Swedish FAO Committee: 75 years of collaboration for global food security

SIANI has been a member of the Swedish FAO Committee since 2014, with SIANI Programme Director Madeleine Fogde representing the network. The Committee celebrated its 75th anniversary last month by looking back at how FAO and the Committee itself changed throughout the years, seizing opportunities in agriculture and development and looking into the future of the sector, especially from young professionals’ perspectives.

From technical knowledge sharing to holistic food systems perspective

Even though FAO was initially established to share technological expertise, it has evolved to focus on food systems much more holistically. In fact, its progressive work on rural development, social forestry and focus on agrarian reforms and low-income communities might have been classified these days as “too woke” by some country delegations, as Inge Gerremo, Honorary Fellow and former Permanent Representative of Sweden to FAO, puts it.

Throughout the years, Sweden has shared its knowledge and created opportunities in many countries and across topics, including sustainable and productive livestock raising, antimicrobial resistance, and forestry. However, FAO can still sometimes be seen as the organization “dealing with cows and crops”, says Pernilla Ivarsson, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sweden to FAO. This narrative does not fit the FAO of today and needs to be challenged to build broad, strong relationships with, for instance, the private sector and academia to find new ways of research and cooperation.

Director of Sida’s Results Department Annika Otterstedt also stressed the importance of linking knowledge from the private sector, authorities, local communities, civil society, and research to FAO for better results and to foster more support for FAO’s activities from the wider society. Cecilia Nordin van Gansberghe, Former Permanent Representative of Sweden to FAO and current Chair of SIANI Steering Committee notes that that is exactly what SIANI has been set up to do and has successfully been doing since.

“Global discussions have strongly advanced the understanding of the necessity of looking at global food chains. […] Politics take up and will take up much space, which underlines the necessity of facilitating contact between individuals, organizations and countries. All partners need to participate: governments, NGOs, and the private sector. […] It’s not easy, but it just has to be done.” – Cecilia Nordin van Gansberghe

Ms Otterstedt believes that development cooperation remains a great way to promote Sweden in other countries, but the context has changed. Safety and security issues have become important not just in developing countries, but in Sweden and Europe, too. Climate risks surface global interdependencies in new ways that can only be mitigated by collaboration and secure trading systems. Conflicts, climate change and decreasing development funding makes investing in food system resilience all the more important.

Where are we now? The state of SDG 2

Chief FAO Economist Maximo Torero paints a bleaker picture still. No region or country is on track to reach SDG 2 with only Latin America and the Caribbean showing consistent improvements in food security. Over 500 million people are projected to be going hungry by 2030, up by 200 million since and due to COVID. The cost of ending hunger has also increased by around 200 billion to reach a whopping 540 billion, largely due to past inaction. With global inflation, food prices rose higher than other goods in the economy and in low-income countries, food price inflation is decreasing slower than in high-income countries. In the context of rising economic inequalities, conflicts, and climate change with 6 out of 9 planetary boundaries surpassed and the speed and intensity of problems increasing, what do we need to relieve millions from hunger?

We may not know the exact nature of economic or climate shocks, but we know they are coming. Therefore, we need to be prepared and make agrifood systems more resilient, efficient, and inclusive. Youth will have a big role to play in the agrifood systems of the future. 85% of youth live in low-income countries where agrifood systems can provide employment and food. Technology will also play a role: adopting digital technologies and science innovations can not only make agrifood systems more efficient and therefore profitable, but they can also help bring more young people into the field. Most importantly, Mr Torrero stressed the need for breaking of silos, collaboration between agrifood actors and coordination across levels of governments and ministries to make any of this happen.

Seizing new opportunities: Bioeconomy is having a moment

FAO’s Senior Advisor for Governance, Economics and Production Thais Linhares Juvenal, reminds that the new FAO Strategic Framework, tying together production, environment, and conservation, makes it for a great moment to advance bioeconomy. Sweden has a lot to contribute in that regard, especially within forestry, where forest and its people are seen not as a resource, but a driver of sustainable development. Forest and agriculture are complimentary, but she highlights how important it is for small holders, small producers, and small and medium enterprises to be part of the move towards bioeconomy to make the transition truly sustainable.

