With four out of the nine planetary boundaries, namely, climate change, biosphere integrity, land system change, and biochemical (nitrogen and phosphorous) cycles, already overstepping the safe operating spaces, there is an increasing awareness around the world on the urgency to minimize the anthropogenic impacts of economic activities on environment while achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Many countries have already set ambitious quantitative targets toward carbon neutrality in response to the Paris Agreement and COP 26, and their commitments also encompass the low emission targets for the food systems, which globally account for about a third of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For example, the EU has proposed ‘Farm to Fork Strategy’ with quantitative targets to drastically reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and to promote organic farming. Such explicit commitments indicate the global community’s determination to shift to the pathways in which science, technology and innovation (STI) in the food systems can play a key role to mitigate trade-offs and to amplify synergies between economic development and environmental sustainability. These innovations must be based on scientific infrastructure to make the food systems resilient to disasters and climate shocks through reducing environmental impacts and recycling resources without compromising food and nutrition security for present and future generations given the prospects of the growing world population.

In May 2021, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) unveiled the ‘Measures for achievement of Decarbonization and Resilience with Innovation (Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems, MeaDRI)’. The MeaDRI Strategy has proposed pathways in which STI can take a central role in reducing environmental footprint while enhancing productivity for food production. To achieve impacts at the regional and global scales, socio-economically and technologically feasible STI options should be made available not only for Japan but also for countries sharing similar agroecological conditions, such as those in the Asia monsoon region. 

In turn, it is essential to bear in mind that ‘no one-size-fits-all’. The identification and customization of appropriate sets of STI to locally specific agroecological and socio-economic conditions is critical to turn trade-offs into win-win outcomes. To do so, consensus is needed for all stakeholders, i.e., agricultural research institutions and development agencies, to jointly contribute towards a common goal of achieving productivity improvement and environmental sustainability for the countries as well as the whole Asia monsoon region.  

This Symposium will provide a forum to discuss a platform for international collaboration contributing to ‘Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems’. To do so, first, it will review recent policy developments on agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors at country/regional level in the Asia monsoon region in the contexts of global debates on sustainable food systems transformation. The STI portfolios with evidence or potential to achieve both productivity improvement and environmental sustainability depending on agroecological and socio-economic contexts will be identified. Finally, the roles of stakeholders for international collaboration will be discussed based on respective comparative advantages.