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Overview
Overview
Food systems are complex and require targeted, collaborative action at multiple levels. The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT has developed an approach that utilizes the creation of Food System Profiles (FSPs) to help stakeholders understand their food systems, identify barriers and opportunities, and guide transformative efforts and actions at the national and subnational levels. Through the process of developing profiles via participatory approaches, collaboration and relationships are built among local public, private, and civic food system stakeholders, leading to meaningful conversations on collecting secondary data, including additional local knowledge, validating results, and identifying key messages.
Each food system profile is a snapshot ‒a condensed analysis that clearly, concisely, and graphically synthesizes critical information, which includes an analysis of food environments, supply systems, consumer behavior, institutional context, and system drivers. In Vietnam, Colombia, and Honduras, the profiles have expanded understanding of sub-national and local food systems, fostered collaboration, and served as practical tools for designing inclusive, sustainable transformation strategies. By visualizing previously hidden interconnections, the profiles help communities identify priorities, manage trade-offs, and coordinate actions to create healthy diets for people produced in sustainable food production systems.
Key actors
Key actors
Vietnam: The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE); the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN); the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture Sciences (VAAS); the Institute for Policy and Strategy on Agriculture and Environment (ISPAE); and representatives from various provincial departments and civil society in Dong Thap and Son La.
Honduras: More than 41 stakeholders from the government ‒ such as the Technical Unit for Food Security (UTSAN), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), and the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON)‒; civil society; the academia; the private sector; and the UN System.
Colombia: Different public and private partners such as: Cali City Hall (various departments), Universidad del Valle, Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Javeriana Cali, Universidad ICESI, Universidad de La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Universidad Abierta y a Distancia, Universidad EAFIT, Central de Abastos del Valle del Cauca – CAVASA, Banco de la República, Corpovalle, and Agrosavia.
Alignment with the EAT-Lancet Commission
Alignment with the EAT-Lancet Commission
The multi-stakeholder approach to creating food system profiles promotes transformation from the ground up by increasing national and subnational commitment to transitioning to healthy diets and sustainable production. In Vietnam, three district and one national profile contributed to dialogues and the national food systems plan. Later, two provincial profiles (Dong Thap and Son La), developed in collaboration with local government representatives, aligned local priorities with the National Action Plan for Food Systems Transformation. In Colombia, the Cali city-region profile integrated equity and food flows, paving the way for PlaSAColombia. This interactive national data analytics platform is now being used by university professors and students to teach new generations about food systems. In Honduras, a national profile informed the UNFSS roadmap. This was followed by municipal profiles in Balfate and Gualaco that are now guiding 20 more municipalities to support decision-making across the country.
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
In developing this approach, we identified five key success factors:
The process should align with the stakeholders' existing capacities and resources.
Direct engagement with food system stakeholders is vital to building capacities, fostering a shared understanding, and developing a common language around system change.
Existing data should be assessed and prioritized with stakeholder participation.
Data should include timeseries to show trends over time.
The analysis should drive action-oriented dialogue processes and interventions to test ways to transform the food system.
Next steps
Next steps
The Food System Profiles were envisioned as a tool to inform local action as well as to facilitate dialogue and learning from other places. We have developed the approach and tools to make it easy for others to replicate.
We hope to partner with and encourage others to adopt the approach, tools, and indicators used to help answer key questions on the development of sustainable food systems in low- and middle-income countries.
By using a participatory process, we earned the trust of government actors at national level and are supporting national efforts, especially in Vietnam, to design and implement the National Plan of Action for Food Systems Transformation.
For more information contact: Gina Kennedy at G.kennedy@cgiar.org
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