Strategic Priorities for Food System Strengthening and Transformation

High performing food systems are fundamental to prospects for achieving major global goals, particularly Zero Hunger. But hunger is on the march again due to climate shocks, COVID-19, and conflict, including the ongoing war in Ukraine. In 2021, nearly a billion people in 93 countries did not have enough to eat. 99 million children under the age of five were undernourished and underweight, putting their health and futures at risk. Not only is the well-being of millions of food insecure people under threat, so, too, are the transformations needed for food systems to become more efficient, resilient, nutritious, and inclusive in the long run.

Questions

To strengthen responses to the unfolding food crisis and boost food system transformation over the longer term, fundamental questions about the performance of food systems must be addressed:

1. How well were food systems functioning before the recent and current disruptions? Were they improving or deteriorating?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of given food systems?
3. Which policies and investments are most likely to improve food system performance in given countries or regions?

The NGI Food System Index and Typology?

New Growth International (NGI) has created an Index and Typology of food systems to help answer these questions. Countries are ranked based on NGI Index scores and their performance classified accordingly. A country typology reveals country-level similarities and differences in food system performance and related measures. Benchmarks are proposed for assessing country-level food system performance and used to build country-level performance scorecards. An analysis of six countries deploys these tools to identify priorities for policy reform, institutional innovation, and investment toward food system transformation.

Major Findings

• Prior to COVID-19, food systems in many countries were improving, especially in middle-income and low-income countries.
• Still, food systems in most of these countries did not meet performance benchmarks associated with low hunger.
• A country’s income matters enormously to its food system performance but is far from the whole story. Countries with vastly different levels of income can have very similar food system performance. Levels of risk and instability are especially important.
• It is virtually impossible for countries with high levels of social, political, and institutional risk and instability to meet the food system performance benchmarks.
• Many of the key policy instruments for hunger-reducing food system transformation lie outside food systems. Priorities include: lowering risk and instability, boosting production capacity, enhancing internal marketing and trade capacity, protecting and augmenting purchasing power and nutrition of vulnerable groups, and strengthening climate resilience and disaster risk management.

Further Applications

The NGI Food System Index and Typology are novel analytical tools with strong potential to support strategy development, policy formulation, and investment planning for public, private and NGO agencies seeking to enhance the relevance and impact of food system strengthening and transformation initiatives. The new tools also open valuable scope for enhanced monitoring of food system performance in different contexts, highlighting the fundamentals that must be in place for food systems to play their roles in hunger reduction, income generation, and stability.

Read the full report and more on the New Growth International website.

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