Current methods of food production, food consumption and land use trigger $12 trillion in environmental, health and developmental damages per year — without sustained change, this will rise to more than $16 trillion annually by 2050. Over the next ten years, the world faces a remarkable opportunity to transform food and land use systems, but only if becomes an urgent and shared global priority.

The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) is a self-governed community of more than 60 organizations and individuals committed to transforming food and land use for people, nature and climate. The Coalition promotes science-based solutions to unlock collective, ambitious action that will ensure food and land use systems play their part in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving Paris Agreement targets.

Established in 2017, FOLU enhances research and analysis, builds capacity, deepens engagement and develops tools to support the transformation of food and land use systems that meet both local and global needs. This work spans across a number of countries and regions, including China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, India and Sub Saharan Africa. Building on the work of the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land and Energy (FABLE) Consortium, FOLU also helps map out long-term, actionable pathways for sustainable food and land use systems in countries across the world.

To deliver positive outcomes for the environment, improve health, prompt inclusive development and tackle food insecurity, the Coalition advocates for a reformed global agenda. This agenda is guided by the ten critical transitions for food and land use transformation proposed in FOLU’s flagship report, Growing Better:

  1. Promoting healthy diets.
  2. Scaling productive and regenerative agriculture.
  3. Protecting and restoring nature.
  4. Securing a healthy and productive ocean.
  5. Diversifying protein supply.
  6. Reducing food loss and waste.
  7. Building local loops and linkages.
  8. Harnessing the digital revolution.
  9. Delivering stronger rural livelihoods.
  10. Improving gender equality and accelerating the demographic transition.
FOLU Food and Land Use Transformation Pyramid

To achieve this integrated agenda, FOLU brings together the public and private sectors, the research community and civil society. FOLU continues to grow its community of country platforms, core and strategic partners, FOLU Ambassadors and funders dedicated to ensuring food and land use systems play their full role in delivering global sustainability goals.

The Coalition has also partnered with a number of global initiatives, including: Food Systems Dialogues; Nature4Climate; A Just Rural Transition; the United Nations Food Systems Summit; and The Food Systems Economics Commission. Together, FOLU and its partners scale solutions already in existence and find innovative new ones.

Learn more about the Coalition’s research and analysis:

FOLU Knowledge Hub FABLE Calculator

Photo Credit: Kemal Juffri for Panos Pictures/FOLU