Governance for sustainability in the agrifood chain: challenges and new direction

Achieving sustainability in the agrifood supply chain, in environmental, economic and social dimension, demands more than a static framework of rules; it calls for governance understood as a dynamic set of processes, institutions, and stakeholders working in concert to reconcile environmental imperatives with economic viability and social equity. This concept extends beyond mere administrative mechanisms, touching on constitutional principles, private-sector codes of conduct, civil-society engagement, and transnational regulations.

Given the current context, marked by the breakdown of long-standing paradigms underpinning global food systems, it is essential to revise both the aims and the instruments of agrifood governance. This revision must address the issues highlighted in the 2030 Agenda – most notably, persistent food insecurity, escalating poverty (particularly in the Global South), and the ongoing climate emergency.

As the UN Secretary-General has warned, “Global food systems are broken and billions of people are paying the price”. In the context of climate justice, he further notes that “those least responsible for the crisis are the most affected: the poorest people; the most vulnerable countries; Indigenous Peoples; women and girls”, due to blocked supply chains, rising prices, and growing food insecurity. Ten years after the adoption of the SDGs for 2030, this stark reality shows the need to prioritise regions facing critical challenges and rapid population growth where “rebuilding” the relationships among the various actors along the supply chain (production, transformation, distribution, and consumption) remains essential to build more resilient and inclusive food systems. As these global urgencies increasingly reverberate in the European context, it is clear that agri-food governance mechanisms need to be rethought accordingly.

In light of these challenges, it becomes necessary to rethink the legal and economic tools needed to respond not only to agriculture’s social and economic policy dimensions but also to the urgent climatic and environmental imperatives. While it remains crucial to “think globally,” it is equally important to “act locally.” Effective governance mechanisms should thus account for both global interdependencies and the distinct needs of individual territories, harnessing local food policies to promote sustainably oriented practices among private actors and public authorities alike.