Food, Territory and Integral Development: Enhancing Integral Food Systems

Abstract

Food systems are the result of the sum of many factors, actors, interactions and transactions which allow millions of people to access food on a daily basis, year after year, in every region of the world. In the face of a growing world population, the availability of food will certainly depend on the capacity to guarantee functioning and sustainable food systems, as well as the ability to mitigate socio-economic and territorial inequalities that currently impede millions of people from accessing food on a daily basis. To this end and in an effort to generate employment, reduce food shortage vulnerabilities and guarantee long term sustainability, designing sustainable food systems presents itself as an opportunity to generate multiple social and economic benefits that carry a potential to additionally foster greater regional and urban-rural linkages. Without a doubt, developing food chains, for fresh and dry foods alike, especially those that already exist within our different regions, becomes a vehicle to drive integral development processes.