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Harmonizing food systems and nature conservation – towards just nature-people relations
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Main findings
To harmonize food systems with nature and climate protection and human wellbeing, just nature-people relations must be put center stage. We call for recognizing, harnessing and protecting the wealth of knowledge from diverse systems, including lay, practical and local knowledge that can help us make our global food system more just, sustainable and resilient. We consider promoting opportunities for youth in the food system, realizing nature positive and just food production and bridging the disconnect between consumers and producers to be mutually reinforcing if the right levers are deployed. ... Leer másIn this context those levers would mean to 1) create governance structures and financial mechanisms that foster sustainable agriculture, fair food chains and healthy diets, 2) provide incentives and economic support for the youth to seek a career along the food value chain, as well as 3) empowerment, self-determination, dignity, the protection of rights and participation, allowing for engaged communities along the entire food chain that are encouraged to set development priorities and hold decision-makers accountable. Accountability and transparency in sustainable resources and land use can bring more justice and equity to agricultural production and natural resource management. Sustainable land stewardship that perceives land, water and agrobiodiversity as part of the global commons, represents the entry point to develop multiple-benefit strategies for cultivating diversified food production systems, transforming production and consumption habits, restoring our ecosystems, enhancing the resilience in the climate emergency, contributing to local livelihoods and promoting human wellbeing. To holistically address the climate and biodiversity emergency, fight inequality and achieve human wellbeing, the following principles must be applied: -Valuing existing knowledge and tailoring it to a specific context to explore novel approaches. -Sharing learnings, including across regions to assess the scalability of innovative ideas. -Promoting locally adapted solutions that combine the best of local as well as scientific knowledge systems. -Ensuring justice within societies by understanding the barriers as well as the incentives that cause injustice in the given contexts. Complexity must be acknowledged, as out of the myriad of solutions from the micro to the meso scale, the best approaches will very much depend on biophysical, socio-economic and cultural conditions, governance and policy framework, as well as specific drivers of change, including fiscal incentives. Systemic barriers must be removed and diversity celebrated, as solutions considering the specificities of the given context and which have been developed in a collaborative, holistic and integrated way, enhance the resilience of agricultural and food systems to pests, pathogens and the climate emergency. At the same time, those solutions must also promote gender equality and human wellbeing. Knowledge must be drawn from diverse systems, in promoting transdisciplinary approaches, and in bringing together scientific, lay, practical and indigenous knowledge and different world views. The freshness of perspective from the youth must be embraced and we must answer to the fundamental questions they dare to raise and which have been buried for too long. We call upon governments to implement governance structures and set the right incentives that reflect the ambition of creating just nature people relations and a sustainable food system. We urge the financial and private sector to use their capabilities and power for positive change. We call upon research to support the transformation through knowledge, including asking the uncomfortable questions related to power in our unsustainable food system. We require civil society to accept the shared responsibility and become agents of change. Leer menos
Línea(s) de Acción: 1, 2, 3, 4
Palabras clave: Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Finance, Governance, Human rights, Innovation, Policy, Women & Youth Empowerment