Workshop: Advancing Sustainable Food Systems Through Social Protection and Public Procurement

Published on May 22, 2025

5th Global Conference of the Sustainable Food Systems Programme will host a workshop on leveraging the power of social protection, food procurement and school meals for improved farmer livelihoods, healthy diets, climate and biodiversity

📅 27 May 2025 | 🕓 16:00–17:30 (UTC-3)
🌐 Livestreamed

As part of the 5th Global Conference of the Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Programme, this high-level workshop will explore how integrated approaches to social protection, sustainable public food procurement, and school meals can serve as powerful policy levers for food systems transformation. Participants will hear how these tools are increasingly recognized by governments at local, regional, and national levels as mechanisms to generate wide-ranging benefits—from improved farmer livelihoods and working conditions, to healthier diets, climate resilience, and biodiversity protection.

The session will spotlight concrete experiences and policy innovations that demonstrate the potential of public institutions to shape the food value chain and promote inclusive and sustainable development.

Speakers

Luana Swensson, Policy Specialist, Sustainable Public Procurement, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Anthony Wenndt, Technical Specialist, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
Betina Bergmann Madsen, Municipality of Copenhagen; Member, European Commission Stakeholders Expert Group on Public Procurement
Ana Terra Reis, Director of Support for the Acquisition and Marketing of Family Farming, Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Brazil
Fernanda Pacobahyba, President, National Fund for Educational Development, Brazil
Amos Laar, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Ghana
Marcos Vinicius Dias Nunes, Vice President and Secretary of International Relations, CONTAG – National Confederation of Agricultural Workers, Brazil
Nguyen, Representative, Children and Youth Major Group (CYMG)
Angie Katherine Roncancio, Technical Officer, Responsible Production and Consumption Group, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia

Co-organizers

This session is co-organized by:
UNEP, FAO, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, GAIN, Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (Brazil), The Global Alliance for the Future of Food, UNFSS Agroecology Coalition, and the Coalition of Action on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems for Children and All (HDSFS).

This workshop forms part of the wider agenda of the 5th Global Conference of the Sustainable Food Systems Programme, aimed at accelerating progress on food systems transformation through inclusive dialogue, evidence-based policymaking, and cross-sector collaboration.