Around the world, agrifood systems generate jobs, support foreign exchange, and form the backbone of rural economies. Yet beneath this economic engine lies a quieter reality: the environmental and social burdens that never show up on balance sheets. These unpriced externalities — degraded soils, polluted water, greenhouse gas emissions, underpaid workers, and children engaged in hazardous labor — remain largely invisible in policy and market decisions. Unless these costs are measured and made visible, policymakers and other stakeholders will struggle to build healthy, biodiverse, and equitable communities and landscapes.

Join us for this webinar to examine the methods of true cost accounting and share new evidence from Colombia, Kenya, Peru, and Vietnam. Speakers will highlight patterns in the cost structure of food systems, discuss which sectors stand out and where externalities are concentrated along value chains, and offer guidance for policymakers and investors. The session will also address what can be done to make these hidden costs visible and advance more sustainable, equitable, inclusive, and resilient food systems.

The CGIAR Science Program on Multifunctional Landscapes is guided by a bold vision of thriving, biodiverse, low-emissions, and healthy landscapes, managed holistically to support both people and the planet. Achieving this vision means transforming how we produce food and steward agri-ecosystems.

Presentations

• Rui Benfica, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
• Kristin Davis, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Moderator

• Sedi Boukaka, Research Coordinator, IFPRI