A whole-systems approach across value chain stages

Drivers of sustainability progress and how they could play out by 2030, 2050, and 2100 under different development pathways and quantitative targets. Source: Moallemi et al. 2022.

Our research

Food systems interact with other sectors (energy, water, land, climate) in complicated ways, and their sustainable pathways are elusive due to their complexity, trade-offs, and uncertainties.

This research informs what it would take in terms of policies and actions, from local to national to global scale, to navigate trade-offs and transform our food systems towards a more sustainable future in a way that deliver human wellbeing and economic development while maintaining the stability and resilience of the Earth system.

Benefits of our research

We work with communities to understand what a system transformation means to them and what they believe they need to reach a sustainable future – looking at it from social, economic, and environmental perspectives. We also advance analytical methods for analysing policy interventions in the face of future deep uncertainties to help policymakers clarify trade-offs and synergies associated with various sustainability goals related to food and develop adaptive plans that can also survive and remain effective across all goals and given long-term uncertain futures.

Why are we doing this research?

We use a range of transition theories and decision/scenario tools from natural and social sciences to design and evaluate policy pathways for food system transformations in an uncertain future. We approach research questions with a holistic view of system interactions between food and societal (poverty, equity) and environmental (energy, climate, food and land) aspects, framed by the Sustainable Development Goals.

Want to learn more?

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Contact Dr Enayat Moallemi  to learn more about this research.