The Crossroads of Environmental Crises
As we usher in 2024 with hopeful vibes, it’s time to pause and reflect on the health of our beloved planet. In 2023, our world crossed six of the nine planetary boundaries that ensure a safe operating space for human society – namely, climate change, biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows of nitrogen and phosphorus, and novel entities including plastics.
The global food system, with its predominantly linear “take-make-consume-dispose” model, is a major driver behind the crossing of all six boundaries. It’s responsible for nearly 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 23% of deforestation, and 23% of freshwater use. The over-application of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which historically raised agricultural productivity, has also contributed to the degradation of a quarter of global soils and water pollution through runoffs. Inadequate animal waste disposal and burning crop residues exacerbate air pollution as well.
Together, the externalities generated by today’s linear food system – human health, environmental, and social – amount to a staggering $12.7 trillion in hidden costs, equivalent to $35 billion in 2020 PPP dollars per day. It’s no wonder that a growing number of planetary boundaries have been crossed since 2009. We’re treading on thin ice, my friends.
Circularity: The Antidote to a Broken System
But fear not! There’s a solution on the horizon, and it goes by the name of circularity. Rewiring the global agrifood system to design circular models offers a critical pathway towards building profitable, sustainable, and low-emission food systems. In practice, this requires the intentional use of circular “reduce-reuse-recycle-remove” approaches that regenerate natural systems, reduce external inputs by closing nutrient loops, eliminate waste and pollution from agricultural production and food consumption, upcycle and recycle food by-products, and minimize land, water, and carbon footprints.
On the farm, circularity is embedded in integrated crop-livestock-forestry systems and regenerative practices like no-till farming and cover cropping, which have been historically utilized by farmers to build soil health and sequester carbon. In other settings, agribusinesses are investing in anaerobic digesters to convert agricultural waste to biogas and liquid fuel, thus generating renewable energy locally. Recent on-farm innovations also include agri-voltaic systems, which enhance heat resilience and free up land by co-locating agricultural and solar energy production.
More downstream, circularity includes the upcycling of inedible by-products, like the reuse of brewer’s spent grain to produce bread and pasta. At the consumption stage, South Korea’s recycling program collects and converts household food waste for feed, fuel, and fertilizer production, leading to a 95% recycling of food and a lowering of the domestic food system’s carbon footprint.
Recent research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that widespread adoption of circular food systems in the EU and the UK could increase food production by 50% and farm profits by €3,100 per hectare, while cutting biodiversity loss in half and lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 70%. Other biophysical modeling shows that adopting circular practices in the EU27 and UK can significantly reduce agricultural land use, which could then be used to feed an additional 767 million people outside the EU.
Circularity in Action: Global Efforts and Milestones
To start, we recognized that redesigning our food system for circularity requires the development community to upgrade our own knowledge and advance learning among policymakers. Leveraging the World Bank’s FoodSystems2030 knowledge platforms, we then proceeded to showcase benchmark policies, foundational investments, and sustainable business models.
Recognizing the power of innovation, we examined the enabling role of digital technology at the 15th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in January 2023. This panel shed light on how precision farming and value-chain traceability can enhance resource efficiencies and help certify regenerative production to deliver premiums in a growing market for sustainably produced food.
In the following week, experts assessed the global potential for mainstreaming circularity. Here, we learned how insect farming and hydroponics are reusing waste to rapidly produce nutritious food and feed in fragile settings in Africa, how on-farm anaerobic digesters in Uruguay are unlocking societal benefits, and how agriculture support policies can advance the EU’s efforts to build a circular economy.
Inspired by this knowledge, our team participated in Wageningen University’s pilot on circular farming for the Lighthouse Farm Academy, where we observed firsthand how Finland’s organic farms, malt processors, and caraway exporters are mainstreaming circularity in their operations.
At the G20 Summit in September, circularity received wide endorsement through the launch of the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Industry Coalition (RECEIC). In December, the COP28 outcomes further recognized the role of circularity in sustainable production and consumption. Remarkably, 27% of countries now refer to the circular economy in their Nationally Determined Contributions, a strong sign of growing global momentum to build circularity in all sectors, including the food system.
The Way Forward: Embracing Circularity
Coming back full circle as we start 2024, we are incubating a program on Circular Food Systems to meet the emerging demand from countries. In this program, we intend to examine the economics, trade-offs, and transition costs of circular food systems, deepen our efforts to mainstream circularity in World Bank operations, and accelerate our learning from countries that are global pioneers.
To achieve this objective, we seek collaborations with partners across development partners, academia, and country clients seeking to implement circularity in their food systems. Working together, we can steer the food system to deliver healthy people, a healthy planet, and healthy economies.
Most importantly, I invite you, the reader, to join us on this journey and share your own ideas in the comments about how we can advance circularity. Together, we can nourish the planet and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.
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