Transforming global food systems: an opportunity for a better world
Attending the University of Edinburgh’s Montague Burton Lecture by Dr Corinna Hawkes, Director of Agrifood Systems and Food Safety at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), served as a reminder of how complex and interconnected our food systems are.
Dr Hawkes described food systems as everything that brings food to our plates – from production and transport to marketing and consumption. She emphasised how decisions made in one country can affect food security in another.
Since 2020, global food prices have surged and fallen unpredictably, driving inflation and hardship. The effects of Covid-19, conflict and rising energy costs have exposed the fragility of global supply chains. Dr Hawkes argued that these problems reflect long-term underinvestment in local and regional food systems, and an excessive focus on trade rules rather than resilience.
Her central point was that governments and institutions need to adopt systems thinking. That means understanding how food, trade, environment and health policies interact, and listening to those with lived experience. It also means investing strategically in supply chains that are diverse, not dependent. Every country, she suggested, should ask which parts of its food system need to be local and which should be international.
This message resonates strongly with Scottish Fair Trade’s work. Our recent report, Climate, the Environment & Fair Trade: Making the Connection, highlighted how climate change is already damaging the livelihoods of farmers who supply Fair Trade goods. Extreme weather, shifting seasons and new pests are making production more uncertain, particularly for smallholder farmers.
Being a Fair Trade Nation should not stop at promoting ethical consumption. It should guide how we invest public money and shape trade and development policy. When Scottish councils, universities or catering suppliers buy food and drink, they should be asking not only if it is Fair Trade but whether it supports resilient supply chains and fair returns for producers. International funding for agriculture is shrinking, and too much is still channelled through short projects rather than long-term systems change.
If Scotland wants to contribute to genuine global food resilience, it can use its procurement power, partnerships and Fair Trade networks to support producer organisations, co-operatives and climate-adapted production.
Dr Hawkes described this period as a chance to build a better world through transformed food systems. For Scotland, that can mean using our Fair Trade Nation status to campaign for fairer global supply chains and more sustainable trade.
