The Future of Agriculture and Food Security? ...

The world is faced with huge challenges that are​ currently​ and will continue to affect agricultural development, productivity and trade. Food security, in particular, is threatened by climate change, conflicts, population growth and rapid urbanization, water, air and soil pollution, freshwater shortages,  the loss of biodiversity, the vulnerability and shortcomings of global value chains, commoditisation of production and trade of agricultural and food products ​and human health hazards such as the covid-19 pandemic. Meeting these challenges will require systemic changes in the way we produce, process and trade food products as well as a political commitment towards more inclusive and sustainable food systems taking into account geo-political shifts in the axes of power.

​On the other hand,​​ ​groundbreaking agricultural research, a dynamic private sector, an active and committed civil society and strong commitments on the part of governments offer hope that the international community and the Dutch international cooperation community will continue to contribute towards achieving sustainable and equitable growth for poverty reduction and food security.