Food in the context of sustainable development

Transcription

1 Introduction Authors: catherine esnouf, nicolas bricas and marie russel Contributor: armelle champenois Food in the context of sustainable development Food sustainability must meet the challenges of sustainable development. These challenges, of a political nature, are: (1) the transformation of technical and economic development methods to render them compatible with long-term environmental requirements, (2) intra-generational equity to provide the conditions for joint action to promote essential public goods at different territorial scales up to a planetary level, and (3) the acceptance by today s generations of the costs, duties and limits determined with regard to the fate of future generations, even in the very long term (Godard, 2009). Food sustainability can be defined in this context, and has been assigned numerous definitions. The most recent was proposed by the FAO following a symposium on biodiversity: a sustainable food system will protect and respect biodiversity and ecosystems, be culturally acceptable, economically fair and affordable, nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy, while optimising the use of natural and human resources (FAO, 2010b). The objective of food sustainability must be to face all or some of these challenges and not to assume that existing models continue to be applied in the long term; this may mean developing new models or adapting existing models. The food challenge is to ensure that all populations benefit from a diet that meets their qualitative and quantitative needs in a context of sustainable development. The concept of food sustainability includes both an ability to satisfy vital needs and the provision of conditions to drive the global food system towards respect for the three pillars of sustainable development. Food System Sustainability: Insights from dualine, eds. Catherine Esnouf, Marie Russel and Nicolas Bricas. Published by in this web service

2 2 Catherine Esnouf, Nicolas Bricas and Marie Russel Literature reviews and debates among both professionals and the general public have revealed that the notion of sustainability has often been limited in the past: initially, in the 1980s, to impacts on the consumption of fossil fuels (pioneering studies by Pimentel et al., 1973) and, since the 1990s, to impacts on the environment. In the media or in public debates, the expression food sustainability is often restricted to alternative systems, rapidly endowed with a whole host of benefits. Long-term foresight studies on food systems, although they may not use the term sustainability, tend to focus on global equilibriums. This challenge is certainly of considerable importance, but it takes no account of the fact that the food system is much more than simply a question of satisfying nutritional needs from quantitative and health points of view; the food system is also profoundly cultural, consumerist, social, economic and local. One specificity of the field of food is that it lies at the crossroads between individual choices, which determine each diet, and the broad range of socioeconomic stakeholders involved, from producers to consumers. The result is that people find it difficult to understand their own, personal impact on the sustainability of food systems. The objective of dualine (sustainability of food systems faced with new challenges) The aim of this project was to review the international literature and mobilise appropriate experts in order to identify major gaps in our knowledge of these challenges, and thus determine priority research areas for the national and international scientific communities. The experts who took part in this exercise were from academic circles, public authorities, non-governmental organisations and companies. The workshops were organised and interlinked as shown in Figure I.1. The work of each workshop then generated a chapter in this book. The workshop numbers correspond to their respective chapters. Scope of the project The project covered food systems from the farm gate to consumption (cost and availability of products, satisfaction of needs). It did not analyse trends in agricultural production systems as such, but only the results of changes in supply interacting with changes to the composition of diets. In this respect, it was distinctive from, and complementary to, several national and international projects that have analysed the global challenges linked to agriculture (Paillard in this web service

3 Introduction 3 2. Consumer 6. Urbanisation and Locations 3. Food Choices and Case Study 4. Food Systems 8. International Markets 5. Industrial Organisation 7. Losses/ Wastage 1. Context 9. Foresight Study 10. Indicators and Methods. Critical Study Figure I.1 Organisation of dualine and of this book. et al., 2010) or have developed research objectives for sustainable farming (Boiffin et al., 2004; Foresight, 2011; Hubert, 2002; Pretty, 2008; Soussana, 2010). Nor did this project focus as such on the general challenges linked to the impact of diet on health and well-being, as numerous strategic research initiatives have addressed this issue (Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Healthy diet for a healthy life, French Presidential Plan on Obesity, National Nutrition and Health Programme (PNNS), National Food Programme (PNA), etc.). However, it did examine the interactions between diet and sustainability as potential sources of new questions. Organisation of this book The questions for research are designed to clarify the determinants that may support positive or negative elements relative to certain challenges. The project thus involved identifying the major challenges linked to food sustainability, and particularly those specific to this area. This is the subject of the first chapter. Subsequent chapters analyse the components of food systems in terms of demand, supply and the major issues associated with them. An analysis of medium and long-term changes in food consumption is necessary to address their foreseeable consequences and then consider in this web service

4 4 Catherine Esnouf, Nicolas Bricas and Marie Russel their determinants, with a particular focus on factors that might enable trend changes towards greater sustainability. This issue is analysed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 considers the question of comparative assessment between two pillars of food sustainability: the nutritional quality of food and its carbon footprint. It presents a study of the carbon footprint of usual food consumption by a representative sample of French adults. Factors liable to explain interindividual variations in this carbon footprint are explored. Unlike elsewhere in the book, this chapter focuses on presenting original findings. Chapter 4 addresses food systems using an innovative double approach. They are first of all considered in interaction with energy and chemical systems within ecosystems, raising the question of resource allocation (land and biomass). A socioeconomic approach then highlights the diversity of these food systems. In Chapter 5, the emphasis is laid upon the changes that must be made to food processing and the logistics of industrial food systems in order to preserve their economic efficiency in an evolving context. When dealing with the sustainability of food systems, the spatial dimension merits particular attention. Chapter 6 explores first, how increasing urbanisation questions the sustainability of food supply systems for urban dwellers, and second how the location of different activities in the food chain markedly affects the environmental balance of food systems. Food losses and wastage, the current lack of knowledge as to their extent, the mechanisms in play and the roles of different stakeholders are so important that Chapter 7 is devoted entirely to this subject. Food sustainability issues cannot be restricted to the national context, insofar as the international interactions involved are unquestionable. Chapter 8 thus focuses on their role, with particular emphasis on the volatility of global food prices and on public and private standards. Food systems throughout the world are constantly evolving, even if only certain parameters are considered, such as the trading of foodstuffs, the conservation techniques employed or the location of retail outlets. Because it is impossible to predict the food systems of the future, Chapter 9 adopts a foresight approach to try to comprehend future changes. Chapter 10 deals specifically with the methods used to assess sustainability, due to their crucial importance, analysing them with respect to their relevance to food and identifying the specific questions that they raise. in this web service

5 1 Context: new challenges for food systems Authors: catherine esnouf and nicolas bricas Contributors: armelle champenois and marie russel The global food context is characterised by growing uncertainties and increasing constraints. The two sides of the global equation for food self-sufficiency are known: the planet will have to provide food for more than 9 billion people in 2050, while satisfying growing non-food demands because of the increasing rarity of fossil energy sources, all in the context of development that is respectful of both the environment and human beings. The joint INRA CIRAD Agrimonde foresight study (Paillard et al., 2010) showed that achieving these ambitions is not impossible if certain conditions are met; in particular, a sustainable increase in yields on the supply side and an improvement in the use of agricultural products at different stages, including a reduction in losses and wastage between the farm gate and the consumer s plate, and possible reductions in, or modifications to, the content of different diets on the demand side. Increased and more secure trade is also necessary, insofar as Africa and Asia, where the greatest population rises are anticipated, will remain deficient in agricultural and food products. Finally, the food context of the future is characterised by increasing uncertainties and considerable constraints. These different elements provide a framework for the challenges that will have to be met by food sustainability. 1.1 Demographics and uncertainties Demographic forecasts agree that the global population will start to stabilise around 2050; that is why this time horizon is often chosen as the Food System Sustainability: Insights from dualine, eds. Catherine Esnouf, Marie Russel and Nicolas Bricas. Published by in this web service

6 6 Catherine Esnouf and Nicolas Bricas Total population (billions) Figure 1.1 World population growth from 3.1 to 6.5 billion people between 1950 Annual increments (billions) and 2000, and towards 9 billion by 2050 (Source: UN, 2003). Total World Population Fractiles Median Year Figure 1.2 Uncertainties regarding population growth (Source: Lutz et al., 2001). target for foresight studies. The forecasted figure is around 9 billion inhabitants, i.e. a 50% increase over the population in 2000 (6 billion) and a 43% increase over 2005 (Figure 1.1). However, considerable uncertainties remain, in particular in relation to future birth control patterns. Thus the forecasts range from 7 to 10 billion, although one scenario, with a very low probability of occurrence, situates a possible peak at 12 billion in 2100 (Lutz et al., 2001) (Figure 1.2). Two major demographic elements are, first of all, the ageing of the population, which will affect both developed and emerging countries, insofar as the average in this web service

