Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU)

The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) is a global initiative established in 2017 to transform food and land use systems for sustainability, equity, and resilience. It comprises over 60 organizations and individuals, including farmers, policymakers, businesses, investors, and civil society, working to address environmental, health, and social challenges in food production and land use.

Key Points About FOLU:

• Mission: FOLU aims to accelerate transformative change in food and land use systems to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement targets. It promotes science-based solutions and fosters collective action across sectors and geographies.

Vision: A world where food and land use systems enable people and nature to prosper, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, restoring ecosystems, and ensuring food security for a growing population.

Core Activities:

• Develops evidence-based analysis and tools to support policymakers, businesses, and communities.
• Establishes country platforms in nations like Brazil, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, and Kenya to tailor solutions to local needs.

• Collaborates with the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium, active in over 20 countries, to map sustainable pathways.
• Advocates for ten critical transitions outlined in its 2019 Growing Better report, including promoting healthy diets, regenerative agriculture, reducing food waste, and diversifying protein sources.

Impact Areas (2025–2030 Strategy):

• Improving human health and food security.
• Supporting resilient farmer and community livelihoods.
• Reducing and reversing nature loss.
• Addressing climate change through sustainable practices.

Key Achievements:

• Supported initiatives like PepsiCo’s Sustainable Farming Program and the WRI TerrMatch reforestation platform.
• Highlighted the potential to halve agricultural emissions in China through dietary shifts.

Catalyzed innovative financing mechanisms, such as a National Funding Facility for coffee in Ethiopia.

Recent Initiatives:

• FOLU India’s Invisible: Women and the Future of Millets docufilm emphasizes women’s roles in sustainable agriculture
• Reports suggest that investing $205 billion annually in the agrifood sector could mitigate 9 gigatons of CO2 by 2030.
• Promotes regenerative practices like agroforestry to support biodiversity and climate goals, as seen in FOLU Colombia’s work.

About FABLE:

The Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium is a global network of researchers and institutions working to develop sustainable pathways for food and land-use systems. Launched in 2017 as a key component of the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), FABLE focuses on creating science-based, country-led strategies to achieve environmental, economic, and social sustainability in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.

Key Points About FABLE:

Mission: To empower countries to design long-term, sustainable food and land-use strategies by integrating local expertise with global modeling. FABLE aims to balance food security, climate goals, biodiversity protection, and equitable livelihoods.

Structure:

• Comprises over 20 country teams, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, the UK, and the US, among others.
• Coordinated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), with support from partners like the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

Core Activities:

• Develops national and global pathways using integrated modeling tools like the FABLE Calculator and GLOBIOM to assess trade-offs and synergies in food production, land use, emissions, and biodiversity.
• Produces country-specific reports and policy recommendations to guide governments, businesses, and stakeholders toward sustainable practices.
• Facilitates collaboration between countries to align national policies with global sustainability targets, such as halting deforestation, reducing emissions, and protecting biodiversity.

Key Focus Areas:

Food Security: Ensuring access to nutritious food while minimizing environmental impacts.

Climate Mitigation: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land use, which account for roughly one-third of global emissions.

Biodiversity Conservation: Protecting ecosystems by promoting practices like agroforestry and sustainable land management.

Energy and Land Use: Integrating renewable energy development with agricultural and conservation priorities.

Achievements:

• Published the 2020 FABLE Pathways Report, which outlined strategies for sustainable food and land-use systems across 20 countries, emphasizing dietary shifts, regenerative agriculture, and reforestation.
• Supported policy development in countries like Ethiopia, where FABLE modeling informed climate-smart agriculture strategies.
• Contributed to global dialogues, such as the UN Food Systems Summit (2021) and COP26, by providing data-driven insights on agrifood transitions.

Methodology:

• Uses a bottom-up, top-down approach: Country teams develop localized models, which are then integrated into global scenarios to ensure consistency with planetary boundaries.
• Employs tools like the FABLE Calculator, a user-friendly model for testing policy scenarios, and GLOBIOM, a global economic model for land-use planning.

• • Incorporates stakeholder input from farmers, policymakers, and indigenous communities to ensure pathways are equitable and feasible.

Recent Developments (as of 2025):

• FABLE continues to refine its pathways, with a focus on the 2030–2050 horizon, addressing challenges like population growth, climate change, and urban expansion.
• Recent work emphasizes nature-positive agriculture, such as restoring 350 million hectares of degraded land globally by 2030, as highlighted in FOLU-related reports.
• Expanded focus on trade dynamics, analyzing how global food trade impacts local sustainability (e.g., Brazil’s soy exports vs. domestic biodiversity goals).