Raising awareness of opportunities for young people and the private sector in sustainable food systems transformation

As the challenges to sustainable food systems grow, it will become more important for a diversity of voices to be engaged. One of the objectives of the CGIAR Research Initiative on Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation(SHiFT) is to facilitate multistakeholder engagement in food systems transformation processes. One way it is doing this is by collaborating with partners in national governments to raise awareness and increase understanding of food systems concepts through workshops offered to different groups of stakeholders.

In Ethiopia, SHiFT works with the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, a group known as Strategic Partners. This group is collectively implementing activities that align with the Government of Ethiopia's own food systems transformation agenda, or what is frequently referred to as their roadmap.

The Strategic Partners and SHiFT recently held workshops with two groups of stakeholders that are critical for sustainable food systems transformation - the private sector and young people. Participants from both groups were recruited from networks facilitated by the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Movement in Ethiopia. Professionals from agricultural businesses, food processing companies, distributors, retailers, and relevant industry associations attended the workshop on June 22, 2024. Young people, early career professionals working in government, NGOs, research, and the private sector, participated in the workshop on June 29, 2024. In total, 44 people participated.

The objectives of the workshops were similar: to create a shared understanding of the concepts, approaches, and frameworks used by the Government of Ethiopia to describe sustainable food systems transformation and to provide an update on the current status of the food systems transformation process. The workshop content emphasized how sustainable food systems transformation depends on multistakeholder collaboration and helped participants to see what their role could be in this change process.

For example, during the workshop, young people identified several things they could do to support food systems to transition in a healthy and sustainable direction in Ethiopia. Some of their ideas included organizing a campaign, using digital platforms like social media to share knowledge through storytelling or animated videos with their peers, and in rural communities, thinking about different platforms that could be used to create awareness about the positive benefits of planting edible trees.

A couple of the participants' recommendations to SHiFT and the Strategic Partners was to offer more training on dedicated topics, like financing opportunities for food systems innovation, and to establish an online platform - maybe through social media - so they can exchange resources, share experiences, and follow-up on intentions made during the workshop. The workshop organizers plan to encourage ongoing collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the participants.

Another next step will be to conduct similar workshops with groups working at subnational levels in Ethiopia. The June workshops and future workshops are part of a training of trainers (ToT) programon food systems co-developed by Strategic Partners and SHiFT in Ethiopia. To date, there are 31 expert trainers from government ministries, departments, and agencies, plus universities, NGOs, think tanks, and United Nations agencies ready to teach other food systems actors in locations across Ethiopia. Three expert trainers from the ToT program facilitated the recent awareness raising workshops.

The International Food Policy Research Instituteand the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIATlead SHiFT in close collaboration with Wageningen University and Researchand with contributions from the International Potato Center. SHiFT combines high-quality nutritional and social science research capacity with development partnerships to generate innovative, robust solutions that contribute to healthier, more sustainable dietary choices and consumption of sustainable healthy diets. It builds on CGIAR's unparalleled track record of agricultural research for development, including ten years of work on food systems and nutrition under the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.

Header image: Participants representing the private sector complete an interactive activity during a workshop co-organized by SHiFT and the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute on June 22, 2024, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo provided by Belay Terefe Mengesha/Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.