12 and 17 October 2023 – Online via Teams  

By now, it is well acknowledged that the agrifood system is a key entry point for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs). The ​ UN​ Food Systems Summit in 2021 was an important impetus for this recognition.  

To realize the SDGs, agrifood systems need to be enabled to address complex and interrelated challenges from climate change and unsustainable use of natural resources; to high levels of food loss and waste, malnutrition and food insecurity, among others. Many of these challenges are not necessarily new but they persist.  

The Summit also marked the launch of a series of national multi-stakeholder initiatives, which resulted in over 120 countries submitting what is termed as National Pathways for Food Systems Transformation – “living documents” describing countries’ vision for reforming their agrifood systems.  

National governments and stakeholders are calling on the global community to provide guidance on national level agrifood systems and policy options, practices, and public sector reforms needed to address the challenges outlined above.  

To support this response, on Thursday 12th October  FAO launched a collaboration with the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London (IIPP UCL) to develop a training for the public sector on policy-making for Agrifood Systems Transformation to be piloted in Rwanda at the end of November.  The training is also being co-created with the University of Rwanda and the regional research institute Academia 2063. 

The meeting on Thursday saw FAO, IIPP, the University of Rwanda and the regional research institute Academia 2063 embark on a co-creation process.  In this initial gathering IIPP  learnt first-hand from a range of FAO HQ and regional colleagues how FAO defines terms related to agrifood systems transformation, some related concepts, how they relate to the work of FAO, and the tensions faced when applying a ‘systems approach’.  

The co-learning will continue on Tuesday 17th October with FAO colleagues continuing to share their insights based on support to policy making at the country level with experiences from Rwanda, Albania, Tunisia and Sierra Leone.  At the same time the institute is also carrying out bilateral discussions with additional research institutes working on the topic, FAO international, regional and country partners.    

After their rapid course in agrifood systems, the IIPP team will converge these learnings with their expertise on policy portfolio development and systems approaches. They will then travel to Rome at the end of  October to walk HQ, RAF and Rwandan colleagues through their approach. All feedback will be subsequently incorporated into the pilot training to be delivered to policymakers in Rwanda at the end of November.