Institutional and structural barriers limit the effective use of remote sensing in European Union agricultural governance, constraining its potential to enable fair, resilient and environmentally sound farming practices. We outline financial, academic and policy reforms to address these barriers, linking satellite observation with local knowledge systems and institutional accountability.
A bold proposal to re-embed food systems under democratic control, and within planetary boundaries, uses a long tradition of social security in francophone Europe. Beginning as a grassroots initiative, food social security and the right to food have since made parliamentary advances in France, Belgium and Switzerland, while a first pilot now runs in Spain. The proposal offers lessons for food system reform well beyond Europe.
Climate change is increasingly constraining inland aquaculture, a critical contributor to global food and nutrition security. Here we systematically review literature in English and Chinese to synthesize climate-related impacts from 84 peer-reviewed sources to identify adaptation options and map pathways across the aquaculture value chain. We document diverse, interacting stressors affecting production systems and livelihoods, alongside 53 potential adaptation options spanning management, technology and governance. However, uptake is limited by persistent barriers, including restrictive government policy environments, insufficient financial resources and limited access to actionable information. The heterogeneity of impacts and contexts suggests that uniform solutions are unlikely to be effective. Instead, targeted strategies that mainstream aquaculture within adaptation planning, enhance policy coherence, strengthen information-sharing platforms and increase investment are required. Enabling institutional and financial conditions are pivotal to unlocking effective, context-specific adaptation in inland aquaculture.
Disputes and polarization at the intersection of agriculture, food, health and the environment are impeding food system transformation towards sustainability. Engagement of scientists in complex controversies along with other actors-especially in transdisciplinary approaches that recognize values and interests, build on disagreements and enable ideas to evolve-can foster collective knowledge and intelligence, reduce polarization and generate multi-sectoral innovation. Here a framework is presented for increasing the contribution of scientists to actionable knowledge and improving science-policy-society interfaces for the public good. Succeeding in these roles, although challenging, could motivate the next generation of food system scientists towards greater public involvement and collective action.
Food fortification is central to addressing micronutrient deficiencies in West Africa and elsewhere. Yet evidence remains limited on whether current staple food fortification vehicles equitably reach vulnerable populations and whether candidate vehicles warrant inclusion. We analysed household consumption and expenditure surveys from ten countries in West Africa to estimate vulnerability to inadequate intake of five micronutrients, assessing wheat flour and edible oil as current standard vehicles and rice, maize, millet and sorghum as candidates. Vulnerability to inadequate intake was high across all ten countries: on average, households were probably vulnerable to around three to four of the five priority micronutrients assessed (mean probability of inadequacy 0.56-0.73), with Mali and Niger the most affected. More than half the population was vulnerable to inadequate iron, zinc and folate, and vulnerability was consistently higher in poorer households. Wheat flour and edible oil showed limited reach among poorer populations and low consumption among those most in need. Rice showed high coverage and alignment with vulnerability profiles across countries, while millet and sorghum showed potential to reduce inadequacy in the Sahel. These findings support the expansion of the regional vehicle portfolio through prioritization aligned with vulnerability and vehicle access.
