The Center for Development Research and Foresight (CDRF) held a conference titled “Planning-oriented Governance; the Triangle of Water, Food, and Farmer's Livelihood Security.” The conference was scientifically directed by Dr. Seyed Jafar Hosseini, the Head of the Land Use Planning and Regional Development Affairs of the country’s Plan and Budget Organization. The speakers included Dr. Eskandar Zand, a Professor at the country’s Plant Research Institute and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and Dr. Armin Tohidi, the Head of the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment Group at the University of Tehran’s Governance Faculty.

Dr. Hosseini opened the conference by defining planning as the optimal distribution of population and activity across geographical space. He emphasized that agriculture is a crucial activity in land use planning, contributing to approximately 18% of the country’s employment, 20% of its economic value-added, and 17% of its non-oil exports.

Following this, Dr. Zand discussed the importance of food security, equating it with national security in most countries worldwide. He highlighted that by 2050, the global population is projected to reach 9 billion, intensifying the existing resource shortage. He underscored the need for healthy food and defined food security as ensuring access to healthy, sufficient, and nutritious food for all people.

Dr. Zand further explained that food security rests on three pillars: provision at the national level, physical and economic access at the family level, and quantity and quality consumption at the individual level. He stressed that these pillars must exhibit stability in the short term and sustainability in the long term.

He also addressed some global challenges to food security such as climate change, rising production costs, inequality in food consumption, and a lack of innovation. He advocated for a systemic approach to thinking about food security.

Subsequently, Dr. Tohidi spoke about land use planning or spatial planning. He defined it as a systematic evaluation of natural, social, economic, and cultural factors aimed at encouraging communities to choose suitable options for increasing and sustaining land productivity to meet their needs. He also defined subsistence farming as a sustainable farming practice where farmers or consumers cultivate food products primarily for their own needs and those of their families. He explained that subsistence farming focuses on survival and local needs with any surplus being traded locally.

Finally, Dr. Tohidi discussed the concept of food sovereignty which empowers producers and consumers with control over the production, distribution, and consumption of food. He emphasized that food sovereignty recognizes people’s right to produce and consume healthy food that aligns with their local culture using sustainable methods.