What Do We Know About the Future of Food Systems?

Food systems have achieved remarkable progress in recent decades, but moving forward, they will face significant challenges in delivering the many outputs and services—such as poverty alleviation, nutrition and health, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability—we expect and need. By combining sophisticated analysis and close engagement with stakeholders, we can identify and explore the likely impacts of different future scenarios based on alternative development pathways and external factors. These results can help inform the decisions we make about food systems today.

This event marks the launch of What Do We Know About the Future of Food Systems?, a collection of short chapters that synthesize current knowledge about different aspects of the future of food systems. Written by more than 100 scientists from around the world with expertise in a wide range of related disciplines and regions, these chapters provide accessible overviews of the latest foresight research on each topic, guide readers toward more detailed information, and offer insights into how our knowledge of future trends can be improved.

The launch will present an overview of the book and highlight key findings from select chapters, followed by a panel discussion featuring speakers from country partners, regional organizations, and donor agencies.

Moderator Welcome

• Elisabetta Gotor, Principal Scientist, Performance, Innovation and Strategic Analysis, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Opening Remarks

• Sandra Cristina Kothe Milach, Chief Scientist, CGIAR

Overview

• Keith Wiebe, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Selected Chapter Highlights

• Impact area: Poverty – Karl Pauw, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

• Driver: Innovation – Daniel Mason-D’Croz, Senior Research Associate, Department of Global Development, Cornell University

• Region: West and Central Africa – Dolapo Enahoro, Senior Agricultural Economist, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

• Commodity: Aquatic Foods – Chin Yee Chan, Scientist, WorldFish

Panel Discussion

• Vanessa da Fonseca Pereira, Advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) and analyst at Embrapa

• Kindie Tesfaye Fantaye, Head, Climate Adaptation and Resilience, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

• Ruben Echeverria, Senior Advisor Agriculture Development, Gates Foundation

Closing Remarks

• Clemens Breisinger, Program Leader for the Kenya Strategy Support Program; Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
• Elisabetta Gotor, Principal Scientist, Performance, Innovation and Strategic Analysis, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT