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Policy foundations, country dialogues, and analytics for food system transformative integrated policy in Rwanda, Malawi, and Ghana

The imperative for food systems transformation is increasingly acknowledged by African governments and reflected in the strategic priorities of the African Union Development Agency. Despite some commendable progress with food security and nutrition, they have yet to achieve the intersectoral commitments and changes required for sustainable, resilient supply systems promoting gender and socio-economic equity, and for creating a nutritious food environment for consumers that addresses the growing double burden of malnutrition and non-communicable diseases.

This initiative will build momentum towards achieving sustainable health diets for all by working with the governments of Malawi, Rwanda, and Ghana, which have all committed to embarking on a food system transformation journey. Activities will synchronize with, inform, and respond to government-led food systems summit dialogues. They will strengthen capabilities for collation of data and deep analysis of food systems, promote regional and international knowledge exchange, and catalyze engagement of public, private, and social sector stakeholders necessary for the development of principle-based, transparent, coherent, and inclusive food system policies.

A standardized framework will be developed for food system analysis and diagnostics, applied in each country to generate valuable information for the dialogues and evaluated for scalable use internationally. Implementation research will strengthen the execution, outputs, and learnings from this initiative and inform subsequent plans for scaling the integrated food system policy journey in other countries.

This initiative is supported through the new Catalyzing Change for Healthy Sustainable Food Systems (CCHeFS) partnership between IDRC and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Project ID
109698
Project Status
Active
End Date
Duration
10 months
IDRC Officer
Samuel Oji Oti
Total Funding
CA$ 1,621,855.00
Location
Ghana
Malawi
Rwanda
Programs
Climate-Resilient Food Systems
Catalyzing change for healthy and sustainable food systems
Institution Country
Kenya
Institution
African Population and Health Research Centre

Outputs

Food system transformative integrated policy

Food system transformative integrated policy

Report

There are many challenges in African countries’ food systems, including food insecurity and nutrition, which can be addressed by evidence-informed food system policies. However, there is limited evidence on the current food system situation which constrains the development and implementation of such policies. The FS-TIP initiative aims to diagnose food system challenges and identify policies and stakeholders required for the functioning of food systems in Africa, with an initial focus on Rwanda, Malawi, and Ghana. The process also aimed to contribute to and inform the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in-country dialogues and was implemented between April and August 2021.

Author(s): Kimani-Murage, Elizabeth, Mutoro, Antonina, Mwaniki, Elizabeth, Ogunsola, Ajibola, Amugsi, Dickson, Asiki, Gershim, Sipalla, Florence

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Language: English