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Recipes for Resilience: Rethinking Food Security from the Local to the Global

UNU-CPR’s Dr. Michael Franczak spoke at a Yale conference examining the fragility of global food systems and lessons for resilient governance and multilateral coordination.

Hosted by the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, in collaboration with the Yale Sustainable Food Program, the two-day conference explored critical issues shaping global food systems, from local production to the global economy. Panels and discussions focused on access, sustainability, climate impacts, famine, and strategies for resilience.

UNU-CPR’s Dr. Michael Franczak spoke on the structural challenges of the international food system, revisiting the political economy of the 1972-4 and 2020-23 food crises. His remarks highlighted lessons for contemporary governance and multilateral coordination.

Key discussion points included:

  • The legacy of the 1974 World Food Conference and creation of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
  • Current debates over international grain reserves and buffer stocks.
  • The proposed BRICS Grain Exchange as an alternative to Western-led food regimes.
  • Lessons for multilateral coordination amid climate-linked price instability.

The session underscored how structural dependencies, trade imbalances, and economic policies continue to affect food security, particularly for small island states and least developed countries.