Request for Proposals: Consultancy Service For Studies on Equity-Driven Strategies for a Sustainable Food Systems Transformation: Insights from Selected Case Studies and Policy Plans

The research will explore actions that address the structural inequalities and power imbalances within food systems, with a focus on redistributing power and reevaluating social and ecological costs. To achieve this, a study will be conducted to analyze the underlying drivers and root causes of food system inequities. In doing so, it will also examine the practices commercial actors use to influence policymaking, often resisting or blocking changes that threaten their economic interests, which reinforces food system lock-ins. Finally, the study will assess the potential of equity-sensitive actions and actions to address the so-called commercial determinants of health as part of the critical pathway to untangle system lock-ins and address the root causes of these inequalities.
Based on the research, a concise but comprehensive report will be written, in an accessible style for non-experts and non-scientists, the primary audience being policymakers and food systems practitioners at all levels.

This project aims to be an important contribution to the understanding of actions and pathways to overcome barriers to food systems transformation, which is urgently needed at scale and all levels to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.