Building resilience on a budget
Here are some of the economic questions about food system preparedness. Stay tuned for the answers.
In the aftermath of COVID-19, amid rising geopolitical tensions, and with growing concerns about the consequences of climate change, researchers across disciplines are working feverishly to figure out how to better prepare for crises and conflicts. Is it possible to combine resilience with good environmental outcomes, and at the same time maintain competitiveness?
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 jolted Sweden and many other European countries into action. One thing I’ve learned during my 20 years in Sweden is that when Swedes finally reach a consensus to do something, they don’t mess around. Stockholm is buzzing with government studies and reports on how to prepare for crises on all aspects of what they call “total defence,” including how to protect the food supply. Government agencies are starting to put these plans into action and are funding research where more study is needed.
I’m excited to be involved in a new research center for resilient meals: PLATE. Contingency planning and resilience building require expertise from many disciplines, including economics. It’s going to lead to some very useful work.
Part of emergency preparedness involves setting priorities under resource constraints, something economists have well-developed tools for. There’s also a clear environmental dimension to resilience building in the food system. For example, building resilience through redundancy (i.e., maintaining backup capacity when part of the system fails) may increase the land needed to grow enough food, with environmental consequences. However, there may also be win-win solutions that support both preparedness and environmental goals. Achieving this without imposing excessive costs on businesses and consumers is also important. We’ll be exploring these trade-offs through our work in PLATE.
Keep an eye out here for more posts related to emergency preparedness and the results of our research on these important issues.