Building Food Systems from the Ground Up: Reflections on UNFSS+4 from the EcoFoodSystems Project

Dawit Alemayehu Chekol, Vibeth Porras Gonzalez, Ciara Varley, Anna Lorente Sebastián, Dr. Peter McKeown

EcoFoodSystems researchers Dawit Chekol and Vibeth Porras Gonzalez recently participated in the UN Food Systems Summit +4 (UNFSS+4), held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 27–29 July 2025.

Addis Ababa was the centre of debate and discussion around next steps for our food system. Global leaders met in the city from 27-29 July 2025 for the UN Food Systems Summit +4 (UNFSS+4). With just five years to the 2030 SDG deadline, the Summit’s leaders placed the focus on global coordination as the means to achieve key climate and nutrition goals.

Hosted jointly by Ethiopia and Italy, the Summit brought together governments, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, youth, food producers, and private sector actors to discuss pathways toward sustainable food systems. According to the Summit’s report, while two-thirds of countries now integrate food systems into national development plans, hunger, malnutrition, and food waste remain on the table as some of our biggest societal challenges, with an estimated hidden cost of over $10 trillion annually (UNFSS+4, 2025).

For EcoFoodSystems, these discussions offered useful insights in our own research priorities in Ethiopia and Vietnam, where we are working with food system stakeholders to co-create decision-making tools through an evidence-informed, multidisciplinary approach.

Highlights for food systems stakeholders from UNFSS+4

EcoFoodSystems researchers Dawit and Vibeth, who attended the conference online, highlighted youth, culture and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu’s “Five F’s” as key takeaways for those interested in food systems.

  • Youth are our key changemakers: Young people now make up over half of the global population. FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu highlighted that 44% of the 1.3 billion young people in low- and middle-income countries are linked to food systems, poising them as future leaders of food production, science and policy. Engaging young people in food systems is therefore critical. Felipe Paullier from the UN Youth Office added to these insights, sharing the importance of co-creating with youth, rather than only considering them as passive beneficiaries. Eldana Samuel, a 16-year-old student leader from Ethiopia, shared the benefits of this in practice, describing some of the different youth-led initiatives impacting food system for the better, such as school gardens, nutrition education, and new digital tools connecting farmers with markets.
  • Culture and equity are essential for inclusive and resilient food systems: Speakers at the event highlighted the importance of respecting culinary traditions when designing intervention. Dr. Million Belay of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa emphasised that valuing traditional knowledge is critical for building food systems that are both equitable and resilient.
  • The ‘Five Fs’ of food security are the foundation for resilient agri-food systems: outlined the “Five Fs” – food, feed, fibre, fuel, and a friendly environment – as the foundation of resilient agri-food systems. While food remains at the core, Dr. Qu Dongyu highlighted that all five factors are essential to balancing human and environmental needs.

These themes align with EcoFoodSystems’ own research focus on climate-smart agriculture, gender-responsive governance, and evidence-informed policy, where we continue to co-develop solutions with national partners and local stakeholders in Ethiopia and Vietnam.

Lessons from the UN Secretary-General

Looking ahead, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted three urgent priorities:

  1. Silos in food systems need to be broken down. Stakeholders across health, climate, trade, and finance must start working together to mobilise resources and new technologies to boost sustainable food production and create jobs.
  2. Power imbalances need to be addressed. It is time for the voices of women, youth, farmers, indigenous peoples, and local actors to be elevated in discussions on food system, while fair governance structures will be key to ensuring this happens equitably and sustainably in the long run.
  3. Unlocking and connecting large-scale finance is crucial for real food systems transformation. Debt relief, better access to concessional funds and global finance reform is needed to ensure that food system actors across the world are enabled to take the steps needed to meet climate goals.

Reflecting on the challenges and opportunities facing global food systems, UN Secretary-General António Guterres concluded his opening remarks at the Summit with a call to collective action:

“The future of food is the future of humanity. Let us work together to build food systems that nourish every person, restore our planet, and grow prosperity from the ground up.”

What’s next for food systems?

As global leaders prepare for COP30, it is clear that the focus is shifting from identifying to implementing solutions for food system transformation. For the EcoFoodSystems team, the Summit reinforced the importance of partnerships, on-the-ground collaborations, and cross-sector engagement to create better diets in our focus city regions: Hanoi and Addis Ababa. Our project remains focused on co-creating innovations with stakeholders, most recently demonstrated by our signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.

Full insights from the Summit can be read in the Report of the Secretary General: Accelerating Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Food Systems Transitions for People and Planet – UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake.