Sustainable and Scalable Food, Water, and Land Systems through Technology, Innovation, and Inclusion

The increasing pressure on food, water, and land systems demands an urgent transition toward more sustainable practices. Increasing access to and use of science, technology, and innovation is an important part of the solution, especially access to digital technologies. However, addressing the complex and interrelated problems affecting food, water, and land systems requires not only quantitative improvements in access to technology but also profound changes in the direction of the governance of these systems. This policy brief highlights that: (i) Digital technologies are fundamental for system-wide change in food-water-land systems by improving the monitoring, access, and use of new data and evidence for decision making, as well as helping scale up existing innovations that have transformative potential at the grassroots/community level. (ii) Participatory modes of governance need to be prioritized as the standard practice for sustainable food-water-land systems. This approach recognizes that effective governance requires the active participation of stakeholders, particularly local communities, in decision-making processes related to the management of food, water, and land resources. (iii) Policy experimentation is essential for the implementation of sustainable food-water-land systems, as it can help identify and test new approaches to complex challenges based on participatory approaches and build experience in using evidence in designing policy solutions.