Read our 2023 annual report

The CGIAR Research Initiative on Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation (SHiFT) collaborates with national partners in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Viet Nam to steer food systems in a positive direction. By combining quality research with policy partnerships, the Initiative endeavors to catalyze innovative solutions that empower consumers to make healthier, sustainable dietary choices.

Noteworthy achievements from SHiFT’s second year of operation include supporting the development and implementation of Viet Nam’s National Action Plan for Transparent, Responsible, and Sustainable Food Systems Transformation and the development of a Training of Trainers program to bolster expertise in food systems governance. Read more about our progress, partners, and achievements from our second year in our annual report to CGIAR.  

Key results stories from Year 2 (2023):

• The Government of Viet Nam approved a new National Action Plan for Transparent, Responsible, and Sustainable Food Systems Transformation (2022–2030) in April 2023. This new direction provided a window of opportunity for SHiFT to provide evidence-based resources and capacity sharing models to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other national partners in their efforts to anchor sustainable healthy diets as a key outcome of the plan’s implementation, alongside economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability.
• The food systems approach is used to understand the dynamics of how food is produced and consumed, and also improve human health, livelihoods, and the management of planetary resources. To successfully adopt a food systems approach, stakeholders must share a mutual understanding of the concept. In 2023, SHiFT and partners collaboratively developed a capacity sharing model in Viet Nam and Ethiopia to help more stakeholders effectively engage in national processes steering food systems transformation toward sustainable healthy diets.

Header image: Floating market in Viet Nam. Credit: Quang Nguyen Vinh, pixabay, from Flickr.