EcoFoodSystems Research Project

Policy, institutional & governance innovations for sustainable, healthy and affordable diets in Ethiopia’s city regions

Ciara Varley, Anna Lorente Sebastian, Charles Spillane.

Policymakers met in Addis Ababa to identify top policy and institutional innovations to enable transitions to sustainable, healthy and affordable diets in Ethiopia’s city regions at a recent EcoFoodSystems workshop.

Dr Demeke Teklu (Ethiopian Public Health Institute), Mrs Kidist W Senbet (Seqota Declaration Programme, Ministry of Health), Mrs Gedamnesh Fentie (Addis Ababa City Agriculture Bureau), Dr Gudina Egata (School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University), Mr Melaku Bayable (Ministry of Education and National Information Platforms for Nutrition) and Mr Ibrahim Mohammed (PhD student in Food Security, Addis Ababa University)

On October 16th, 2025, the EcoFoodSystems Research and Innovation Project, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, hosted the multi-stakeholder workshop ‘Policy, institutional & governance innovations for sustainable, healthy and affordable diets in Addis Ababa’ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop is one of the key stakeholder engagement activities being completed by the EcoFoodSystems project to advance agroecological food system transition in Addis Ababa city region. The project is funded by the EU DeSIRA initiative and supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The workshop, led by EcoFoodSystems researcher Dawit Alemayehu Chekol, brought together policymakers across Addis Ababa’s food system to discuss the policy and institutional innovations enabling sustainable, healthy and affordable diets in city regions across Addis Ababa.

Mr Tariku Geda (Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute), Mr Melaku Bayable (Ministry of Education and National Information Platforms for Nutrition), Mrs Gedamnesh Fentie (Addis Ababa City Agriculture Bureau), Mr Megistu Tsegaye (Addis Ababa Cleansing Management Agency), Mr Ibrahim Mohammed (PhD student in Food Security, Addis Ababa University) and Dr Demeke Teklu (Ethiopian Public Health Institute).
Mr Yadesa Abeshu (Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research), Dr Yoseph Halala (Ministry of Agriculture and National Information Platforms for Nutrition), Mrs Simret Mulugeta (Addis Ababa City Health Bureau), Mr Hagos Haile (Ethiopian Statistical Service), Mr Beshaw Mitke (Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute), Mrs Alemtsehay Sergawi Hailegiorgis (Head of Food and Nutrition Office at the Ministry of Agriculture), Mr Tinsaye Tamirat (World Vegetable Center), and Mrs Fantu Kifle, C40 Cities.

Key organisations represented at the event included the Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia; the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Ethiopia; the Ministry of Health, Ethiopia; the Ethiopian Public Health Institute; the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute; C40 Cities; Addis Ababa City Agriculture Bureau; the School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University; Ethiopian Statistical Service; Addis Ababa Cleansing Management Agency; Addis Ababa City Administration Health Bureau; World Vegetable Centre; Ethiopia Institute of Agricultural Research; and Addis Ababa City School Feeding Agency.

Policymakers worked together to identify and prioritise the most actionable policy and institutional innovations to support food system transformation across the region. Key findings emerging from the workshop included:

  1. Policy coherence between sectors and spanning multiple levels (national, city regional, district) needs to improve.
  2. Policy implementation can be accelerated by institutional and governance innovations.
  3. Stakeholder participation, representation, engagement and ownership in policy processes and implementation pathways are critical for accelerated impact at scale.

Participants also highlighted four top policies with high potential for implementation and scaling in Ethiopia’s city region: 1) The National Agriculture and Rural Development Policy from the Ministry of Agriculture, 2) The Nutrition Sensitive Agri-Food System Strategy from the Ministry of Agriculture, 3) Ethiopia’s Food Based Dietary Guidelines from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Ethiopian Public Health Institute; and 4) the National School Feeding Program Policy Framework from the Ministry of Education.

These findings were shared by EcoFoodSystems at the 53rd Session of the Committee on World Food Security at the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO UN) in Rome, Italy by Ms. Alemtsehay Sergawi Hailegiogis, Head, Food and Nutrition Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, at our side event: ‘Governing Sustainable, Climate Resilient & Equitable Urban and Peri-urban Food Systems Transformations: Field Insights and Policy Innovations’.

The team extend our thanks Ms. Alemtsehay Sergawi Hailegiogis for representing the workshop and its findings at CFS53, and to our esteemed workshop participants.

The EcoFoodSystems team look forward to releasing the full findings from this workshop in our upcoming policy brief: ‘Policy and Institutional Innovations for Sustainable, Healthy and Affordable Diets in City Regions of Ethiopia’.