South African farmers actively participate in conservation efforts

WWF sustainable food systems manager says cost of living is the most severe global risk over next two years, writes Glenneis Kriel.

- Glenneis Kriel

Financial systems, the way food is consumed, produced and distributed, and the way in which technology is used, need to change to create a more sustainable food system. This was the message of Shelly Fuller, sustainable food systems manager at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) at the Living Soils Community Learning Farm annual event recently held near Stellenbosch.

She said that the food system in its current state was the number one driver of biodiversity loss globally.

She referred to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023, which ranked “cost of living” as the most severe global risk over the next two years. Natural disasters and extreme weather events ranked as the second-biggest threat, followed by geoeconomic confrontation, failure to migrate climate change, and the erosion of social cohesion and societal polarisation. While only two nature-related risks were identified under the top five perceived risks over the short term, this increased to four of the five top risks in the next 10 years.

In the long term, failure to migrate and adapt to climate change were seen as the first and second biggest risks, followed by natural disasters and extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.