Giving Compass' Take:

• Food Tank interviews Dr. Abou Tenkouano, member of the Steering Committee for the groundbreaking new report from The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEB AgriFood). They discuss his understanding of the food system and the effects on the environment and greater society. 

• How can philanthropists help to not only understand more about the food system, but work to mitigate the challenges society faces with pollution, waste, and harmful labor practices that are currently happening?

• Read another interview from Food Tank on the importance of knowing the cost of the food system and learn more about the TEEBAgriFood report. 

Dr. Abdou Tenkouano is the Executive Director of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF). He is a member of the Steering Committee for the groundbreaking new report from The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEB AgriFood).

Food Tank talked with Dr. Abdou Tenkouano about the role of TEEB AgriFood in economizing the food system, reducing food waste, and optimizing the value chain.

Food Tank (FT): What is the most interesting thing you learned from working with TEEB AgriFood?

Dr. Abdou Tenkouano (AT): It has been a disruptive experience. I used to look at food and agriculture from a productivity lens, but now I understand that there is much more to consider. For example, looking at our eco-agri-food systems with a holistic framework for valuation and evaluation of flows and stocks.

FT: What is the most significant unintended consequence of our current food system that policymakers, funders, and donors ignore?

AT: The health dimension of the food system is often inadequately or incompletely understood. When you look at the food production and the use of pesticides—something that consumers don’t always know about–it changes your view of the food system. We do not realize how livestock are confined in industrial systems or that there is an accumulation of waste, which can pollute soil and water and could affect our larger community.

FT: What do you want people to know most about the TEEB AgriFood report?

AT: The report makes a good case for relating what we eat to the conditions in which it was produced or processed—this report can give people a sense of how their consumptions habits could help in tackling some of the negative externalities of the food supply system.

Read the full article about food systems by Iain Murray at Food Tank