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Making Food Systems work for Nutrition

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Making Food Systems work for Nutrition

2nd & 3rd of September in English, French and Spanish
Hosted by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and in collaboration with FAO

Thank you to everyone who participated in the webinar series! Links to webinar recordings, presentations and resources are available below.

Organized by the SUN Movement Secretariat and in collaboration with FAO, this webinar will:

  1. Introduce key concepts and frameworks that describe food systems and identify entry points for action
  2. Inform SUN Government Focal Points and members about multi-stakeholder platforms and initiatives related to food systems which they can draw upon and partner with to support advocacy and policy-making.
  3. Share country experiences of how to adopt a food systems approach in the context of multi-stakeholder nutrition policies and programmes, including the challenges and opportunities involved.
  4. Collectively identify areas for further exploration and collaboration on food systems within the SUN Movement.

WEBINAR 1 (English)

Presenters:

  • Anna Lartey, Director for Nutrition, FAO & SUN Exexecutive Committee 
  • Patrizia Fracassi, Senior Nutrition and Food Systems Officer, FAO
  • Charlotte Dufour, Food Systems Consultant, SUN Movement (moderator)

WEBINAR 3 (Hispanophone)

Presenters: 

  • Ana Islas Ramos, Nutrition Officer, FAO
  • Nancy Arbuto, Deputy Director, Nutrition & Food Systems, FAO
  • Francisca Gómez, Policy Specialist, SUN Movement Secretariat (moderator)

WEBINAR 2 (English)

Presenters:

  • Brenda Killen, Director, SUN Movement Secretariat
  • Ahmed Raza, Nutrition & Food System Officer, FAO
  • Charlotte Dufour, Food Systems Consultant, SUN Movement (moderator)

WEBINAR 4 (Francophone)

Presenters:

  • Fatima Hachem, Senior Nutrition Officer, FAO
  • Florence Tartanac, Team Leader, Market linkages & value chains, FAO
  • Charlotte Dufour, Food Systems Consultant, SUN Movement (Moderator)

Why Food Systems:

Food is the foundation for nutrition. How food is produced, processed, transported, sold and consumed has immense implications for nutrition and health. The rising phenomenon of the double-burden of malnutrition – where stunting and micro-nutrient deficiencies coincide with obesity, overweight and diet-related non-communicable disease – is calling our attention to the need to transform our food systems to ensure they deliver healthy diets while preserving the natural resources we all depend on. This will require collaboration and investments and behavior change amongst all nutrition stakeholders – private sector, governments, civil society, and academia.

Since 2018, efforts are underway to make “food systems part of the DNA of the SUN Movement”. But what does this mean? Where should we prioritize efforts and what are the opportunities we can seize to make food systems work for nutrition?

To prepare for the webinar discussion we encourage participants to reflect on the following guiding questions:

  • What are the most significant food systems challenges which affect nutrition in your country? (for example: food production, processing, storage, transport, marketing and retail, consumption)
  • What is an area where the country is investing / focusing to make food systems work for nutrition. For example: nutrition-sensitive agriculture strategy, food-based dietary guidelines, marketing regulations, consumer education or public-private partnerships
  • Who are the main stakeholders involved? Are they governmental, non-governmental and if so, which ministries, it is private sector – including large and small businesses, civil society, parliamentarians, academia and so forth)
  • What are the major challenges affecting this policy or intervention? (for example is it coordination, lack of information or challenges with private-public sector collaboration)
  • What are the major opportunities you see for this policy or intervention to be successful?
  • Looking forward, what do you see in terms of next steps, priorities, research or knowledge findings, collaborations at country level and within the SUN Movement

 

Background Reading:

 

Image credit: © UNICEF/UN0296663/Keïta