‘Guaranteed investment’ must follow UN Food Systems Summit (SciDevNet)

SciDevNet published a post by Ruth Douglas who writes that as the UN Food Systems Summit looms large, how can we ensure that this much-anticipated event is not just a talking shop, but results in concrete action and investment? Senior research coordinator Namukolo Covic says an accountability mechanism is vital because of the number and nature of stakeholders in the process. “To address food systems transformation will require [the] private sector to engage, and amongst them will be all these multinationals that in some way are also part of the problem,” she says, citing the marketing of unhealthy foods as an example. “If this is supposed to be an inclusive process, it means [private companies] might find entry points to contribute to the process, but what might be those accountability mechanisms to ensure that they are contributing positively to the transformation process? There is definitely agreement that science should inform the process. But there’s also an agreement that we should be open to looking at, for example, what indigenous communities have been doing forever that might be helpful to the process.”