NFP network briefing: Expectations of UNFSS+4 Stocktake 2025

The Netherlands Food Partnership organised the briefing session in preparation for the UNFSS+4 to engage network partners from civil society, business and the research community with this UN process. From 27-29 July, the UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marking four years since the initial summit and the first time the event is hosted in a Global South country. For more on the Stocktake, see here

Kicking off the briefing, Mr. Khaled Eltaweel, Senior Programme Coordinator at the Food Systems Coordination Hub, provided a comprehensive overview of the ongoing preparations and key objectives guiding this important global moment. He outlined three core objectives driving the Stocktake:

• Reflecting on Progress: Over 100 countries have submitted voluntary reports highlighting tangible progress in transforming food systems—particularly in areas such as governance, financing, and inclusive stakeholder engagement. Nonetheless, systemic challenges persist, including climate change, conflict, trade instability, and declining financial resources.

• Tracking Commitments and Strengthening Partnerships: The Stocktake underscores the importance of inclusive participation, bringing together governments, the private sector, civil society, indigenous communities, women, and persons with disabilities. A central aim is to clarify and align stakeholder roles to accelerate collective impact.

• Unlocking Finance and Investment: Acknowledging that limited financing remains a major barrier, the Stocktake will introduce investment dialogues to connect national actors with public and private investors, with the goal of scaling up resources for food systems transformation.

He furthermore emphasised that the lead-up to the Stocktake was highly inclusive, featuring five regional meetings, national dialogues, and global activities such as a youth conference in Bangkok. Given the Stocktake’s brief three-day format, these preparatory steps are crucial for ensuring broad input and meaningful participation.

Mr. Eltaweel also noted that the Stocktake will yield two key outcome documents: a Secretary-General’s report, based on national submissions and interviews, and an Independent Stakeholders’ report, reflecting the views of non-state actors such as youth, farmers, businesses, and civil society organisations.

The Stocktake will include an Action Day focused on non-state actors, followed by two days of high-level discussions. Furthermore, he stressed the importance for the outcomes of the Stocktake to feed into major other global policy processes—including COP30, the Financing for Development agenda, and global nutrition and biodiversity efforts—reinforcing the Stocktake’s pivotal role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promoting integrated systems transformation.

See here for the full presentation of Mr. Eltaweel

Oliver Camp, Environment and Food Systems Advisor at GAIN emphasised that this year’s UN Food Systems Stocktake focuses on implementation over advocacy. GAIN will release a paper highlighting real-world examples of food systems transformation. He referred the audience to three key tools: the Food Systems Countdown Initiative to track national progress, a policy coherence tool (with I-CAN) for cross-sector alignment, and the 3FS tool (with IFAD and the World Bank) for analysing food systems finance. He also stressed the need for alignment with platforms like COP30 and called for collective, actionable contributions.

African experts: Moving from vision to implementation

Namukulo Covic, ILRI Director General's Representative to Ethiopia and member of the UNFSS Science Task Force, shared her expectations for the Stocktake. She hopes to:

• See how regional preparatory insights come together, revealing common challenges across regions.

• Learn from country examples where food systems transformation has progressed meaningfully, particularly in moving from vision to implementation.

• Refocus on a shared vision, as originally emphasised in the 2021 Summit. She warned that current discussions risk slipping back into siloed thinking, losing sight of the collective goal. Covic stressed that a unifying vision is essential for guiding action, managing trade-offs, and ensuring sustainable food systems that improve diets and nutrition.

Joyce Akpata, Head of Policy and Advocacy at GAIN Nigeria, highlighted key insights from the Regional Preparatory Meeting on transforming Africa’s food systems. A common priority emerged around tackling hunger, malnutrition, and ensuring coherence between agriculture, climate, and nutrition agendas.

Participants from across the continent emphasised the need for:

• Stronger policy alignment across countries (e.g. with CAADP goals) and domains (e.g. coherence climate-food systems)

• Innovative financing to close funding gaps (e.g. green bonds, capital guarantees)

• Concrete, accountable action plans beyond dialogue

• Inclusive participation, especially of youth, women, and subnational actors

• Stronger governance, also at subnational level, and better data for evidence-based decision-making

• Aligned trade/investment policies that support local food sovereignty

• Coordination among development partners to avoid fragmented efforts

Despite the challenges, she conveyed a strong sense of optimism, hoping that the outcomes of the Stocktake will lead to sustained, inclusive, and impactful action.

Dutch government : transformation is already visible

Representatives from the Dutch Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature outlined their strong commitment to food systems transformation, guided by three interlinked goals: better diets, better livelihoods, and better environments.

Key points included:

• High-level participation is planned for the Stocktake, with delegates from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, and of Health.

• The Netherlands seeks clear evidence of country-level progress since the last stocktake, and supports the Stocktake as a moment of accountability.

• A strong emphasis will be placed on public-private partnerships (PPPs). The Netherlands has a role in several (proposed) side events—including those focused on seeds, nutrition and climate, power asymmetries, and foresight methods; collaboration takes place with a range of key players including the European Commission, CGIAR and Wageningen University.

• The country is actively engaged in key coalitions, especially the Healthy Diets Coalition, and advocates for these groups to deliver more support at the national level.

• Although the Netherlands’ integrated national food strategy is still in development, the Ministry highlighted that ongoing transformation is already visible through ground-level initiatives.

• Finally, the delegation plans to host a networking event for Dutch stakeholders and partners at the Stocktake, with details to follow.

During the Q&A segment of the session, participants raised several critical questions regarding the scope, inclusivity, and implementation of the UN Food Systems Summit+4 Stocktake. Key topics included:

• Linkages to COP30: Attendees sought clarity on how outcomes from UNFSS+4 would influence climate negotiations and integrate with COP30. Ms. Kuntum Melati, Policy officer at the The UNFSS Hub, confirmed efforts are ongoing to align food systems transformation with climate agendas, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), with support of a/o. the Convergence initiative

• Scientific input and evidence-based decision-making: Participants inquired how the Stocktake would reflect the latest scientific insights. It was noted that the Science Task Force, including members of the UN Committee on World Food Security’s HLPE-FSN, is shaping technical sessions to ensure a strong evidence base.

• Engagement of civil society and local implementation: Questions focused on how local actors and civil society would be meaningfully engaged in implementation. Speakers affirmed the importance of grassroots voices and cited the role of organisations like GAIN and WFP in connecting global commitments to country-level actions.

• Progress on SDG2 (Zero Hunger): Some participants questioned whether the Stocktake would adequately address food insecurity and hunger. The UN Food Systems Hub stressed that UNFSS+4 is intended to serve as an accelerator for SDG2 by promoting inclusive, rights-based, and resilient food systems.

• Accreditation and participation: A number of questions related to logistical details such as the accreditation process and opportunities for non-state actors to engage. It was confirmed that further information would be shared shortly, and efforts are underway to ensure broad, inclusive participation.

Overall, the discussion reflected strong stakeholder interest in ensuring the Stocktake is action-oriented, scientifically grounded, inclusive of local perspectives, and aligned with urgent global challenges, particularly hunger and climate change.

Your engagement!

→ Registrations for the UNFSS+4 are now open. Follow this link

→ Subscribe to the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub Newsletter, using this form.

→ Check the draft programme overview of the UNFSS+4, here.

→ Those who plan to attend in person, are also advised to check the additional programme information presented by the host country Ethiopia, a/o. an overview page, and further information about field visits and exhibition opportunities.