Four years after the first UN Food Systems Summit, experts say stronger action is still needed to end hunger and transform food systems. The 2021 summit inspired national plans: more than 125 countries adopted national pathways and almost 300 commitments were made by civil society. Since then new conflicts, rising climate extremes and geopolitical uncertainty have slowed progress.
Science and agricultural research organisations such as CGIAR helped improve nutrition and develop better crop and animal varieties. Countries are scaling up home‑grown school meal programmes and Kenya aims to ensure every child can receive a healthy meal in school by 2030. Yet healthy diets remain unaffordable for almost 3 billion people. Authors call for more investment, better finance and cooperation; the CGIAR Flagship Report 2025 is offered as a starting point for policymakers.
Difficult words
- summit — a meeting of leaders and experts to discuss issues
- commitment — a promise to do something in the futurecommitments
- conflict — a serious disagreement or fight between groupsconflicts
- nutrition — the process of getting the right food and nutrients
- scale up — to increase the size or amount of somethingscaling up
- affordable — cheap enough for people to buyunaffordable
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Do you think healthy food is affordable where you live? Why or why not?
- What local programmes could help children get healthy meals at school?
- How can countries cooperate to improve food systems?
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