WHITE PAPER ON : FOOD/AGRICULTURE

The first part of the white paper presents the texts of interna - tional law applicable, directly or indirectly, to the agricultural and food sectors. It provides a fairly complete idea of the law as it exists today, whose abundance has failed to prevent food crises, chronic food insecurity, or the deleterious effects of agricultural and food systems on the environment and climate. The second part presents in a synthetic way the main challen - ges that, according to a selection of prospective studies, the world will have to face between now and 2050. Three scenarios developed by the FAO then provide an illustration of what the world could look like according to whether or not public policies will be adopted to respond to these challenges and whether the actors of the agricultural and food systems will modify their practices or not. The third part asks questions which are, in a way, the result of a comparison of the first two parts. This is to fuel the future reflection on the international law that we will need by 2050 if we want to prevent the most apocalyptic scenarios from hap - pening. This white paper owes a great deal to the expertise of the members of Steering Committeee as well as to the hearings conducted by the latter, which made it possible to collect valuable information. Forty personalities around the world were interviewed (annex 02) on the basis of criteria favoring the representation of various interests and geographical, cultural and disciplinary diversity. These hearings particularly fueled the questions posed in the third part of the white paper