“If forests don’t have local value, they won’t survive” – Thais Linhares Juvenal

SEI Senior Research Fellow and frequent SIANI collaborator Ivar Virgin agrees that bioeconomy has gone from a research discipline to gaining traction worldwide as part of a solution. It presents an inclusive model of economic development and Sweden, with its tradition in research, innovation, and sustainable resource use has much to offer. Bioeconomy presents many opportunities for agriculture and the wider economy, including new sustainable products within construction, chemicals, fuels, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and the opening up of new markets for farmers. It holds the potential to transform agriculture, forestry, and fisheries into more resilient, climate-smart sectors, but it needs to be incentivised with inclusive policies that ensure ecological, economic, and social sustainability.

Read more bioeconomy insights in the publication launched at the event.

The future of food systems

In Sweden, the average farmer is 60 years old and one third of farmers are past retirement age. This is not for lack of interest in the sector from young people; 94% of young farmers want to take over a farm, but face many obstacles. Katarina Wolf, dairy farmer and Chair of Federation of Young Swedish Farmers (LRF), Carl Filip Trolle-Hjälte, farmer and a member of the KSLA Board Committee for Youth Issues, and Ebba Engström, PhD student at Imperial College, member of the World Food Forum’s Young Scientists Group, and SIANI alumna, share some insights into the challenges that youth may face:

1. Access to land. Partly due to profitability, farmers tend to shut their farms down instead of passing them down to the next generation and for those without the option to take over a farm, it is difficult to compete with established farmers as well as governments.
2. Access to financial support. Banks are often unwilling to loan to someone without a financial track record.
3. Social sustainability. As in any line of work, work-life balance is an important aspect that can be hard to reach when the job depends on natural cycles and environmental conditions outside of one’s control. Similarly, taking parental leave should be as acceptable and easy as in other lines of work.
4. Climate change is another obstacle that all farmers change. Mr Trolle-Hjälte points out that changing climate further shrinks the already meagre farming profitability margins, reducing the appeal of the profession.
5. It should be clear by now that healthy food systems of the future require collaboration across sectors, not least academia. Ms Engström highlights that for young scientists within agriculture such as herself, safe workplaces and institutional mechanisms that ensure that are crucial, especially in early career.

“You shouldn’t have to choose between having children and having cows” – Katarina Wolf

Young people are not only raising concerns, they are also offering actionable solutions and fresh approaches.

Here’s what the panel thought needs to be done to make farming an attractive and sustainable option in the future:

1. Reasonable wages go without saying. Farming is an essential service as it doesn’t only provide food, but also environmental services such as biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, water purification and regulation.
2. Social benefits that any other profession enjoys should be as accessible and as acceptable in farming.
3. Adaptation is the key to climate change and, luckily, farmers are already great at it having to work around ever changing weather or economic conditions. However, financial means are important as adaptation incurs costs that farmers themselves often cannot take on.
4. Technology uptake can not only increase efficiency, but it can also attract more youth to the profession. Technology provides a different way to engage in agriculture and evidence to improve decision-making, and more and more farmers are becoming technology managers. Online spaces also give young farmers a forum to connect, provide input, and showcase the reality of farm life. Financial support is, again, key as technology implementation and data management can be costly.

“We have a common responsibility all over the world as farmers to provide the population with food and being engaged in [organizations such as FAO] that enable knowledge sharing and partnerships – all of that, in the long term, will strengthen our position in the food chain and create more productivity, and that’s positive.” – Katarina Wolf

Collaboration is the only way forward

Across all sessions and speakers, one message rang clear: the complexity and urgency of today’s food systems challenges demand stronger collaboration and cross-sector connections. The Swedish FAO Committee’s 75-year legacy of multistakeholder engagement continues to inspire – and networks like SIANI play a vital role in bringing diverse voices together, bridging knowledge gaps, and helping ensure that food systems are resilient, inclusive and sustainable for the future.