AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ENHANCE FOOD SYSTEMS RESILIENCE, ADVOCATING FOR FOOD SECURITY AND UNINTERRUPTED FOOD SUPPLY

SecureFood adopts an integrated, systems-thinking approach that acknowledges and embraces the complexity of food systems,addressing them as an interconnected network of actors, elements, activities, processes, infrastructures, and essential services related to the production and delivery of food. Based on this approach, it brings together, as consortium partners, multiple actors of the food supply chain itself, such as producers, food and beverages industries retailers and consumers, but also actors supporting the functioning of the supply chain, such as bulk carriers and road transport carriers. The actors network also includes Ministries and entities operating under their auspices responsible for coordinating national resilience-building efforts.The ultimate goal is to address the aforementioned food security challenges, by creating an ecosystem of scientific knowledge, collaborative processes, and digital tools. This ecosystem will provide evidence-based indications on the risks and vulnerabilities of different value chains(grain,fruits& vegetables,fish& aquaculture products,milk& dairy products)in different geographic contexts, and will contribute in a structured manner to the safeguarding of food security before and during crises, and to the reinforcement of food systems resilience.The cornerstone of SecureFood will be a Food Systems Resilience Management Framework with interlinked resilience and sustainability orientations as well as a Resilience Governance Framework that draws on collaborative principles and adopts inclusive and participatory processes to ensure successful cooperation between experts and stakeholders.The SecureFood ecosystem will be developed, tested and demonstrated for different case studies, one of which addressing a currently ongoing food security crisis,i.e. Ukraine’s grain value chain that has been severely impacted by Russia’s invasion and the disruption in grain shipments that has pushed millions people into poverty or food insecurity