Transformation towards sustainable and inclusive food systems can help address hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition and improve health by addressing diet-related diseases, as well as fight poverty, protect and restore biodiversity, and tackle climate change through GHG reduction. Economic and social behaviors are fundamentally embedded in place, and as such are subject to local socio-economic, cultural, political, institutional and environmental contexts. It is increasingly recognized that these challenges can be better addressed by local and regional governments through a territorial approach to food systems that enables context- specific action.

A territorial perspective to food systems facilitates the articulation and integration of relevant sector policies at different scales of action. It embraces integrated landscape management, which considers the socio-ecological dimension of interactions between species and ecosystems, as well as the socio-economic dimensions of the use of natural resources. It connects local, regional, national and international scales as well as urban and rural areas, and takes into account the effects and impacts of globalization. It promotes more social participation and allows policy-makers to close information gaps and make better-informed decisions across different sectors. Policymakers and the private sector can use territorial information to guide and prioritize investments for sustainable food systems.