When dots connect: The knowledge ecosystem behind agrifood systems governance

Agrifood systems are being reshaped not only by the pressures of crises, scarcities, inequalities, and volatilities, but also by the knowledge we choose to act on. Data has long been regarded as a strategic asset for governance, yet in many agrifood systems, access to it remains uneven, disconnected from decision-making, or isolated in institutional silos. Beyond just producing more data, the challenge today is about transforming how knowledge is created and what counts as evidence, how information is shared and used across stakeholders, from smallholder farmers to city and state officials. This is a core message of the third and final session of FAO’s 2025 Governance Learning Series, held virtually on 24 June 2025.

“Creating the spaces to connect people and to ensure that all actors, including the smallholder and marginalized groups, can access, share and use data, knowledge and information is instrumental in our journey towards more effective, sustainable and equitable agrifood systems,” emphasized Máximo Torero, FAO’s Chief Economist, in his opening remarks. “When we bring actors together, we create a space not only for sharing knowledge but also for articulating demands, shaping priorities, and building a shared vision.”

The session, titled Harnessing Data and Knowledge for Sustainable Agrifood Systems Governance, explored the ways institutional learning and grassroots capacity development can bridge the persistent gaps between information, power, and action. Issues of data quality, trust, access, ownership, and the capacity to interpret, spread and apply knowledge were central to the discussions. Each of the three case studies presented – India’s Kerala Food Platform, the Cooperative Alliance of Kenya’s user-driven data systems and New York City’s Good Food Purchasing initiative – demonstrated that data and knowledge governance can shape who benefits from agrifood transformation, and who risks being left behind.

Kerala Food Platform: Building trust through local data ecosystems

In India, the Kerala Food Platform offers a compelling example of how data and local knowledge can empower smallholders through a digitally integrated food ecosystem. As presented by P.V. Unnikrishnan, Member Secretary of the Government of Kerala’s Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC), the pilot platform was developed in 2023 in a farming region of Kerala where a cooperative bank and networks of marginalized farmers had been practicing organic agriculture with saline-resistant rice varieties for around two decades. With limited access to marketing and widespread scepticism about organic labels, the region’s producers faced persistent challenges.

The platform, built with support from a local tech startup, academic partners, and local government, created a verified data system centred on land ownership, production, and transactions, avoiding excessive data demands while ensuring traceability. This is a unique example in India of a cooperative-led platform developed and managed by a public institution – K-DISC – together with the panchayat system (India’s decentralized governance models at the level of villages) in a national context where datafication and digitalization of food systems are usually led by agri-tech corporations.

This model ensures that data value creation and distribution directly benefit small and marginalized farmers, farmers with fragmented landholdings and small and local traders in the agrifood system. Each product now carries a QR code that links directly to the plot of land it comes from. “The idea was not to collect more data, but to collect the right data – validated, simple, and useful for everyone,” Unnikrishnan explained. This transparency has led to tangible benefits: higher prices for farmers, renewed consumer trust, and a model for sustainable local food systems. The initiative also supports hyperlocal delivery for perishables and broader distribution for durable items, adapting to the unique shelf lives and logistics of diverse products like milk, vegetables, and specialty rice. 

Despite its success, scaling remains a challenge. “Scaling up requires a huge educational and empowering process,” acknowledged Unnikrishnan. The platform depends on trust, active participation, and the sensitization of farmer groups unfamiliar with digital systems. Yet it has been recognized as part of Kerala’s broader “Vijnana Keralam” (Kerala for Science) campaign for a knowledge-based economy, and efforts are underway to replicate the model across other regions.

Kenya: the power of cooperatives in leading inclusive innovation

In East Africa, the Cooperative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) is helping empower women and youth engaged in the dairy sector using data and knowledge. Judith Nthiga, Programme Manager at CAK, shared insights from the EU-funded AIRTEA project (2021-2025). The creation of a multistakeholder partnership and establishment of a collaborative platform connecting all dairy value chain actors – the Dairy Innovation Platform (DIP) – addressed persistent challenges in the sector, including low productivity, limited economic access, and the underrepresentation of smallholder women and youth farmers in the membership and leadership of dairy cooperatives. “We realized that research often sits in institutions, while farmers remain in the dark,” she said. By integrating research, finance, technology, and government actors, AIRTEA ensures that innovations – from improved cow health to breeding techniques – are directly informed by, and responsive to, farmers’ needs. 

