Food Systems Approach

On June 1, 2020, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Johns Hopkins Alliance for a Healthier World launched the Food Systems Dashboard. This new online dashboard presents food system data of 230 countries and is designed to better inform policy. »

The COVID-19 pandemic has a large and decisive impact on public health, and generates major consequences for social relationships, economic development and food systems. In this note, Ivo Demmers and Ruerd Ruben focus on four food system dimensions that are most critical for outlining the (likely) impact of COVID-19 induced changes on agri-food systems’ performance, and outline the main challenges that have to be addressed during the post-COVID-19 recovery period. »

As a follow-up to the food systems consultations held in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, the CGIAR research flagship Food Systems for Healthier Diets (FSHD), led by WUR and part of A4NH, hosted a “Food Environment” workshop with CGIAR partners in Ethiopia November, 2019. The workshop aimed to explore the concept of food environment and related research. »

Globally, a transformation of the food system is needed to achieve SDG2 and other SDGs. Who gets to decide what a future food system looks like and who will take the lead are key questions in this process. These questions have hardly been addressed in the international ‘food systems’ discourse so far. Hence, a recent meeting of the Dutch Community of Practice on food systems was held that looked at food systems governance mechanisms. »

An important insight of the last years is that our major economic systems do not deliver the right results and are not sustainable. The food system is one of those key systems. The demand for more nutritious food to feed a healthy and productive global population cannot be met if we do not look at fundamental changes. But where to start: with the consumer, the farmer, the industry, the retail? In this blog Paul van de Logt and Ruerd Ruben present a practical framework based on their experience in policy and science to support food system transformations. »

On June 18, 2019 a Food systems Community of Practice (CoP) meeting was organized by the F&BKP. The meeting brought together 21 Food and Nutrition Security professionals from policy, research and practice to exchange on how food systems approaches have been brought into practice so far to identify lessons and future perspectives. »

Food is essential for all living organisms to survive and flourish, but for human beings, food transcends biological needs and has long been an integral part of social life and culture. Over the past century, the food system has done very well in producing enough food to outpace population growth – reducing the real price of food to make it more accessible to the poor and drive down global hunger and poverty.  While the remaining pockets of hunger require continued attention, the global food system is rapidly transforming, including in the less developed regions of Africa, Asia and parts of Latin America. »

Dutch food security programs in the international development domain have been mainly focussed during the last few decades on increasing agricultural production and reinforcing international trade of tropical commodities. This focus is now gradually changing towards activities that devote key attention to gender and nutrition, circularity and climate resilience, and upgrading of agro-food value chains. Moreover, there is a growing interest in systematic learning from interventions by engaging researchers into development programs. »

During the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, strong interest in Food Systems approaches was confirmed by policy makers and business leaders. Ruerd Ruben from Wageningen Economic Research joined the panel debate on “Accelerating the End of Hunger and Malnutrition” along with contributions from IFPRI, GAIN, GNR, SUN, and WBCSD. Read his blog about the meeting. »

On January 17, 2019 the F&BKP,  WOTRO and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized a research – practice exchange seminar in Accra, Ghana which focused on Food Systems Approaches (FSAs). The meeting was attended by some 30 project members of the NWO-WOTRO Global Challenges Programme (GCP) Call 3 who were in Ghana for their midterm review. They were joined by some 40 Ghanaian Food & Business stakeholders working in the field of agri-business. »

The Food Systems approach continues to be a key area of interest and exploration among Dutch knowledge institutions, Ministries and other stakeholders, as reflected by several expert meetings and studies during the past few months. They explore the concept of “food systems” further, trying to enhance understanding of what the “food systems approach” is about, and more importantly, how it could work to enhance the food systems transitions required to achieve SDG2 and other sustainable development goals. »

The “Food Systems Approach” was one of the buzzwords of the WUR SDG conference of late August. There seemed to be consensus among speakers, panelists and participants that food systems need a transition. Future food systems need to deliver better: more food needs to be available and accessible for the growing, more urbanized world population, it needs to be part of a balanced, nutritious diet, and to be produced, processed and traded in new ways in order to cope with climate change and resource scarcity. »

A food systems approach (FSA) is a useful interdisciplinary conceptual framework for research and policy aimed at sustainable solutions for the sufficient supply of healthy food. A new report about this approach, entitled “The food systems approach: sustainable solutions for a sufficient supply of healthy food”, was recently published by Wageningen Economic Research (WEcR) and commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. »

Breakout session 4 of IOB public dialogue Dutch food security policy on May 31, 2018. Dutch food security policy should seek solutions for long-term challenges to sustainability. A holistic, locally embedded and inclusive approach, aiming for improved resilience of both food production systems and their ecosystems. »

Increased recognition of the role that food can play in responding to various urban sustainability concerns provides new market and engagement opportunities for the private sector. RUAF Foundation published a policy brief that reports on a recent study, implemented by RUAF and supported by the F&BKP and the CGIAR Water Land and Ecosystems Programme, on the role of the private sector in building more sustainable and resilient city region food systems. »

African Union members demand the international community to support them in their ambition of a nutrition revolution. During a lunch meeting on June 29, 2017 a food systems approach was considered as key entry point to realize the ambitions of this African nutrition agenda. Please find here the highlights and full report of this meeting. »

The aim of the workshop “The Future for Food Systems” was to support systematic food systems research as an analytical and policy device. The seminar was organized by Wageningen University & Research and IFPRI together with FOODSECURE & SUSFANS. Participants were about 100 researchers and experts from private sector, government and civil society organizations. »

The main objective of this Pre-event was to highlight the increasingly international dimension of food systems and the need to include the perspectives of consumers in Europe and outside Europe, and to strengthen their involvement in research and innovation. The event was organized to contribute to the broader FOOD 2030 High Level Conference held in Brussels on October 12-13, 2016. »