Resumen:
A food systems approach (FSA) is a useful interdisciplinary conceptual framework for research and
policy aimed at sustainable solutions for the sufficient supply of healthy food. An FSA analyses the
relationships between the different parts of the food system and the outcomes of activities within the
system in socio-economic and environmental/climate terms. Feedback loops are a distinguishing factor
in systems thinking: they occur between parts of the food chain (production, processing, distribution
and consumption) and from the socio-economic and environmental outcomes of food production and
consumption (such as food security and soil depletion) back to that production and consumption. The
FSA sheds light on non-linear processes in the food system, and on possible trade-offs between policy
objectives. Systems thinking also broadens the perspective when seeking solutions for the root causes
of problems such as poverty, malnutrition and climate change. The framework offers at least three
benefits. First, it provides a checklist of topics that should at the very least be addressed when it
comes to improving food security, certainly in relation to other policy objectives. Second, FSA helps to
map the impact of environmental and climate changes on food security by pointing to the various
vulnerabilities of the food system. In that sense the approach can contribute to the search for
possibilities for strengthening the system’s resilience to climate changes. Third, it helps to determine
the most limiting factors for achieving food security, and hence identify effective interventions aimed
at improving food security.
