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KNOWLEDGE FOR POLICY

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Publication | 2025

Governance and resilience as entry points for transforming food systems in the countdown to 2030

This Analysis presents the first update relative to the 2023 baseline from the Food Systems Countdown Initiative (FSCI) with new quantitative analysis of time trends since 2000 and qualitative assessments of interactions between indicators.

Achieving transformative change in food systems is necessary to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Agreement targets, Global Biodiversity Framework and many other global goals. Food systems impact all sectors, populations and ecosystems. Consequently, understanding and tracking transformation is particularly important. The Food Systems Countdown Initiative (FSCI) provides annual monitoring updates of systems-wide indicators across five thematic areas: (1) diets, nutrition and health; (2) environment, natural resources and production; (3) livelihoods, poverty and equity; (4) governance; and (5) resilience. This Analysis presents the first update relative to the 2023 baseline with new quantitative analysis of time trends since 2000 and qualitative assessments of interactions between indicators. Interactions between indicators mean that changes in one area (for example, diets) can (directly or indirectly) affect others (for example, environment). Interactions may present tradeoffs or synergies and illuminate entry points for governance action to steer food systems towards desired outcomes or to unlock roadblocks to change.