Governance Learning Series 2025

Tuesday, 15 April 2025 | 13:00 - 15:00 CEST

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The first session gave voice to the following anchor cases:

1. Governance processes for agroecological production and social transformation in the peri-urban area of Zavalla (Argentina)
2. National strategy for food and nutritional security in cities “Alimenta Cidades” (Brazil)
3. Seqota Declaration: multi-sectoral and multi-level coordination to end child stunting (Ethiopia)

The session examined the integrated and coordinated planning and implementation of intersectoral actions undertaken at various levels, ranging from local to national, aimed at transforming agrifood systems. It critically assessed the challenges and trade-offs encountered, as well as the effectiveness of policy, law, or governance interventions in generating co-benefits and synergies that contribute to economic, environmental, and social sustainability. It was an interactive and collaborative event, inviting participants to share their experiences, offer their insights, and explore both the commonalities and distinct characteristics of different contexts.

Specific learning objectives:

The session aimed to allow participants to:

1. Deepen understanding of the role of policy, law and governance interventions in advancing coherent action to make agrifood systems more sustainable, resilient and inclusive, while overcoming possible challenges. 
2. Explore and get inspired to innovate around governance interventions producing co-benefits in agrifood systems and how these governance innovations could be adapted to other contexts.

Agenda:

Time (CEST)	Segment	Speaker
13:00	Welcome - Opening remarks	Corinna Hawkes, Director, Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division, FAO
13:10	Setting the scene: Introduction of governance aspects of agrifood systems	Moderator: Laura De Matteis, Agrifood systems expert, FAO
13:20	Governance interventions for coherent action towards agrifood systems transformation Focus #1 Governance processes in agroecological production in the peri-urban area of Zavalla for sustainable urban/rural development – Argentina Focus #2 The Seqota Declaration to end stunting in children under two years by 2030 – Ethiopia Focus #3 National Strategy for Food and Nutritional Security in Cities – “Alimenta Cidades” – Brazil	Moderator Guillermo Rajmil, Mayor of Zavalla – Argentina Griselda Muñoz, Director for Gender and Human Rights, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Rosario – Argentina Fesseha Tekele, Assistant Senior Program Manager / Seqota Declaration, Nutrition Coordination Lead Executive Office, Ministry of Health – Ethiopia Kelliane da Consolação Fuscaldi, General coordinator of urban and peri-urban agriculture, Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger – Brazil
14:00	Open discussion	Cases proponents + the audience
14:45	Wrap-up and closing remarks	Moderator

 

Anchor Speakers:

	Guillermo Adrian Rajmil is the Mayor of Zavalla, Argentina. He is serving his fifth term. He is also a doctor – a general practitioner specializing in ultrasound. From 2020 to 2021, he served as Undersecretary of Health for the Ministry of Health of the Province of Santa Fe.
	Griselda María del Carmen Muñoz is a research professor at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the National University of Rosario. She serves as Coordinator of the Diploma in Agroecological Transition and Head of the University's Gender and Human Rights Department. Furthermore, she is Secretary of the Argentine Society of Agroecology.
	Kelliane Fuscaldi has worked for the Brazilian federal government for 25 years. She is currently an Analyst at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and is on secondment to the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, where she serves as the General Coordinator of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture within the National Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security (SISAN).
	Fesseha Tekele has nearly 30 years of experience in various fields, such as agriculture, nutrition, business management, design and construction of irrigation projects, pastoral development, and environmental rehabilitation projects and programs. He is currently serving as a Senior Special Advisor in the Seqota Declaration program (Deputy Coordinator).

 

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Wednesday, 28 May 2025 | 13:00 - 15:00 CEST

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This session explored how governance approaches reshape agrifood systems by centering the voices of those often excluded from policymaking. In Ecuador, combining a national strategy and grassroots roundtables has contributed to empowering rural women to co-create agricultural policies that reflect their needs and realities. Ghana’s Green Label certification scheme showcases how food governance standards and labeling can incentivize sustainable practices while giving smallholder farmers a stronger voice in the market. In Mexico, the process leading to the General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food demonstrates how citizen participation can help shape legal reforms that strengthen the right to food and empower diverse social groups.

It was an interactive and collaborative event, inviting participants to share their experiences, offer their insights, and explore both the commonalities and distinct characteristics of different contexts.

Specific learning objectives:

The session aimed to allow participants to:

1. Expand perspectives on the engagement of key actors and stakeholders in the design and/or implementation of measures, and the role of power and/or influence.
2. Stimulate learning about ways to find common ground while addressing possible resistance.
3. Inspire efforts to innovate around interventions that contribute to a more equitable agrifood system and improve the livelihoods of the most disadvantaged.
   

