero, PhD,
- Alexander Mathys, ProfPhD,
- C Lynne McIntyre, PhD,
- Rosamond L Naylor, ProfPhD,
- Rebecca Nelson, ProfPhD,
- Michael Obersteiner, PhD,
- Alejandro Parodi, MSc,
- Alexander Popp, ProfPhD,
- Katie Ricketts, MSc,
- Pete Smith, ProfPhD,
- Hugo Valin, PhD,
- Sonja J Vermeulen, PhD,
- Joost Vervoort, PhD,
- Mark van Wijk, PhD,
- Hannah HE van Zanten, PhD,
- Paul C West, PhD,
- Stephen A Wood, PhD,
- Johan Rockström, ProfPhD
Affiliations
- Mario Herrero, ProfPhD
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Correspondence to: Prof Mario Herrero, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia
- Philip K Thornton, PhD
- CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
- Daniel Mason-D'Croz, MA
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Jeda Palmer, BSc
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Benjamin L Bodirsky, PhD
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany
- Prajal Pradhan, PhD
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany
- Christopher B Barrett, ProfPhD
- Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
- Tim G Benton, ProfPhD
- The Royal Institute for International Affairs, Chatham House, London, UK
- Andrew Hall, PhD
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Black Mountain, ACT, Australia
- Ilje Pikaar, PhD
- The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- Jessica R Bogard, PhD
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Graham D Bonnett, PhD
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Brett A Bryan, ProfPhD
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
- Bruce M Campbell, PhD
- CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Valle del Cauca, Colombia; Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Svend Christensen, ProfPhD
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Michael Clark, PhD
- Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Jessica Fanzo, ProfPhD
- School of Advanced International Studies, Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA; Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
- Cecile M Godde, PhD
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Andy Jarvis, PhD
- CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
- Ana Maria Loboguerrero, PhD
- CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
- Alexander Mathys, ProfPhD
- Sustainable Food Processing Laboratory, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- C Lynne McIntyre, PhD
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Rosamond L Naylor, ProfPhD
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Rebecca Nelson, ProfPhD
- Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
- Michael Obersteiner, PhD
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria; Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Alejandro Parodi, MSc
- Animal Production Systems group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Alexander Popp, ProfPhD
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany
- Katie Ricketts, MSc
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Black Mountain, ACT, Australia
- Pete Smith, ProfPhD
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
- Hugo Valin, PhD
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
- Sonja J Vermeulen, PhD
- CGIAR System Organisation, Montpellier, France
- Joost Vervoort, PhD
- Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Mark van Wijk, PhD
- International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
- Hannah HE van Zanten, PhD
- Farming Systems Ecology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Paul C West, PhD
- Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Stephen A Wood, PhD
- The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, USA; Yale School of the Environment, New Haven, CT, USA
- Johan Rockström, ProfPhD
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany; Institute of Environmental Science and Geography, Universität Potsdam, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 5,
no. 1
pp. e50 – e62
Abstract
Summary: Food system innovations will be instrumental to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, major innovation breakthroughs can trigger profound and disruptive changes, leading to simultaneous and interlinked reconfigurations of multiple parts of the global food system. The emergence of new technologies or social solutions, therefore, have very different impact profiles, with favourable consequences for some SDGs and unintended adverse side-effects for others. Stand-alone innovations seldom achieve positive outcomes over multiple sustainability dimensions. Instead, they should be embedded as part of systemic changes that facilitate the implementation of the SDGs. Emerging trade-offs need to be intentionally addressed to achieve true sustainability, particularly those involving social aspects like inequality in its many forms, social justice, and strong institutions, which remain challenging. Trade-offs with undesirable consequences are manageable through the development of well planned transition pathways, careful monitoring of key indicators, and through the implementation of transparent science targets at the local level.
