With disruptions to the global food supply becoming more common and severe in recent years, we have a responsibility to better understand the drivers behind these events and develop ways of preventing them. If allowed to reach the crisis stage, the effects on communities, livelihoods, and entire regions can be profound.
The events of 2007/2008 that culminated in the Arab Spring, for example, pushed an estimated 130 million people into poverty and contributed to civil unrest in more than 40 developing countries.
The trigger: a complex interplay of seemingly unrelated factors. Droughts in major grain- and cereal-producing regions. Increases in biofuel production. Long-standing structural problems.
These events serve to highlight the critical importance of understanding the interdependencies within the global food system. Food Chain Reaction is a simulation game designed to help high-level decision makers better comprehend the cascading effects of their actions on global food security.
On November 9, players walked out of 2015 and into the year 2020. As a global food crisis was unfolding before their very eyes, did they succeed in finding a path to a food-secure future?
Stay tuned, as we reveal the post-game analysis in January 2016.
16Nov
Serious cooperation on issues like food security, climate change, and environmental preservation serves all of our interests
Food Chain Reaction put the fate of the world’s food supply on the shoulders of 65 private and public sector leaders. The players were transported.. Read More →
13Nov
Food Chain Reaction Insights… In our Player’s Words
Strategic games—where individuals act in response to a simulated scenario—allow real-life leaders to “live strategy” and flesh out the unknown and unimaginable in a risk-free.. Read More →
13Nov
Food Chain Reaction Day Two: Moving toward Collaborative Solutions
As the second day of Food Chain Reaction unfolded, players were faced with a new set of global conditions and challenges. From 2025 to 2027,.. Read More →
11Nov
They came. They played. They offered an insight into our food future.
They came. They played. They offered an insight into our food future. This week, a group of 65 private and public sector leaders from around.. Read More →
About the Teams
To create a realistic scenario, the major forces in the global food system—government, global food markets, and agriculture—will be represented in Food Chain Reaction by teams of high-level policy and private sector leaders who bring real-world experience and realism to the game.
The game will test how to balance competing interests, contribute unique perspectives, and, ultimately, create solutions. All teams will contend with their own set of challenges as the game unfolds.
Brazil
South America
How will government, growers, and urban consumers react to deepening scarcities of once-abundant resources? How can these concerns be balanced against the threat of deforestation?
China
Asia
How will the Chinese government ensure food supplies and prevent political instability and economic retraction? How will it juggle its internal needs against international pressures?
European Union
Europe
How will the EU respond to increased need for food imports as its high-tech economy retracts? What adjustments can it make to internal, international, and trade policies?
India
Asia
How will the government manage social discontent resulting from rural-to-urban migration in the midst of water scarcity? How will this affect its role as a balancing force in South Asia?
United States
North America
How will local and national leaders respond to the pressure to focus on domestic consumers? How will they balance their internal needs with responses to growing global instability?
Continental Africa
Africa
How will nations adjust to rising food prices as global demand increases? What will nations do when other countries seek to lock in long-term land leases to ensure their own food security?
Multilateral Institutions
Worldwide
Will organizations such as multilateral development banks be able to provide emergency resources? Can they help stave off long-term social upheaval and conflict?
Business & Investors
Worldwide
How can the private sector adjust business models to increased risk, influence government policies that have influence on global markets, and buffer themselves in a volatile market?