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publication September 23, 2021

Food Finance Architecture: Financing a Healthy, Equitable and Sustainable Food System

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Flore de Preneuf/ ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳


Highlights

  • Food systems must change rapidly and fundamentally in the coming decades to become more regenerative, resilient, and inclusive, while increasing food supply for an additional 2 billion people by 2050.
  • Today¡¯s food systems generate $12 trillion in hidden social, economic, and environmental costs.
  • Implementing five "food finance imperatives" could unlock $4.5 trillion in new business opportunities every year and ensure a more sustainable food system.

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A Better Food System for Healthier People, Planet and Economy


Today¡¯s food systems generate $12 trillion in hidden social, economic, and environmental costs. It prioritizes volume over nutritional value, fails to pay a living wage while creating sizeable profits for a concentrated set of players, and treats the natural environment as an infinite resource ¨C resulting in massive waste and undermining the stability of the entire food system and global economy.

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The  has brought people together to develop the solutions we need. The Summit¡¯s "Finance Lever", comprised of the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳,  and the , has developed the Food Finance Architecture, a policy brief that lays out the building blocks for how banks, investors, development institutions, companies, farmers, and governments can shift capital out of high-carbon, unequal, extractive food assets and into inclusive, climate-smart, circular business models that benefit the people and planet.

The Food Finance Architecture focuses on five imperatives needed to optimize public spending and mobilize private capital for a global food system transformation:

1. Reshape public support and incentives

Current food systems incentivize unsustainable choices. Most of the $600 billion in global public financial support for agriculture and fisheries contributes to the overuse of natural resources and often benefits richer and larger farmers. Reshaping public support can address market failures and shift the market toward sustainable practices. Governments can repurpose fiscal incentives away from supporting production of carbon emissions, consumption of excessive sugar, and other harmful behavior. Instead, regulations should aim toward supporting sustainable practices, building up rural infra