Deltas under pressure – addressing complex water and food challenges in deltas using a food systems approach

Worldwide, deltas are important food-producing areas with increasingly densely populated cities. These water-rich areas are also vulnerable to natural, development and climate change-induced disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones, sea-level rise and water pollution. Sustaining livelihoods of the delta population now and in the future, is therefore increasingly stressed and with compounding challenges: population growth, urbanization, degradation of the environment, dietary change, and climate change. An integrated approach is necessary to navigate this complexity and to move towards a sustainable but uncertain delta future. We introduce three methodological building blocks to facilitate governance in the delta towards sustainability: A food system approach, co-creation of transition pathways, and scale sensitive governance. We underpin the approach, describing the building blocks while referring to the articles in this Special Issue and other recent research using similar approaches. In this way, the article brings together insights on food systems transitions in deltas from different professional backgrounds and provides insight into and contributes to improving governance in water and food-stressed delta regions.