One of the project’s most significant achievements is its use of digital tools such as the Kenya Digital Agriculture Platform (KALRO) app and Kenya Agricultural Observatory Platform (KAOP), which provide advisory services, record-keeping, and weather data. Cooperative leaders now use tablets to monitor milk deliveries and payments, creating new levels of transparency and accountability. "In addition, improved cow feeding and breeding played a key role in boosting milk productivity. As Nthiga observed, “the relationship between farmers and researchers was very profitable. Farmers without information are still dependent on subsistence farming, but farmers with information are able to transition to commercial farming”.

AIRTEA’s success is rooted in its foundation within a strong alliance of cooperatives, bolstered by CAK’s influential policy leadership. CAK has spearheaded national advocacy that led to the establishment of the Ministry of Cooperatives, the enactment of new cooperative legislation, and tax reforms that benefit small-scale producers. Building on this momentum, a proposed Dairy Federation aims to bridge county and national efforts, further institutionalizing inclusive governance. This case demonstrates that when data systems are codesigned with users and embedded within robust cooperative structures, they can catalyse systemic change across technical, economic, and political spheres.

The choice for good food: New York City’s procurement framework

In New York City, the story is one of scale and strategic data use to drive structural reform in public food procurement. Milagros de Hoz, Director of Policy and Strategy at the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, presented the city’s adoption of the Good Food Purchasing program (GFP), which aims to improve the food offered in public institutions and canteens across the city, aligning its USD 500 million food budget with values such as equity, sustainability, nutrition, and fair labor. She noted that food procurement is often seen as an operational task, but it can be used as a lever of governance. “We are using our big procurement capacity to shift the food system and to send the signal that we do care about food that is healthy, that can have an economic and social impact in the region and that can be in harmony with the planet”. The mayor’s role was pivotal in formalizing the GFP program through an executive order in 2022, providing legitimacy and political support. The mayor’s endorsement drove momentum for GFP framework implementation and ensured compliance across city agencies.

By onboarding major institutions like NYC public schools, hospitals, detention centres and elderly care centres, and by establishing a dashboard for quarterly reporting to track progress in nutrition, environmental sustainability, local economic support and animal welfare, the city has begun to shift its food system from opaque contracting to transparent, values-based planning while making diets healthier. Between 2019 and 2023, local food spending increased from USD 76 million to USD 193 million, greenhouse gas emissions from food dropped by 29 percent, and participation by small and minority-owned vendors nearly doubled. Yet the transformation has not been without obstacles.

“Data collection can be a burden, especially for small suppliers,” De Hoz noted, highlighting efforts to customize metrics and collaborate with other entities to support vendors with limited capacity. Partnerships with institutions such as Cornell University and the World Resources Institute are helping the city refine its environmental impact tools and share lessons with other municipalities. 

While the implementation of the GFP framework has faced challenges, most notably budget limitations that require strategic menu adjustments to manage costs, its impact has been clear. By carefully balancing affordability with nutrition and environmental goals, the GFP program demonstrates that healthy and sustainable food choices often align. This reduces the need for difficult policy trade-offs, offering a pathway to improved public health alongside a lower environmental footprint.

While federal procurement policies still pose challenges, New York’s experience illustrates how data – when embedded in policy frameworks and tied to public dollars – can become a powerful tool for equity and sustainability. “To change what we are buying, we need to engage every single actor – from nutritionists to procurement teams, to the cooks who turn ingredients into meals,” said De Hoz. 

Knowledge and innovative pathways

The session concluded with reflections on the deeper implications of these initiatives. “We have seen that when data systems and digital platforms are built together—through open, multistakeholder dialogues—then everyone, from small-scale food producers to women and youth, truly has a say in the ways it informs decision-making,” stressed Guido Acquaviva, Deputy Legal Counsel at FAO, in his closing remarks. “That kind of shared ownership is the foundation of fair and effective agrifood governance.”

Dubravka Bojic, FAO’s Programme Officer, Governance and Policy, and lead facilitator of the session, emphasized that the Series has shown the centrality of governance as both a background condition and an active driver of transformation. “Across the three sessions, we were reminded that agrifood systems are not just a technical issue, but deeply a governance and political one as well,” she said. “Political and economic factors, the balancing of diverse objectives and interests, strengthening partnerships, and effective coordination are all essential to make things happen on the ground.”

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Visit the Series’ webpage for past discussions and cases.

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Watch the recording: