Innovative Food Systems Solutions portal launch: Healthy diets for all on a healthy planet

As a global community we urgently need to reimagine how our food systems work to ensure both human and planetary health. To this end, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT, EAT, CSIRO’s Food Systems and Global Change group, and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability are excited to announce the launch of the Innovative Food System Solution (IFSS) portal on NutritionConnect.org on May 19, 2021.

Saul Morris, Director of Programme Services at GAIN reminds us that, “the COVID-19 pandemic has been a massive (negative) shock to food systems, but we need a positive shock at least ten times larger to get the Sustainable Development Goal 2 [“Zero Hunger”] on track and safeguard our planet. The IFSS portal has been created to help us get these transformative processes started BEFORE it is too late.” In part in response to the pandemic, as well as building on the momentum leading up to the UN Food System Summit and related global initiatives in 2021, the IFSS portal aims to provide a space to describe, connect and collaborate around innovative solutions for food systems challenges.

The portal will launch with over 100 innovative solutions sourced from multiple initiatives and invites people to contribute other solutions, as well as add more information for solutions already there. The portal includes solutions that target improving nutrition in an equitable way, while also restoring and protecting the environment. These solutions span the whole food supply chain and include policies, technologies, nature-based solutions, public/private collaborations, financial solutions, capacity building, and social equity approaches.

“This initiative is democratizing access to information about game changing innovative solutions at a critical time. The [IFSS] portal serves as a rich source of inspiration as well as a catalyst to connect people across the food system to engage with each other to move toward action to solve pressing problems together,” says Fabrice DeClerck, a Senior Scientist in the Multifunctional Landscapes group at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and also the Science Director for the EAT Foundation. The rich criteria filters and searchable content built into the portal platform help to contextualize information, allowing individuals and teams to evaluate “good fit” solutions and solution bundles to meet priorities in specific contexts around the world. The portal also serves to help connect people working with solutions to funding sources and opportunities.

Join entrepreneurs, food producers, researchers, policy makers, businesses, students, NGOs, investors, and others through the IFSS portal to share, explore and bundle food system solutions, find funding, identify high-potential investments, learn about upcoming events and opportunities, and discover resources and tools that move innovative solutions towards actual implementation for a positive contribution for dietary and planetary health.

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