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Improving global food security takes more than producing more food. People also need the purchasing power and access to obtain nutritious diets, while food systems must withstand shocks and get food from farms to consumers with less loss. Five complementary policy approaches address these challenges; the right mix depends on local needs and capacity.
1. Protect purchasing power and access to nutritious diets
Food can be available in markets yet remain out of reach for households that cannot afford it. In The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO report that persistent food-price inflation has undermined purchasing power and access to healthy diets, particularly for low-income populations.
Pair household protection with sound policy
Measures to protect vulnerable households can help them maintain access to food when prices rise. They work within a broader economic setting: fiscal and monetary policy, as well as resilient trade, also matter. No single instrument fits every country or inflation episode; choices need to reflect local price dynamics, public resources and the people facing the greatest barriers.
2. Invest in resilient agrifood systems and useful data
Food security depends on whether public institutions and food systems can adapt as needs and conditions change. The 2025 FAO-led report calls for better data systems and sustained investment in resilient agrifood systems.
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Make information and capacity part of long-term planning
Reliable, relevant data can help decision-makers identify changing needs and respond to shocks. Investment in system resilience builds capacity over time rather than addressing only an immediate shortage. The useful combination will depend on what information is missing, which groups are underserved and where the system is most exposed to disruption.
3. Strengthen smallholder research, extension and farming services
Smallholders and women farmers need services that respond to their circumstances, rather than a uniform prescription. The Committee on World Food Security’s Global Strategic Framework recommends support tailored to these farmers’ needs.
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Connect farmer knowledge with research and practical support
Appropriate research, extension and farming services can help increase productivity, diversify production, improve the nutritional value of what is produced and build resilience, including to climate change. The framework also advises combining farmer knowledge with scientific research where appropriate. This is a case for responsive support, not a blanket endorsement of any particular crop, product or input.
4. Reduce food loss at the stage where it happens
Food can be lost before it reaches a shop, or wasted later at retail, in food service or in households. These are different stages, so an effective response should target the point at which food is being lost or wasted.
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Improve handling before retail
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports on its food-loss guidance page that 13.2 percent of food is lost in the supply chain after harvest and before retail. The page, accessed in 2026, does not identify the estimate’s original publication year. FAO says reducing these losses can improve food availability and access and support smallholder incomes. Better production, harvesting, handling and distribution can each be relevant, depending on where losses occur.
Address waste at retail, food service and household levels
FAO separately cites UNEP’s 2024 statistics that 19 percent of food is wasted at retail, food-service and household levels. That figure concerns later stages, not the post-harvest, pre-retail loss measured by the 13.2 percent figure. Keeping the categories separate helps direct action toward the right part of the food chain.
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5. Build climate resilience into food and agriculture policy
Climate extremes threaten livelihoods, food security and access to healthy diets, according to FAO. Resilience therefore belongs in food and agriculture policy, not only in emergency response.
Plan for local exposure and needs
Resilient farming and inclusive agrifood-system planning can help communities prepare for climate-related shocks. The appropriate measures depend on local conditions, the people and livelihoods at risk, and the capacity of existing institutions. A policy that is useful in one place should not be assumed to suit another.
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How should decision-makers choose among these approaches?
The five approaches are complementary, not a universal ranking. To assess which mix fits a particular country or community, decision-makers can ask:
- Which food-security need is most urgent: availability, affordability and access, nutrition, or resilience?
- Which population and geography would the intervention serve, and who currently faces barriers?
- What local shocks pose the greatest risk?
- What implementation capacity and financing would be needed?
- Which outcomes should be measured, and over what timescale?
Those questions help connect policy choices to the conditions they are meant to change. The central test is whether people can reliably obtain nutritious food, and whether the systems that support that access can keep functioning when conditions change.
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