These fact sheets look at the roles that can be played by different stakeholders seeking to improve food systems and nutrition in Ethiopia.
• Stakeholders from diverse groups have a role to play in transforming Ethiopia’s food system to address complex challenges arising across the supply chain that contribute to food insecurity and malnutrition.
• Each stakeholder group must take steps towards enhancing collaboration, aligning efforts, and working to deliver a more sustainable and resilient food system for the country.
• Key recommendations include strengthening government commitment, mobilising financial and technical resources, building capacity across different groups, setting up accountability mechanisms, boosting inclusivity of decision-making processes, leveraging technology and innovation, and conducting periodic assessments to identify emerging challenges and opportunities.
This white paper explores the nexus between food systems, infrastructure and energy provided by off-grid solar (OGS) systems.8, 9, 10 The efficiency, sustainability, and productivity of food systems are deeply intertwined with energy use.11 The agricultural sector accounts for 30% of global energy consumption and requires power for food production, storage, transportation and processing. The infrastructure used to power food systems is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, accounting for at least 15% of fossil fuel use globally.12 However, in sub-Saharan Africa, agricultural production consumes significantly less energy than the global average. This limits opportunities for value addition, increases food waste due to inadequate storage and processing facilities, and contributes to low agricultural yields.
Food systems, important for food security, nutrition, prosperity, and environmental well-being, are integral to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Traditional food markets are strategic entry points for food systems transformation, since a diversity of stakeholders (including local producers, vendors, consumers, and government), interact routinely in these spaces. These markets connect millions of stakeholders within and across local food systems and levels of government mandates. As food-insecure regions like sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rapidly urbanise, most urban, low-income, vulnerable communities are reliant on food purchased from markets. As such, markets are key spaces to guide vendor practices, influence consumer food choices, and strengthen inclusive governance. Despite their critical value, markets’ ‘hard’ (structures and equipment) and ‘soft’ (capacities and resources) infrastructure are significantly under-supported. Investment efforts have been challenged by a lack of understanding of how markets are embedded in the wider food system and markets’ wholesale and retail dynamics, inadequate financial models, insufficient public budgets and capacity, and limited empowerment of key stakeholders.
This paper introduces and illustrates GAIN’s Inclusive Food Systems Governance Model and supporting tools. The model is designed to strengthen investment and empower voices, alongside increased efforts to ensure sustainability and resilience in traditional food markets. It has been shown to support effective market infrastructure investments, to foster local agency and inclusive and equitable food systems transformation, and to be adaptable across different contexts. The case of Marikiti Market, Machakos County (Kenya) shows the model in action, including details of specific investment components and costs. As infrastructure investments are limited, the importance of making a sound business investment case for public and private (and philanthropic) partnerships and banks to invest in traditional markets is critical.
As cities around the world grapple with rising food insecurity, climate pressures, and deepening inequalities, food markets play a critical role in building healthier, more equitable, and climate-resilient urban food systems.
ToeffectivelytransformMozambique’snationalfoodsystemsinalignmentwiththeUnited Nations Food Systems Summit pathways, it is crucial to have access to current data and analytics. Mozambique’s Food Systems Dashboard, hosted by SETSAN1 (the National Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security under the Ministry of Agriculture), plays a pivotal role in this transformation.
In a perfect world, functional food systems would provide multiple benefits for everyone, including healthy diets, environmental sustainability, and improved livelihoods . Unfortunately, we live in a far from perfect world. Over three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, some 735 million people face hunger, and obesity rates are on the rise .
A strategy to catalyse a global food systems transformation for people, planet and prosperity using cities as entry points.
The global food system is experiencing the worst crisis in history. Unlike the food price crisis of 2007-8, in 2022 there is a convergence of multiple crises. Hunger and malnutrition have soared in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
Nutrition for Growth (N4G) is a Summit held every four years alongside the Olympic Games to galvanise global actions to tackle malnutrition.
To make sure Beira’s low-income population can continuously access affordable safe nutritious fresh foods and economic opportunities in traditional urban food markets, GAIN with funding from the government of the Netherlands supported the city of Beira by upgrading three fresh food markets.
