What is a food system — and can we actually transform it?

16 January 2024. Food systems transformation has become an important banner in international development and CGIAR alike. It is hailed as a different approach to finally address persistent and interconnected problems such as hunger, poverty, environmental degradation, and climate change, once and for all. But so far, there is not a clear sense in the CGIAR that business is very different from usual. 

The CGIAR Initiatives on Low-Emission Food Systems and Nature-Positive Solutions are joining forces along with the Scaling Community of Practice to hold a series of webinars on “Taking transformation seriously: Implications for CGIAR.” 

1. The CGIAR Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems, also known as Mitigate+, works closely with key actors in the target countries so that they are equipped with the knowledge, information, and tools they need to make robust evidence-based decisions as they confront challenges in food system discourse, policy development, and implementation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2.  CGIAR Initiative on Nature-Positive Solutions

This series of webinars, discusses with key scholars and practitioners what it actually means to incorporate food systems transformation in our work and what the implications are for research for development organizations. The aim of the series is to start a serious conversation on the topic of food systems transformation, which serves as the first step to meaningful actions and changes.

Although it dives deep into the case of the CGIAR, it is expected that the discussions and learnings are valid far beyond the CGIAR. 

The session aimed to provide clarity on what a food system is and the dynamics defining this system. 

• Cees Leeuwis is professor in the Knowledge, Technology and Innovation (KTI) group at Wageningen University and shared his insights on socio-technical innovation and transformation. 
• Danielle Resnick is a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and a nonresident fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings, and she shared her insights on the political economy of agricultural policy and food systems. 
• Louis Verchot is a research leader for Alliance Bioversity-CIAT and serves as Lead on CIGIAR's Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems (Mitigate+). Lennart Woltering is a scaling expert at CIMMYT and GIZ and a PhD candidate at the Wageniningen University focusing on the relation between innovation, scaling and transformation. He will moderate this session. Kristin Davis is a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and serves as WP5 lead for the Initiative on Nature-Positive Solutions. She will provide closing remarks.

Related:

1 February 2024. 05:15 PM CET Political Economy of Food System Transformation: Pathways to Progress in a Polarized World

• With Danielle Resnick, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
• This webinar focuses specifically on these issues by presenting insights from a newly released IFPRI-Oxford University Press book on The Political Economy of Food System Transformation: Pathways to Progress in a Polarized World