Abstract
Feeding the world is not only a complex technical matter, but also a demanding governance issue. As food security has all the characteristics of a wicked problem (variety of problem definitions, conflicting interests, interconnectedness across scales, inherent uncertainties), conventional governance arrangements do not seem to work. New ways of concerted actions are introduced to better link global challenges with local practices. One example of this is the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock: a partnership of public, private, social, and civil society actors, committed to the sustainable development of the livestock sector. It aims to enhance shared understanding of sustainability and its underlying development issues and to build consensus on the path towards sustainable food security through dialogue, consultation, and joint analyses. This article analyses the Agenda as a new type of governance arrangement to enhance food security. It relies on a theoretical framework that consists of five governance capabilities, which are considered crucial for coping with wicked problems: reflexivity, resilience, responsiveness, revitalisation, and rescaling. The aim of this paper is threefold: 1) to assess the Agenda and learn from that; 2) to evaluate the capabilities framework as a tool to assess governance arrangements; and 3) to reflect on the potentials of new governance arrangements to deal with food security. The article illustrates how the governance capabilities framework can be used as a tool to analyse the multi-stakeholder platform for enhancing food security. It concludes that the Agenda successfully encompasses many elements of these capabilities although improvements are possible.
Highlights
In 2050, the world population will reach 9.6 billion
Business actors, and NGOs across the world are experimenting with various new governance arrangements, such as the Multi-stakeholder Platform of the Committee on World Food Security, the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef or the Southern Africa Food Lab, to mention a few (Duncan and Barling 2012; GRSB 2014; SAFL 2014)
This paper analyses the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock - an initiative of the FAO - as a new type of governance arrangement to address the question of how the livestock sector can contribute to food security in a sustainable way
Summary
In 2050, the world population will reach 9.6 billion This seriously challenges agricultural systems to increase production, access and affordability of food, so as to provide for all. Projected increases in demand for animal protein, in emerging economies, are likely to maintain livestock’s position as one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors (Thornton 2010). These developments will, in turn, exert further pressure on social structures, biodiversity, scarce resources, and environmental quality (Khan and Hanjra 2009). The ultimate goal for the coming decades is to develop livestock systems that address the global food security challenge in a sustainable way.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
