The IPES FOOD (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems)report explores how territorial markets strengthen food security and resilience, offering sustainable, local alternatives to global corporate food chains.
The IPES FOOD report shows that progress on global hunger has reversed. Looking at the projections shows that the goal of achieving ‘’zero hunger ‘by 2030 is further than ever. (2,3)
Major gaps have emerged in the last three years in global commodity markets and corporate-controlled supply chains: grain shipment blockages, fertilizer shortages, export bans, volatile food prices, lost harvests and empty shelves. (4,5)
If one used to believe in efficient and frictionless global food supply chains, the problems listed above have shattered any remaining illusions and highlighted the need for new approaches to strengthen food self-sufficiency and rebuild food security. Interest is shifting towards dynamic food supply systems other than global, corporate-controlled food chains.
In practice, large populations are fed daily by food networks, supply chains and markets close to home, from public markets and street vendors to cooperatives, from urban agriculture to online direct sales, from food hubs to community kitchens.
These diverse webs of ‘territorial markets’ are built on small-scale producers, processors and sellers, established in territories and communities, and play multiple roles within them. (6)
Through a comprehensive global analysis of these diverse food networks, IPES Food revealed that ‘territorial markets are the backbone of food systems in many countries and regions and contribute decisively to food security, equity and sustainability, while building resilience on multiple fronts.’
The main findings of their report are as follows:
1.Ensuring food and nutrition security and improving access to food
While global chains of corporate-controlled products dominate land and resources, most of the world is actually fed by food chains close to home. Huge volumes of fresh and perishable food are supplied outside corporate chains, often directly to the consumer.
Neighborhood markets play a crucial role in making food accessible and affordable for low-income populations, helping them to hedge against global price volatility. Even more so in low-income neighborhoods such as Asia, Latin America, Africa.
By providing access to a range of fresh and healthy foods, local markets also play a key role in supporting food diversity and healthy diets.
2. Withstand and adapt to shocks
Supply chains and neighborhood markets are resilient and highly adaptable in the face of shocks – critical qualities that were highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, locally rooted civil society networks were able to expand their activities and play a key role in emergency food responses. In both India and Brazil, local supply chains were the basis of food supply during the emergency.
3. Building resilient livelihoods, communities and cultures
Local markets underpin the livelihoods of millions of food producers, generally guaranteeing them decent prices and stable incomes.
Unlike corporate chains, small-scale actors are generally able to diversify, strengthen and maintain control over their livelihoods through supply chains and neighboring markets.
Working together through collectives and cooperatives, small-scale actors have been able to develop economically viable systems for aggregating and marketing food products.
The participation of women and youth in territorial markets is very strong despite various barriers.
Territorial markets play a key role in sustaining food cultures, knowledge and associated benefits.
Supply chains and neighboring markets build trust, bonds, solidarity and social capital. This is because cultural and educational initiatives, collaborative enterprises and participatory governance approaches are regularly linked to territorial markets, bringing food producers and consumers closer together.
4. Sustaining biodiversity and ecosystems
Markets and supply chains close to home increase climate resilience and environmental sustainability by providing outlets for small-scale, low-input, biodiverse food production, including agro-ecological systems and traditional crops with high nutritional and ecosystem value.
Territorial markets are generally based on short supply chains, which reduce food miles. They also reduce food losses and waste by providing outlets for different qualities of products.
Unlike corporate supply chains, a diverse network of supply chains and markets close to home feeds most of the world, reaching low-income populations, sustaining the livelihoods of farmers and communities, nurturing biodiversity and providing a lifeline to millions of producers and consumers in times of crisis.
Around the world, investment and government support has been directed towards industrial export agriculture, global trade and large-scale commodity infrastructure, e.g. highways and transit networks connecting major cities and ports. Meanwhile, informal markets and street vendors lack basic services. Wholesale markets have been deprived of government investment. (7)
In the absence of adequate state support, the economic viability of territorial markets is perennially challenged.
The widespread use of corporate chains means that other modes of supply are replaced, and over time traditional food practices and cultures are eroded by the former, which succeed in co-opting local and territorial chains and reshaping diets around commodities and ultra-processed foods.
There is a clear urgency to invest in territorial markets. There is also enormous potential for governments to strengthen and support these markets, making them a cornerstone of food security and climate resilience for years to come.
To reverse the failure of food system policies and rebuild food security and resilience around the world, a series of joint actions are therefore needed to limit the power of corporate food chains and bring supply chains and markets closer to our homes:
-systematically use government purchasing programs to support sustainable small-scale producers and bring supply chains and markets closer to home
-move subsidies away from the industrial food chain and invest in the critical infrastructure, networks and people that underpin local markets (8)
-protect ‘farmers’ markets’ from corporate co-option, support participatory guarantee systems and develop inclusive governance models to ensure that markets produce widespread benefits for local actors
-reject corporate capture and co-optation of food systems: document the inefficiencies, fragilities and real costs of global corporate food chains
-improve global data and knowledge sharing on food networks close to home
-advance multidimensional understanding of resilience and food security
-building powerful positive narratives around territorial food markets, working with agroecology and food sovereignty movements and civil society to communicate a global vision for resilient markets, supply chains and food systems of the future. (9)
5. Methodology and evidence gathering
The concept of ‘territorial markets’ is an emerging concept even though they contribute critically to food security and resilience, they have received relatively little academic or policy attention.
A key methodology for the development of this report was through regional dialogues that were led by members of the IPES Food Panel, through virtual meetings (on the theme ‘Territorial Markets and Food System Transformation: Promoting Agroecology, Food Sovereignty and Human Rights’) attended by territorial market actors from 21 countries in Latin America, South and South-East Asia and the US/Canada/indigenous territories. This is because territorial markets are context-specific and deeply rooted in cultures, communities and landscapes, and above all because local knowledge and experience are particularly important primary sources of information.
The source material gathered through the regional dialogues was then complemented by analysis of scientific literature, civil society reports and case studies including the efforts of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA).
For further insights, see a detailed article published on GIFT .
Iudita Sampalean
Footnotes
(1) iPES-Food. Food From Somewhere – Building food security and resilience through territorial markets. Report. July 2024 https://t.ly/NYJ53
(2) Dario Dongo, Alessandra Mei. FAO, rapporto SOFI 2023. I costi occulti dei sistemi agroalimentari. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 13.11.23
(3) Dario Dongo. Malnutrizione, crisi globale. Rapporto SOFI 2024. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 31.7.24
(4) Dario Dongo, Elena Bosani. Filiera alimentare, la pandemia non frena lo sfruttamento dei contadini. Rapporto Oxfam. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11.7.21
(5) Dario Dongo. Monopoli sulle commodities, Bunge – Viterra. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.9.24
(6) Dario Dongo. Filiera corta, concetti e valori. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 27.9.19
(7) Dario Dongo. I tentacoli della finanza sulla sovranità alimentare e il nostro cibo. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 31.3.24
(8) Dario Dongo. Politiche fiscali per una nutrizione equilibrata, le raccomandazioni di WHO. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 4.7.24
(9) Dario Dongo. Da Farm to Fork a Farm to War, l’appello della scienza per una strategia alimentare resiliente. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 22.3.22
Researcher, Ph.D in Marketing and Economics of the Agrifood System