In many parts of Asia and the Pacific, farming is an indispensable part of the rural economy, accounting for 29 percent of GDP and 65 percent of all employment. To secure the livelihoods of rural populations, generate decent income and provide a basis for inclusive growth and poverty reduction, we will need to support farming systems that are viable in the long term – particularly for smallholder farms.
Today, agricultural systems across Asia Pacific are challenged by climate change and other threats such as increased energy costs. Within such a context, sustainable, resource-efficient agricultural practices help farmers adapt to change, sustain their livelihoods and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farm activities. Sustainable food production also necessitates the development of sustainable food value chains in order to offer innovative pathways out of poverty, e.g by local value addition through local processing, and by linking farmers directly to higher-value export markets. Food waste reduction represents an important but often overlooked component of sustainable food systems. Globally, up to 33% of all food harvested is wasted. Addressing food waste offers a major opportunity to improve food security and minimize the environmental footprint of agricultural systems throughout the supply chain.
Fostering sustainable food production systems across Asia Pacific
SDG 2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
UN Environment engages in a number of initiatives to promote resource efficiency and climate-smart best practice on the farm and in downstream processing. Working through the Sustainable Rice Platform, a global multi-stakeholder alliance for rice sustainability, UN Environment, together with partners including the International Rice Research Institute and public and private sector actors, works to drive adoption of innovative, resource-efficient rice production practices among smallholders in developing countries, helping them produce rice more efficiently, more reliably, and using less water and farm chemicals, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment.
The implementation of sustainable food value chains can offer important development pathways for millions of poor households in developing countries across Asia Pacific. However, food value chains are complex and intricate systems, in which the root causes for unsustainability may not always be apparent. Typically, we need to address multiple challenges in concert in order to break the vicious poverty cycle. This of course necessitates a high degree of alignment and active cooperation among multiple value chain actors, including farmers, agribusinesses, governments and civil society groups. Around the world, decision makers and practitioners in public, private and non-governmental organizations are collaborating to design and implement innovative solutions to address such challenges and achieve lasting impact in terms of improving the system at scale and in a sustainable manner. In the process, valuable lessons are learned.
UN Environment Asia Pacific has engaged in the global Think.Eat.Save campaign to reduce food loss and waste along the entire chain of food production.
SDG 12.3: By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses
Partnership
UN Environment works through multi-stakeholder partnerships to accelerate and scale up change in patterns of consumption and production. In addition to governments and not-for-profit organizations, our private sector partnerships are assuming increasing significance as a driver of the shift to a resource-efficient and green economy.
