Building Resilient Food Systems in Fragile Contexts

Building Resilient Food Systems in Fragile Contexts through Future-Oriented Partnerships

In fragile and conflict-affected settings, food systems are under growing pressure from climate change, displacement, and resource competition, all of which are intensifying existing vulnerabilities. At the same time, humanitarian and development systems continue to operate largely in parallel. Humanitarian actors are focused on delivering urgent, life-saving support under tight timelines and limited data, while development actors prioritize long-term resilience but often lack the flexibility to respond to rapidly evolving crises. Although the Humanitarian–Development–Peace Nexus provides a framework for bridging these approaches, implementation remains uneven, resulting in fragmented interventions and missed opportunities not only to respond effectively to crises but also to anticipate and prevent them. A key gap lies in the ability to translate complex, integrated evidence on food, land, and water systems into forms that are usable across different actors, mandates, and time horizons.

In response, CGIAR’s Frontiers Science Program is advancing a partnership-driven model that embeds science directly into decision-making systems. Through collaboration across global, national, and local levels, research is co-developed and applied in ways that inform both immediate operational responses and longer-term planning. By integrating climate, water, and socio-economic data into coherent analytical frameworks and translating them into practical, decision-ready tools, these partnerships help align actors across humanitarian and development systems. This enables a shift toward anticipatory, risk-informed approaches that prioritize preparedness and prevention, while also strengthening the capacity of institutions and communities to manage future shocks before they escalate.

In practice, this model is delivering impact across multiple levels. At the national and local level, such as in Jordan, integrated vulnerability frameworks are supporting governments and partners to better understand and address shared risks affecting both host and displaced populations. These tools are improving disaster risk management, informing anticipatory planning, and helping reduce social tensions in complex environments. At the operational level, collaborations with the World Food Programme are enhancing real-time decision-making in countries such as Sudan and Somalia by integrating data on household food security, markets, and social protection into early warning systems and program design. This allows for more precise targeting of assistance, more adaptive programming, and more efficient use of limited resources.

At the policy level, CGIAR research is contributing to a deeper understanding of how climate change, conflict, and economic pressures interact within food systems. This evidence is helping shape more coherent and forward-looking strategies that integrate resilience into food system planning and development programming. At the global level, partnerships with the UNHCR are embedding climate and environmental data into humanitarian operations, strengthening the ability to anticipate and manage risks affecting more than 90 million displaced people worldwide, while also supporting the design of climate-resilient settlements and long-term recovery strategies.

These efforts are generating tangible results across systems. Governments and local institutions are increasingly able to anticipate, prevent, and manage climate, water, and food system risks. Humanitarian and development agencies including FAO, WFP, UNRWA, and UNHCR—are integrating science into their programming and decision-making processes. At the same time, anticipatory and risk-informed approaches are gaining traction, supported by the institutionalization of tools such as integrated vulnerability frameworks that inform disaster risk management and forward-looking planning.

What makes this model effective is its emphasis on co-development, embedded science, and multi-level collaboration. By working closely with national and local actors, ensuring that tools are grounded in local realities, and translating complex data into usable insights, these partnerships bridge the gap between global frameworks and on-the-ground implementation. Ultimately, this approach is helping shift fragile food systems away from reactive crisis response and toward proactive resilience and prevention demonstrating that stability can be built through sustained, science-driven, and future-oriented partnerships.