7 Context: new challenges for food systems 7 Population (Billions) 6 5 current anticipated Urban 1 Rural Figure 1.3 In 30 years time, two-thirds of the world s population will be living in urban areas (Source: UN, 2003). global age was 28 years in 2005 and should be 38 years in 2050 (Lutz et al., 2008), and second, urbanisation. Although at present half the world s population lives in urban areas, by 2050 this proportion will have reached 70% (Figure 1.3). 1.2 The challenge of global food security The World Food Summit in 1996 considered that food security is assured when all people at all times have economic, social and physical access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food that meets their dietary needs as well as their food preferences and allows them to maintain a healthy and active life (FAO, 1996). In quantitative terms, it is important to make a distinction between apparent availability and actual consumption. Apparent availability concerns the quantities produced, to which are added imports and increases in stocks, and from which are deducted exports, reductions in stocks and estimated harvest losses. It does not take account of losses and wastage after harvest (estimated at between 30% and 50% in developed countries). For this reason, it only imperfectly reflects consumption; thus apparent availability in developed countries is about kcal/day, while actual consumption, closer to nutritional needs, is about 2000 kcal/day. However, figures on availability are the only obtainable data for all countries of the world and for each year since 1960 (Figure 1.4). It is important to remember that, on average, 57% of initial calories are not consumed. The current average global availability is 2800 kcal/person/day (Smil, 2000). This is very unevenly distributed, from 2160 in the least advanced countries to 3730 in North America. For this reason, undernourished populations are also very unevenly distributed (Figure 1.5) (FAO-UNO, 2009). According to the FAO, under-nutrition is when the calorie intake is lower than minimum dietary energy requirements (MDER). The MDER represents the in this web service

8 8 Catherine Esnouf and Nicolas Bricas Mean production per capital and per day kcal Harvest losses After harvest 4000 kcal Animal feed Meat and dairy 2800 kcal Apparent availability distribution losses and Available waste for household consumption 2000 kcal From Farm to Fork Figure 1.4 From the farm to the fork; the path taken by kilocalories (in kilocalories per day and per person) (Source: Smil, 2000). amount of energy required to carry out normal activities and have an acceptable minimum weight for a given height. They differ from one country to another and vary each year according to gender and the age pyramid (FAO, 2010c). The FAO calculation method used in Figure 1.5 takes account of calories. It estimates the number of undernourished people based on the data available on the population (calculation of energy needs by age category: data revised in 2008), food production, trade and the distribution of food products or income. This method has frequently been criticised for its deficiencies and approximations, and other institutions (USDA, World Bank, etc.) use different calculation methods. A recent article referred briefly to these different indices, their use, advantages and drawbacks (Masset, 2011). Food insecurity is often linked to insufficient agricultural production. However, this production has been growing in different parts of the world, with the notable exception of the former USSR and Africa, where the increase has been lower in absolute terms (Figure 1.6). Although agricultural production and food availability per capita have increased, the number of people affected by food insecurity started to rise in the mid-1990s, having fallen during the two previous decades (1970s and 1980s) (Figure 1.7). in this web service

9 Developed countries 15 Middle East and North Africa Asia - Pacific Population (millions) in a state of undernourishment XX Population (per cent) 53 Latin America and Caribbean 265 Sub-Saharan Africa Undernourished people estimation in million projection in million 35% of the population or more 20 34% of the population 10 19% of the population or more 5 9% of the population 5% of the population or less Insufficient data objective for the millennium 420 million Figure 1.5 Uneven distribution of undernourished populations (Source: FAO-UNO, 2009). in this web service

10 10 Catherine Esnouf and Nicolas Bricas kcal/ha/day Year Asia Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Latin America Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa ex-ussr Figure 1.6 Food production per hectare of cultivated land ( ) (Source: Paillard et al., 2010). An increase in food production is therefore not enough to reduce undernutrition. This situation can be explained by insufficient wealth and the growth of inequalities (resulting in a rise in the number of poor people with no access to food). Thus in 2010, the undernourished population in developed countries comprised 19 million people. Although France is a net exporter of agricultural products, the number of people in the country claiming that they suffered from food insecurity was estimated as being at least one million in 2008 (Escalon et al., 2009). Food price crises affecting international markets in and exacerbated the situation for vulnerable populations. Some observers (Brown, 2011; Evans, 2009, 2010; Freibauer et al., 2011; Heinberg and Bomford, 2009; IMF, 2011; Koning et al., 2008; McIntyre et al., 2009; Schaffnit-Chatterjee, 2009; Sjauw-Koen-Fa, 2009) considered that these price rises marked the end of a period of abundant or even excess production, and the start of a more tense market environment, notably because of the rise in food demands (particularly for animal products) and demands for agro-energy in both developed and emerging countries. The ratio between consumption and food availability (linked to losses and wastage) and changes in consumption trends were thus called into question. The financial, banking and economic crisis of increased the number of undernourished people by 100 million. in this web service