Agenda:

Time (CEST)	Segment	Speaker
13:00	Welcome and introductory remarks	Stefanos Fotiou, Director, Office of SDGs, FAO
13:10	Setting the scene	Moderator: Hajnalka Petrics, Programme Officer, FAO
13:20	Focus #1 The National Agricultural Strategy for Rural Women, the Public Agricultural Policy for Rural Women and the Rural Women's Roundtables – Ecuador Focus #2 Ghana Green Label food certification scheme – Ghana Focus #3 General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food – Mexico	Moderator Sandra Isabel Mejía Paillacho, Intersectoral Coordination Analyst for Family Farming, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock – Ecuador Harry Bleppony, Deputy Director of Agriculture with the Directorate of Crop Services and Head of the Horticulture Development Unit of the Directorate, Ministry of Food and Agriculture – Ghana Ramiro Lopez Elizalde, Undersecretary of Health Policies and Population Wellbeing, Ministry of Health – Mexico
14:00	Open discussion	Cases proponents + the audience
14:45	Wrap-up and closing remarks	Moderator

Anchor Speakers:

	Sandra Isabel Mejía Paillacho, an Agricultural Engineer with a diploma in Bioeconomy, has focused her career on strengthening small and medium-scale agriculture through collective organization of farmers, fair trade, sustainable production, and the solidarity economy. At Ecuador's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, she currently promotes policies and initiatives for family farming and leads the implementation of the National Agricultural Strategy and the formulation of the Intersectoral Policy for Rural Women.
	Harry Bleppony is Deputy Director of Agriculture at Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), where he leads the Horticulture Unit within the Directorate of Crop Services. With over 20 years of experience in horticulture and tree crops, he has served as a specialist on key projects including the Horticulture Export Industry Initiative, the Export Marketing and Quality Awareness Project, and the Ghana Peri-Urban Vegetable Value Chain Project.
	Ramiro López Elizalde is a neurosurgeon with advanced training in skull base surgery. He also holds a Master’s degree in Health Services Management and extensive leadership experience in major health institutions in Mexico. He has authored or coauthored over 40 scientific articles and six books and is a Level I member of the National System of Researchers. With training in health economics and digital health leadership, he now serves as Undersecretary of Health Policy and Population Wellbeing in the Ministry of Health of Mexico.

 
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Tuesday, 24 June 2025 | 13:00 - 15:00 CEST

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The third session will give voice to the following anchor cases:

1. Kerala Food Platform (India)
2. Leveraging the benefits of multistakeholder partnerships to support rural women and youth in the dairy sector (Kenya)
3. NYC Good Food Purchasing Programme framework (United States)

By listening to these experiences, the session will explore how gathering actors, collecting, analyzing and equitably sharing knowledge and data, and facilitating dialogue can drive transformation in agrifood systems through a governance lens. 

The CAK will share insights from its coordination of over 5,000 agricultural cooperatives and its role in the EU-funded AIRTEA project, highlighting how the creation of a multistakeholder collaborative platform connecting different actors (Dairy Innovation Platform) facilitated stronger women and youth involvement in decision-making across the value chain while improving their capacities. 

The Kerala Food Platform will share how the Indian state of Kerala has developed and piloted a digital version of traditional cooperativism where data-driven insights and innovation promote inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems. 

The New York City case will center on the city’s adoption of the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) framework, which uses data to inform decision-making and to track institutional food procurement against equity, sustainability, and nutrition goals. By embedding values-based metrics in procurement contracts and reporting systems, NYC is advancing a more transparent and accountable urban food system.

Participants are invited to share their experiences, offer their insights, and explore both the commonalities and distinct characteristics of different contexts. The session will be held in English with interpretation from/in Spanish.

Specific learning objectives:

At the end of the session, participants are expected to:

• Expand diverse perspectives on monitoring and accountability mechanisms to inform decision-making and accelerate the implementation and sustainability of interventions.
• Inspire efforts to innovate around data and evidence collection and sharing, and concrete ways to measure transformative change, especially for the most disadvantaged. 

Agenda:

Time (CEST)	Segment	Speaker
13:00	Welcome and introductory remarks	Máximo Torero, Chief Economist, FAO
13:10	Setting the scene	Moderator: Dubravka Bojić, Programme Officer, FAO
13:20	Focus #1 Kerala Food Platform – India Focus #2 Leveraging the benefits of multistakeholder partnerships to support rural women and youth in the dairy sector – Kenya Focus #3 NYC Good Food Purchasing framework – United States	Moderator P.V. Unnikrishna, Member Secretary, K-DISC & Ex officio Secretary to Government, Planning and Economic Affairs (Innovation & Development) Department, State of Kerala – India Judith Nthiga, Programme Manager, Cooperative Alliance of Kenya – Kenya Milagros de Hoz, Deputy Director of Strategy and Policy, New York City Mayor's Office of Food Policy – United States
14:00	Open discussion	Cases proponents + the audience
14:45	Wrap-up	Moderator
14:50	Closing remarks	Donata Rugarabamu, Legal Counsel, FAO

 

Speakers:

• Guillermo Rajmil, Mayor of Zavalla – Argentina
• Griselda Muñoz, Director for Gender and Human Rights, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Rosario – Argentina
  

Summary:

The case of Zavalla unveils the agroecology regulatory framework of this small Argentinian commune. It aligns with Argentina’s Agroecology Conceptual Framework, which results from a participatory process coordinated by the National Directorate for Agroecology in 2021.

The problem addressed was agricultural production in the peri-urban area of Zavalla (Santa Fe, Argentina), given the restrictions on the use of pesticides that are proven toxicity for the health of communities and the environment. The challenge was to develop an agroecological food system capable of promoting sustainable urban/rural development and satisfying the needs of all the actors involved: producers, neighbors adjacent to the farmland, officials and agronomists.

Thanks to the political will of the president of the municipality, Dr Rajmil (both a health professional and a food producer himself), and through an inclusive, participatory approach that engaged those actors and with technical support from the academia, a series of ordinances contributed to sensitizing the whole municipal community, ensuring local food production complied with higher environmental standards and granting local producers with subsidies funded by local taxes. 

The University provided the local administration with technical input on the agroecological issues at stake and conducted studies about the Zavalla case for academic research.

Speaker:

• Kelliane da Consolação Fuscaldi, General coordinator of urban and peri-urban agriculture and Deputy Director of the Department for the Promotion of Adequate and Healthy Food, Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger – Brazil
  

Summary:

The National Strategy for Food and Nutritional Security in Cities – “Alimenta Cidades” seeks to promote coordination between Brazilian federative entities, key actors and civil society, contributing to the strengthening of the National Food and Nutritional Security System (SISAN in Portuguese) and considering the National Food and Nutritional Security and Food Supply Policies. In this context, it is an intervention focused on aspects of institutional governance, with the premise of encouraging cities to join SISAN. Furthermore, the Strategy will also contribute to legal aspects in cities, as it will support cities in the process of standardizing school environments.

The Strategy seeks to encourage integrated and coordinated planning of intersectoral actions related to urban and peri-urban food, as well as strengthening the perspective of the right to the city and the human right to adequate food. This effort will contribute to reducing inequities, better access to different services and opportunities and the promotion of dignity and citizenship.

The Strategy recognises the diversity of urban areas in terms of geographic, economic, social, political, and cultural characteristics, among others. Local diagnoses are carried out, which integrate information such as the food and nutritional situation, profile of social vulnerabilities, presence of groups priority populations, recognition of the food supply flow in the territory, characteristics of the local food system, among others, to support the construction of public policies that consider local challenges.

Speaker:

• Fesseha Tekele, Assistant Senior Program Manager / Seqota Declaration, Nutrition Coordination Lead Executive Office, Ministry of Health – Ethiopia
  

Summary:

The Seqota Declaration is the Ethiopian government’s commitment to end stunting in children under two by the year 2030 and is part of the implementation of the National Food and Nutrition policy and strategy. The declaration adapts a food system approach and has a 15-year roadmap divided into three phases: innovation, expansion (2021-2025) and scale-up phases (2026-2030). Currently, the expansion phase is under implementation in 240 stunting prevalence woredas (districts) throughout the country.  The implementation plan lays out a conceptual framework to inform multisectoral coordination of interventions and performance management arrangements along with a multi-year implementation roadmap.

The SD Innovation Phase generated successful program experiences on how to better cultivate and coordinate political and sectoral commitment, delivery and technical capacity, collaborative engagement between key actors, and improved performance management practice at all levels, and provided good examples on effective way to mainstream cross-cutting issues such as gender and social behavioral change and communication (SBCC) efforts across several sectors.

