Future-proofing scientific co-design for spatially bound food systems

Key result story from our 2025 annual technical report. 

The CGIAR Food Frontiers and Security Program operates across three diverse contexts — fragile and conflictaffected settings, rapidly urbanizing cities, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Despite their differences, these food systems share the challenge of being spatially bound, with human populations, markets, and ecosystems disproportionately impacted by global shocks including food and energy price hikes, conflict, and climate change.

Relevant, legitimate and inclusive solutions to food systems challenges in geographically confined populations are not built by one actor alone; they require collaboration and shared benefits amongst numerous stakeholders. Through our partnerships, CGIAR Food Frontiers co-creates robust solutions for these unique food systems that simultaneously provide valuable lessons for how larger segments of the global population may respond and adapt as fuel, food and climate shocks intensify in future.

 Anna Okello, Director, CGIAR Food Frontiers and Security Program  

Partnerships as the foundation of resilience in fragile food systems  

In fragile and conflict-affected settings, the complexity of intersecting humanitarian, development, and climate security challenges cannot be addressed by single actors. CGIAR’s Food Frontiers and Security Program places local collaboration at the center of its approach, connecting local institutions and national governments with global agencies to embed scientific evidence from a food, land, and water systems perspective into humanitarian decision-making. Key agencies — including FAO, WFP, UNRWA, and UNHCR — alongside national governments in Jordan, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Sudan are increasingly integrating this science into programming, supporting anticipatory, risk-informed approaches and strengthening resilience for over 90 million displaced people.  

CGIAR’s operational research is one of the most powerful tools we have for strengthening food systems in fragile environments. Their evidence allowed us to redesign the Baxnaano program to ensure that graduation leads to permanent resilience, not a temporary fallback into hunger. 

Sheila Nkunika, Regional Social Protection Advisor, WFP 

Scale is not achieved by expanding pilots — it is designed through coordinated systems  

In Ghana, where nearly 60 percent of municipal waste is organic, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) shifted its approach in 2023 from solution development to system design, establishing the Circular Bioeconomy Innovation Hub — a multi-stakeholder platform bringing together 16 co-owning partners and seven scaling partners. By 2025, the Hub had reached 23 schools and more than 15,000 students, embedding waste segregation and composting into daily routines, while supporting cross-sector collaboration and market-oriented innovation challenges. Its effectiveness lies in its role as an integration mechanism aligning policy, technical implementation, and market systems — demonstrating that scaling circular solutions requires coordinated institutional, behavioral, and system-level change.  

Translating innovation into impact: The Vendor Business School transforms informal urban food markets in the Philippines’ most populous city 

Quezon City is the largest urban consumer population in the Philippines and a major hub for food distribution. Like many cities in the region, Quezon City faces growing pressures from rapid urbanization, climate risks and food system inefficiencies, particularly within its large informal food sector. Informal vendors, who play a critical role in feeding the city's three million plus residents, often operate with limited capital, weak business skills, and exposure to food safety and climate-related challenges. In response, CGIAR has partnered with the Quezon City Government to pilot the Vendor Business School (VBS), a program designed to address critical challenges in the distribution and safety of food supplied through informal systems. Grounded in validation studies and co-created with vendors themselves, the initiative provided practical training on business management, food safety, and daily operational resilience. What began as a small pilot quickly demonstrated tangible benefits, leading to its institutionalization through a city ordinance in 2026. This ordinance represents a breakthrough in supporting local vendors, empowering them with formal opportunities for skills and knowledge development to improve their businesses, enhance food safety, and strengthen livelihoods.   

The Vendor Business School has since evolved into a scalable model for transforming informal urban food markets by embedding science into local systems and policy. Vendors have improved their business practices, strengthened food safety, and enhanced their ability to cope with market and climate shocks. The initiative gained national recognition in March 2026, with the Quezon City Vendors Business School Ordinance recognized as one of the Official Gold Awardees in the inaugural Gawad Galing Lokal na Batas (GGLB); an award celebrating innovative and impactful local legislation. Presented by the Philippine Councilors League (PCL), the award highlights local laws that demonstrate strong governance, innovation, and meaningful community impact.   

Central to its success is a strong partnership model — where CGIAR provided scientific leadership, the city government enabled implementation and scale, and vendors acted as co-creators demonstrating how collaborative, research-driven approaches can translate innovation into lasting, system-level change in urban food systems.  

Pacific genebank leadership strengthened in 2025: Conserving the unique genetic resources of island food systems  

Pacific Island countries hold a rich and unique diversity of root and tuber crops, but local crop and dietary diversity is at risk from climate change and growing food import dependence. The Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) — the Pacific’s only genebank — underpins food and nutrition security for approximately 10–12 million people. In 2025, CePaCT strengthened its institutional capacity and regional influence through a formalized partnership with CGIAR, transitioning from informal collaboration to structured engagement in global research and policy systems. By embedding CePaCT within CGIAR’s expert networks and modernizing its conservation and data management systems, the Pacific is better positioned to conserve and distribute climate-resilient, culturally important crops — strengthening food and nutrition security for Small Island Developing States amid escalating climate risks.