A food system transformation is necessary to achieve food security

The food system produces enough calories to meet the nutritional needs of every human on the planet, yet more than a quarter of the global population faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2024 (FAO). Food security, the state in which “all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO), declined globally between 2019 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates have moderately improved since then, but we remain far from the target of Zero Hunger. In fact, current projections indicate that more than 600 million people worldwide will face hunger in 2030, and the number of people facing food insecurity will be even higher (UN SDGs). 

Today’s food system embeds structural forms of food insecurity through food waste, a global supply chain vulnerable to geopolitical and weather shocks, and its enormous contribution to climate change, which raises disease and pest pressure, while reducing arable land and water availability.

This dynamic means that the objective of food security, which matters at a social and national scale, is aligned with the goal of a sustainable food system. We dug deeper into the relationship between these two objectives to understand how national food security strategies align with food system transformation, the role of food system innovations in achieving Zero Hunger, and how investments in these innovations can accelerate national objectives. This analysis revealed a clear link between food system innovation and national security priorities, which creates promising tailwinds for investors. 

The global need for a resilient food system

We assessed the importance of food security initiatives across three dimensions: (i) current level of food insecurity, (ii) domestic capacity for self-sufficiency, and (iii) climate risk. These analyses showed that food insecurity is a global threat, not just in developing economies Achieving a self-sufficient food system is structurally unattainable for approximately two-thirds of countries under today’s paradigm due to insufficient arable land per capita to meet production requirements (Leiden University). Crop yields in wealthier parts of the world will be impacted by rising global mean surface temperatures, while rates of food insecurity in lower-income parts of the world are already high and will also rise due to climate change. And the global nature of trade means that impacts on food production in one part of the world impact food security in the rest of the world, too. 

Food security matters to all countries, but especially to those that are already facing high levels of food insecurity (Africa), experiencing constraints on food productive capacity (smaller countries and island nations), or are expected to be hit hardest by rising temperatures (Africa, global north). Food insecurity takes a human toll in the form of death and diseases of undernourishment, but also has an economic cost on national productivity and is a key driver of social unrest. Access to food is a recognized human right, and ensuring it now and in the future is a priority for governments worldwide.

The global nature of the threat and the consequences of inaction mean that all nations need to prioritize building a resilient food system that can withstand and recover from disruptions, ensuring a sufficient supply of safe, accessible food for all. This includes ensuring food security through a diversification of food sources, onshoring production where it makes sense, and building resilient trade networks where needed. 

Food security priorities vary based on national context

Food security is multidimensional and context-specific, and governments and policies play a role in achieving food security objectives by guiding food production, distribution, and access. Strategies vary considerably across nations, with some countries establishing multifaceted national strategies with clearly defined objectives, while others instead coordinate food security efforts across multiple policy initiatives and departments. We examined the national food security strategies of six nations across North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East to identify priorities and opportunities for transformative food system innovations that contribute to food security. 

These strategies diverged sharply based on starting conditions and specific risks. Countries limited by available resources like land or water (Singapore, UAE, Egypt) are prioritizing technology investments and import diversification. Countries facing geopolitical anxiety and declining domestic capacity (such as Sweden) are focused on wartime preparedness and reserve-building. Meanwhile, countries with an abundance of food and productive capacity displayed diverging priorities: restructuring to meet emerging climate threats (Denmark) versus politicization and lack of a cohesive national strategy (United States). Despite these differences, Sweden's grain stockpiles and Singapore's government-to-government food partnerships reflect a post-2022 world in which food supply chains are recognized as strategic national assets.

Across the strategies analyzed, the emphasis was on production: growing more, more efficiently, with fewer resources. Few strategies grappled seriously with consumption patterns and food waste, despite the fact that a shift toward less resource-intensive diets would significantly affect production and distribution challenges. Denmark and Sweden are the clearest exceptions, with explicit targets for dietary shifts and food waste reduction. Despite a prevalent recognition that food system sustainability is a requirement for food security, few national strategies address the climate threat directly. Denmark again is the exception, directly pricing agricultural emissions and structurally reorganizing its food system around climate targets. 