The Innovation Phase also generated promising experiences on the introduction of high-impact nutrition smart interventions to improve household-level behaviors and practices on production and consumption of diverse, and nutrient-rich foods. Learning and experiences from the Innovation Phase are synthesized and used to inform the SD Expansion and Scaleup Phases. The implementation plan leverages pre-existing policies, strategies and programs in place to maximize lessons learned and apply best practices at scale in a targeted approach. 

The governance structure of the SD implementation (from national to local level) constitutes a multi-level governance case. The High-Level Seqota Declaration Leadership Forum, led by H.E. Deputy Prime Minister, has been and will be responsible for providing overall leadership and strategic guidance for both the Innovation and Expansion Phases. Delivery units were created to implement the program. The Federal Program Delivery Unit (PDU), in collaboration with the SD implementing sectors, facilitates proper governance of the SD at the federal level. Regional PDUs and Food and Nutrition Coordination Offices (FNCOs) that are responsible for the regional administration offices are responsible for the governance of the SD at the regional level. At the zonal and woreda level, the Zonal and Woreda Administrators will be responsible for providing leadership while dedicated staff or focal persons will be responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the multisectoral planning, reporting, and performance management. 

Speaker:

Sandra Isabel Mejía Pallacho, Intersectoral Coordination Analyst for Family Farming, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock – Ecuador

Summary:

Ecuador’s National Agricultural Strategy for Rural Women (ENAMR, by its Spanish acronym) was established by a 2020 ministerial agreement and is led by the Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) with support from international partners. The Strategy recognizes and highlights women's vital contributions to food production, access, and consumption. It promotes gender equality within agrifood systems by developing and implementing intersectional regulations and policies, contributing to reducing hunger and poverty. 

The Strategy has created the Rural Women’s Roundtable, a body for dialogue, consultation and technical support for implementing, monitoring and evaluating the agricultural policy established in the Strategy. It fosters the participation of rural women leaders in shaping agricultural initiatives and promotes their professional growth, focusing on issues like women's productive interests, rights, and access to financial resources and education. 

At the provincial level, technical roundtables have brought together local stakeholders to address family farming from a gender perspective.

The evaluation of social, economic, political, and cultural contexts surrounding women’s rights remains a continuous priority during policy implementation. Building on the lessons from the Strategy, the MAG is now preparing the Intersectoral Agricultural Policy for Rural Women, which will count on a dedicated budget and long-term vision for rural women's empowerment.

Resources:

• UN Women (in Spanish) - Estrategia Nacional Agropecuaria para Mujeres Rurales ENAMR
• News - Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador (in Spanish): Estrategia Nacional Agropecuaria beneficia a más de 37 mil mujeres rurales del Ecuador
• FAO - Acuerdo Ministerial N° 106 - Estrategia Nacional Agropecuaria para Mujeres Rurales
• FAO, IFAD and WFP - Joint Programme on Gender Transformative Approaches for Food Security and Nutrition
• Academic research (in Spanish): Análisis de estrategia nacional agropecuaria para mujeres rurales, énfasis en la agricultura familiar campesina

Speaker:

Ramiro López Elizalde, Undersecretary of Health Policies and Population Wellbeing, Ministry of Health – Mexico

Summary:

In 2024, Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved—with 420 votes— the draft bill for the General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food. The purpose of the law is to establish the principles and foundations for promoting, protecting, respecting, and guaranteeing the effective exercise of the right to adequate food and the interdependent human rights.

Despite its unanimous approval, the bill encountered resistance in the Parliament, where it was seen by some as too radical. This opposition was addressed through multi-stakeholder dialogue led by the Senate’s primary review commission, supported by continued advocacy from civil society and members of the executive branch, all brought together under the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger, Mexico Chapter (Frente Parlamentario Contra el Hambre Capítulo México). Civil society had initiated the push for this law, building strategic alliances with the Parliamentary Front and academic institutions, and working alongside the executive branch to exert the necessary pressure on the legislative process.

Resources:

• The Law (in Spanish): Ley General de la Alimentación Adecuada y Sostenible
• News (in Spanish): Ley General de la Alimentación Adecuada y Sostenible, una revolución alimentaria en México: expertos
• News (in Spanish): México aprueba histórica legislación que garantiza el derecho a una alimentación adecuada y sostenible

Speaker:

Harry Bleppony, Deputy Director of Agriculture with the Directorate of Crop Services and Head of the Horticulture Development Unit of the Directorate, Ministry of Food and Agriculture – Ghana

Summary:

The Ghana Green Label Initiative emerged as a response to growing consumer demands for safe food, produced under environmentally sustainable conditions. Responding to these demands, actors from the Horticulture Development Unit, Directorate of Crop Services of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in 2010, teamed up with the German Agency for International Development (GIZ) and the Ghana Standards Authority to initiate the processes of developing what has become the Green Label Standard.

