Overview
The need to make food, land, and water systems more productive, resilient, and responsive to growing demand — and future shocks — has never been greater. Approximately three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, and more than three billion suffer one or more manifestations of poor nutrition. Food systems are exerting increasing pressure on land and water systems, and it is likely that they are already operating beyond key planetary boundaries. But in the absence of combined ‘ministries for food systems’, government action towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through better integration of food, land, and water systems remains fragmented and uncoordinated.
More coordinated action requires greater policy coherence that can address complex trade-offs and maximize benefits. More coherence will help reduce future risks and uncertainties. It will also help transform food, land and water systems by supporting sustainable investments, effective national programming, and reduced inequalities.
Objectives
This Initiative aims to build new understanding and capabilities across and within different policy arenas to identify and respond to windows of opportunity for systemic change across water, land and food systems.
It will support policy processes and equip policymakers to anticipate and drive forward transformational change while accounting for trade-offs and differing needs.
Outcomes
Proposed 3-year outcomes include:
- Six countries adopt or refine policies and strategies that foster gender-equitable and socially inclusive food, land and water systems transformation.
- Six countries use at least one CGIAR tool or other innovation (including those of partners) to guide and prioritize policies and investments that achieve higher returns on investments and impact more diverse populations, either nationally or sub-nationally.
- Governments in six countries establish multistakeholder and multilevel coalitions to guide policy and strategy investments and to coordinate funding to selected investments.
- Governments in six countries institutionalize evidence-based policymaking and strategy development, evidenced by a rising number of requests for CGIAR and partner tools.
- Government and local think tanks in six countries demonstrate increased awareness of and capacity to use investment prioritization and other tools to guide program direction and respond to crises.
Activities
These outcomes will be achieved through:
- Building policy coherence: strengthening policy coherence at the national level and across the One CGIAR portfolio of Initiatives, and piloting national policy and cross-CGIAR policy coherence mechanisms.
- Integrating policy tools: strengthening the analytical performance of countries’ institutions and adopt a Training of Trainers approach and user-friendly tools.
- Responding to crises: developing rapid-response tools and a network of experts and evidence, and mobilizing Communities of Policy Practice
Publications
Coherence or cross-purposes? Building national coalitions for transformative evidence-based policies
Geographical Scope
This Initiative will work in the following countries: Kenya, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Colombia, Laos.
