Food Systems Countdown Initiative Workshop: Performance and Integration

FAO, together with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Columbia University and Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are co-hosting the "Food Systems Countdown Initiative Workshop: Performance and Integration" on 29 and 30 October 2024.

Agriculture and food systems play a vital role in meeting all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet the SDGs are insufficient to monitor these systems. The Food Systems Countdown Initiative (FSCI) aims to fill this gap.

The FSCI indicator framework is intended for global monitoring of agriculture and food systems transformation. It also offers a menu of indicators that can be used to design policies and actions, and inform tailored monitoring systems to meet country needs.  

The FSCI is a collaborative effort to monitor global food systems. It brings together indicators that span food systems and provides annual analysis to inform policy, business, and NGO priorities and actions. It supports the transformation of food systems, so they become equitable, sustainable, and resilient and positively contribute to achieving the 2030 SDGs and other global goals.                                               

Objectives

The objectives of the two-day workshop are to: 

• Review the current FSCI performance analyses at global, regional, and income levels, including the presentation of visual data and feedback from participating countries.
• Plan a multi-faceted approach for gathering comprehensive feedback from diverse stakeholders across participating countries, ensuring that FSCI's initiatives are responsive to local needs and contexts.
• Identify opportunities for the integration of FSCI metrics within FAO data systems and other monitoring initiatives.
• Determine the essential messages and insights that should be conveyed through the FSCI dashboard.

Outcomes

By the end of this workshop, we will have:

• Selected and prioritized specific performance analyses for inclusion in the next FSCI publication, with each analysis clearly defined and justified.
• Developed a comprehensive country feedback strategy, including: a) identification of 3-5 key stakeholder groups in each participating country b) design of at least 2 feedback collection methods (e.g., surveys, focus groups) c) creation of a timeline for implementing feedback collection over the next 12 months.
• Created an FSCI-FAO data integration roadmap, consisting of: a) a list of 3-5 potential integration approaches, each with pros and cons b) identification of necessary resources and potential challenges for each approach c) selection of a preferred approach with a high-level implementation plan including key milestones and tentative dates.
• Identified 5-7 key messages or insights to be featured on the FSCI dashboard, ensuring that each: a) aligns directly with FSCI's core objectives b) is supported by specific, reliable data sources c) addresses a critical information need for our primary stakeholders.