Netherlands Food Partnership launched during World Food Day

The celebration of World Food Day 2019 on October 16 was the perfect occasion to launch the Netherlands Food Partnership. “Boost transformative approaches for sustainable food systems and healthy diets”. That is the mission of the Netherlands Food Partnership. NFP facilitates parties which recognize the need to speed up to achieve SDG2, and are eager to act together.  

World Food Day 2019

In Ede, the Netherlands, high-level professionals from government, business, science and civil society across nations, sectors and professions came together to celebrate World Food Day 2019. They joined forces to discuss how to end hunger and malnutrition and build a more resource efficient, resilient and sustainable circular food system for everyone. During the afternoon programme, six parallel sessions took place showcasing circular solutions for food security from all around the globe.

Launch Netherlands Food Partnership

Important part of the morning programme was the launch of the NFP. Carola van Rijnsoever, Ambassador for Sustainable Development from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained the need for an NFP and how this initiative started. “There are already many programmes, research and business propositions on SDG2 with a whole range of different and committed actors in the Netherlands and abroad involved. Yet, despite all efforts and successes in improving our food systems, we are not on track to achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030. Without further action, we won’t meet our SDG targets. That is why we are starting the Netherlands Food Partnership: boosting transformative approaches for sustainable food systems and healthy diets.”

Carola van Rijnsoever – Ambassador for Sustainable Development from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Heleen Bos – Specialist Marketing Organics/ Foreign Development Projects at Rijk Zwaan, Carol Gribnau – Director Green Energy & Green Food Programmes at Hivos and Jack van der Vorst – General Director Social Sciences Group at Wageningen University and Research officially launched the NFP by hitting the button which started the introduction video.

Accelerating SDG2

The NFP is committed to being the leading instrument that supports the necessary acceleration on SDG2. NFP facilitates parties who endorse the mission, recognize the need to speed up to achieve SDG2, and are eager to act together. A partnership that supports coalitions of the willing and the needed by:

1. Gathering the right people around transformative ideas
2. Collecting, connecting and combining the knowledge of all involved stakeholders
3. Creating experimental space to prototype new approaches and solutions
4. Organizing reflection and learning about which solutions work/don’t work
5. Giving visibility to these solutions.

Connect – Innovate – Scale

Main drivers of the NFP are connect, innovate and scale. Connecting is essential to mobilize relevant Dutch expertise and connect it to knowledge, experience and competences in the countries where the NFP is active. Innovating will stimulate partners to develop new, cutting edge interventions that will make a difference. NFP will offer space to experiment and learn. Scaling is needed to ensure that interventions have impact both by spreading best practices, and anchor them in the current systems and policies.

More impact together

The coalitions in NFP are inspired to contribute to boost transition towards healthy, fair, climate-neutral and sustainable food systems. They are committed to join forces with people and organizations from the business sector, civil society, knowledge institutes, the financial sector and/or the government.
The current Food & Business Knowledge Platform and AgriProFocus merge into the NFP working organization, which will build on the knowledge and experience of both organizations and will implement the required changes to realize the ambitions of the NFP.

Further information

Please visit the website of the Netherlands Food Partnership, including links to the documents “This is NFP” and “Questions & Answers“. If you have more questions, please contact: .

Please watch the after movie of the World Food Day 2019 and read the Report of the day on the AgriProFocus website.