ABOUT
Building resilient local food supply chains is a foundational element of food systems transformation
The Resilient Local Food Supply Chains Alliance (The Alliance) is a multi-stakeholder community of partners that is country led. Its priority of local production for local consumption with a focus on building local food supply chains evolved from ‘game changing solutions’ submitted by state and non-state actors during the United Nations Food Systems Summit Process in 2020 and 2021. The Alliance emerged as one of the resilience coalitions out of this summit.
The COVID19 pandemic and reduced access to food which saw a doubling of food insecurity, reoriented countries’ focus and struck a chord globally, especially with African countries. In an effort to support building resilient local food supply chains, the Alliance works with countries and partners to galvanise their priorities and scale up solutions that will increase local production for local consumption to address their national food supply needs and protracted hunger crises.
Building resilient local food supply chains is more than just local production for local consumption. It involves policy choices that are inclusive, choosing integrated approaches, embodying good governance around food supply and most of all supporting the producers according to their local contexts, using tools to stimulate production, such as local procurement to support local farmers, especially small farmers and small businesses and addressing traditionally marginalised communities.
The subsequent crises of broken global supply chains brought on by the war in Ukraine which triggered the global food crisis, coupled with the energy crisis further exacerbated hunger levels.
Building resilient food supply chains from production to consumption, and increasing production of local, diverse, and nutritious foods while supporting vulnerable communities are foundational elements of the agri-food system.
