Feed the world but feed it well. Why food systems must be reformed

Morgan Gillespy is Director of the Food and Land Use Coalition and Afshan Khan is Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Coordinator for the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement.

Almost three billion people around the world cannot afford a healthy diet and nearly all of the nutrition targets set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) are off track.

Iron deficiency in women is rising alongside adult malnutrition. Without urgent action, some analyses suggest hunger and malnutrition could rise by 20% by 2050.

This is not just a moral failure - it’s an economic one.

The costs of inaction are staggering: an estimated $41 trillion over the next decade, including $21 trillion in lost productivity from undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, and $20 trillion in economic and social costs linked to overweight and obesity.

By contrast, investments in child and maternal nutrition are considered a “development best-buy”, delivering $23 for every $1 invested - making nutrition not just a health priority, but a smart economic strategy.

In many low-income countries, affordability, availability and consumption patterns are the biggest barriers to good nutrition.

Food systems hold immense potential as the most powerful lever to deliver affordable, nutritious food for all. Yet they remain largely geared toward quantity over quality - dominated by a handful of staple crops that provide calories but fall short of the diverse nutrients people need to thrive.

The consequences extend far beyond diets: ecosystems are being depleted, and food systems now account for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Part of the challenge lies in reconciling the tension between increasing the availability of food and improving the quality of diets.

But doing both is possible and essential. Government policies regarding what is subsidised and incentivised is key. Better nutrition drives stronger human capital, boosts productivity, and underpins long-term economic growth, resilience and health.

Food systems operate in a powerful feedback loop. The food we produce shapes the quality of our diets, while our dietary choices influence demand and send signals back to producers. Over time, this cycle has far-reaching implications - not only for human health, but also for the health of the planet.

Agricultural production affects biodiversity, soil health, and emissions, making food systems a critical lever for both environmental sustainability and public well-being.

This circular relationship is why nutrition should be at the heart of discussions and commitments coming out of the recent U.N. Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) and why healthy sustainable diets should be one of the key outcomes of food systems transformation.

We need to invest in nutritious, hardy crops

Investing in the cultivation of diverse, nutritious, and climate-resilient crops, mobilising efforts to boost nutrition across sectors and promoting policy-backed shifts towards healthier dietary choices have the potential to drive change, better nutrition outcomes and, ultimately, healthy people and a healthy planet.

The kinds of actions that make a difference include incentives for farmers to grow more nutritious produce so that they can offer a healthier range of options for consumers while also reducing the burden on natural resources.

For instance, growing legumes that require less fertiliser can boost soil health and reduce emissions while providing a rich source of plant-based protein and other essential nutrients.

Private sector investments can support farmers to make the transition to growing these crops.

In Brazil, for example, the Food and Land Use Coalition is connecting the food industry, global markets and family farming to better align local and regional efforts, attract investment, and encourage innovation.

Comprehensive, integrated efforts to improve nutrition, such as those supported by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, can drive food systems transformation.

For example, the SUN-backed Feed Salone programme, supported by the Alliance of Champions for Food System Transformation (ACF), promotes safer, nutrition-rich crops such as groundnuts and sesame in Sierra Leone. These drought-tolerant Indigenous crops can boost farmers’ resilience to climate change while at the same time supporting the diversification of diets.

Growing biofortified varieties of hardy crops like orange-fleshed sweetpotato, for example, can also provide farmers with a reliable harvest while offering consumers enhanced levels of vitamin A.

Finally, promoting dietary shifts with policies and national nutrition guidelines, tax incentives and regulation can drive demand for more sustainable, nutritious foods. For instance, the Philippines is developing The Philippines Nutrient Profile Model for Promoting Healthy Diets, a tool to classify processed and ultra-processed food and drink products.

Tools such as these can help shape food regulatory policies, such as front-of-package labelling, that help consumers to make informed decisions. Social behaviour change and efforts to tackle harmful marketing are key to managing obesity rates, especially given that by 2030, in some regions, up to 50% of all adults are expected to be overweight or obese.

It is not enough for people to have food on their plates. That food must nourish, sustain and protect - both people and the planet.