Food security innovation landscape

Based on national food security priorities, we identified nine food security innovation pillars spanning inputs, production, and distribution:

1. Ag Inputs: The materials and substances applied to crops or soil to enable or enhance production, including seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and soil amendments
2. Land: Approaches to maximizing productive use of available land, including urban, degraded, and non-traditional growing spaces.
3. Water: Technologies and systems for sourcing, conserving, recycling, and efficiently delivering water for agricultural use and consumption.
4. Food System Finance: Financial products, instruments, and platforms that enable farmers, agribusinesses, and food system actors to invest, manage risk, and access capital.
5. Supply Chain Management: Systems for tracking, managing, and optimizing the movement of food from production through processing, storage, and onward distribution.
6. Supply Chain Intelligence: Data, sensing, and AI systems that give farmers, policymakers, and supply chain actors better information to make decisions, from the field level to national food system planning.
7. Food Production Technologies: Technologies for producing food itself, including novel proteins, aquaculture, and production systems that diversify the food base.
8. Nutrition and Diet Systems: Technologies and approaches that ensure food not only reaches people but nourishes them, spanning biofortification, personalized nutrition, dietary behavior change, and reducing the health burden of poor diets.
9. Distribution: Technologies and models for getting food efficiently and equitably from storage or production to end consumers, particularly in underserved or remote areas.

A common thread across these innovation pillars is diversification: of input options, of financial instruments, of production methods, and even of distribution options. Reducing reliance on single points of failure, vulnerable to shifting climates or geopolitics, will add complexity, necessitating the other major category of innovations: information and management technologies. This recognizes that food security is less about moving away from a global supply chain and more about better managing it to provide early warnings of threats and ensure that fallback options are always available.

Breaking these innovation pillars down into technologies and cross-referencing those with Re:food’s identified food system transformation technology segments revealed a high degree of overlap: around 60 percent of Re:food segments map to food security technologies, primarily in the Sustainable Protein & Fats, Healthy Soils, and Sustainable Supply Chains themes. Even our Healthy Diets theme has relevance to food security, as it addresses the dimensions of Access and Utilization. 

Takeaway for Investors

Food system innovations have a real ability to contribute to food security initiatives. As national food security strategies expand, driven by climate change and a growing awareness of geopolitical vulnerabilities, we expect to see food production and distribution rise in importance in national priorities. This is already showing up in some regions in the form of federal support for transformative food and ag technologies in areas such as sustainable agricultural inputs, precision-fermented ingredients, plant-based proteins, and supply chain infrastructure. This support extends beyond policy to include real financial support in the form of non-dilutive financing, supportive subsidies, or even sovereign wealth fund investments. In fact, between 2006 and 2021, 24 sovereign wealth funds from 18 countries made 233 investments in food & ag, worth 55 BUSD (IE University). These investments spanned from major retail companies and traders to novel foodtech innovations. Unsurprisingly, funding was dominated by countries with countries facing significant food security risks due to limited arable land, scarce water, and extreme weather.

Food security is increasingly viewed as national security by governments, positioning foodtech and agtech in a similar frame to defense and dual-use technologies, which have seen strong increases in spending from both public and private capital in recent years (Bloomberg, Elron Ventures). Governmental entities from the US Department of Agriculture to the European Union have underscored commitments to treating agriculture and food production as a cornerstone of national security, and public agricultural R&D spending is increasing in Europe, China, and India (Atlantic Council, European Commission, USDA). This creates the potential for a government-as-anchor-investor dynamic that mirrors the defense and dual-use technology sector, fostering a supportive environment for innovators and investors willing to back innovative foodtech and agtech companies.

‍

The analysis and conclusions expressed here are the work of Re:food Invest. Contributors include: Lena McAtee.