The structure of the Green label foundation has not emerged easily and was primarily guarded from total private capture. The current governance structure emerged out of a process of intense, yet constructive negotiations among its multistakeholder actors (four years of negotiation, from 2013 to 2017). Its emergence and development trajectory demonstrate a novel food safety governance arrangement, largely informed by the peculiar context and the lessons its multi-stakeholder actors (public and private sector, development partners, regulatory authorities, consumers, farmers, and research institutions) had learnt from similar initiatives around the world. 

Resources:

• Academic research: Private actors and food safety governance in the Accra City Region: Implications for local food policy

Speaker:

P.V Unnikrishnan, Member Secretary, K-DISC & Ex officio Secretary to Government, Planning and Economic Affairs (Innovation & Development) Department, State of Kerala – India

Summary:

The Kerala Food Platform (KFP) is a government-owned digital platform ecosystem currently being developed by the Kerala Development and Strategic Innovation Council (K-DISC), operating under the aegis of the Department of Planning and Economic Affairs (Innovation and Development), the Government of Kerala, India. The Kerala Food Platform is an institutional-level intervention aimed at developing a multistakeholder, cooperative-led platform where all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain – farmers, producers, consumers, and business providers of value-added services – are on-boarded onto one digital ecosystem, where data-driven insights and innovation are leveraged to support a state-wide cooperative agricultural network to promote inclusive & sustainable agri-value chains and food systems. There are three main elements to the Kerala Food Platform: (i) a cooperative agri-culture ecosystem management application; (ii) a farmer application; and (iii) an e-commerce mobile application. 

The KFP is an endeavour for an institutional-level, economy-wide transformation to support a cooperative platform ecosystem for equitable distribution of data value. The platform was developed in a participatory approach with the Panchayat (local governments) and farmers. 

Resources:

• Kerala Food Platform
• Multistakeholder Platform - K-DISC
• The Digital Ecosystem Opportunity for Indian Agriculture - Making the Right Choices

Speaker:

Judith Nthiga, Programme Manager, Cooperative Alliance of Kenya – Kenya

Summary:

The case refers to a multistakeholder partnership and the establishment of a collaborative platform connecting all dairy value chain actors in Kenya, known as the Dairy Innovation Platform (DIP). This platform was used to address issues of low dairy production, limited economic service access and smallholder farmer involvement (women and youth) across the value chain while also providing a channel for inclusive knowledge, technology transfer and policy dialogue. The collaborative platform established an updated knowledge-sharing mechanism for smallholder dairy farmers and other dairy value chain actors that improved the technical ​​capacities of youth and women smallholder farmers. CAK is also lobbying and advocating for a favorable legal and policy environment at the national level.  

The establishment of a functional multistakeholder partnership was welcomed by the partners and beneficiaries as it brought together the key value chain actors in one sitting to discuss and resolve real issues together, including leveraging the good practices from amongst themselves. Learning about group dynamics helped the women and youth to know how they can stick together in times of crisis.

Resources:

• Cooperative Alliance of Kenya (CAK)
• AIRTEA Project

Speaker:

Milagros de Hoz, Deputy Director of Strategy and Policy, New York City Mayor's Office of Food Policy – United States

Summary:

New York City's Good Food Purchasing (GFP) framework aims to address several critical challenges within the agrifood system in New York City. These include combating the prevalence of ultra-processed and unhealthy foods contributing to chronic diseases, reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with food consumption, and ensuring equitable opportunities for small, New York State, and/or Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) food vendors. 

The framework aimed to achieve economic, environmental, and social benefits, including improving nutrition, reducing environmental footprint, and fostering local economic development. Collaborative efforts with procurement, menuing/nutrition, and culinary teams have resulted in the adoption of healthier and more sustainable food practices in agency settings. 

Monitoring and accountability mechanisms were put in place to track the implementation of GFP principles and measure progress towards desired outcomes (GFP dashboard). This included regular data collection and analysis by the Center for GFP, which provided insights into the impact of GFP initiatives on disadvantaged populations. Additionally, agencies were required to report their food purchasing data, including details on nutrition, sustainability, and vendor diversity, ensuring transparency and accountability in the implementation of GFP values.  

Resources:

• GFP platform