Collaboration and Learning in Action: A Look into the Community of Practice in Colombia´s Food Systems

Also available in Spanish

Communities of Practice (CoP) have become an essential pillar for fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among professionals and experts interested in specific issues. The Community of Practice in Colombia´s Food Systems (CoP- FS) represents a collective effort to address the challenges and opportunities facing the country’s food system. Since its creation, the CoP-FS has established itself as a key space for uniting knowledge, innovation, and action around Colombia’s food-related challenges. 

The CoP-FS, born from the interest and need to tackle complex issues surrounding food systems—such as food insecurity and inequalities in food distribution—has succeeded in bringing together universities, international organizations, companies, and public institutions to share knowledge and co-create solutions. The regularity of its meetings has fostered a dynamic exchange of knowledge and experiences, allowing for the creation of comprehensive actions and strategies that promote the sustainability and resilience of food systems. This joint effort is nourished by the diversity and strength of each participating institution, creating a collaborative environment where collective actions are taking shape to address food-related challenges. 

Currently, the community is composed of: 

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali, Universidad Icesi, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia, Universidad de Los Andes, Corpovalle, Universidad Eafit, Corporación Universitaria Remington, Cavasa, Folu Colombia, Universidad de La Salle, WWF, Jepri, and the Bank of the Republic. 

On Friday, November 15, 2024, the CoP-SA held its last in-person meeting of 2024 at the Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar (UTB) in Cartagena. The day focused on evaluating the activities, achievements, and results of 2024, setting concrete actions and roles for the goals of 2025, and strengthening the governance processes that will ensure the community’s efficient and collaborative functioning in the future. The meeting highlighted the collective commitment of the community to advance towards influencing food systems policies, consolidating alliances, and shared visions. 

Some of the achievements identified by participants in this session were: 

• The generation and transfer of knowledge within the framework of the Community’s sessions. 

• The transfer, collaboration, and open dissemination of methods and data as the core values of the Community. 

• The strengthening of capacities in collaboration processes, as well as the willingness to formalize the CoP-FS. 

In addition to these significant achievements, the CoP-FS identified tangible results and products, such as the alliances and networks that have been woven between participants, resulting in around 12 projects that were born or developed thanks to the spaces provided by the community. One of the flagship products of the CoP-FS, reflecting both the interest in contributing to the understanding and transformation of food systems and the collaborative capacity of its members, is the Open Training on Food Systems, a series of seminars available at the following link: 

To learn more about the evolution, results, and achievements of the Community, the report “Eighteen Months of Collective Building: Balance and Lessons Learned from a Food Systems Community of Practice” has recently been published.

The Way Forward 

Today, the community aims to turn its findings into actions that will influence food security and sustainability in Colombia. This effort not only demonstrates the power of collaborative work but also the potential of CoPs as tools for structural change. These are the steps highlighted by the community in its last in-person meeting on November 15, 2024: 

• Promotion of collaboration networks: The community seeks to expand its national and regional alliances, integrating new partners and strengthening existing networks to address issues from a collective perspective. 

• Influence on public policies: One of the main objectives is to provide decision-makers with useful information and practical tools to support the creation of inclusive and sustainable policies. 

• Expansion of the PlaSA Colombia Platform: PlaSA is positioned as a tool that evaluates, collects, analyzes, and disseminates relevant information on the country’s food systems, promoting the use of data to guide projects and policies. 

The Community of Practice in Colombia´s Food Systems continues to solidify its role as a transformative force in the country’s food landscape. Its focus on collective learning, the strategic use of data, and policy influence shows that the most effective solutions come from multisectoral collaboration. Facing critical challenges such as sustainability and food resilience, the CoP-FS invites more actors to join this space of innovation and action, where shared knowledge translates into meaningful changes for communities and the future of the country. 

In the video presented below, members share their perspectives on the future of the community and how multisectoral collaboration promotes a broad vision of the potential impact of the community’s coordinated efforts. 

Authors: 

Daniela Salas, NPS Initiative communications and analyst, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, Colombia.  

Juan Sebastián Rivas, Reaserch associate, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, Colombia. 

Photo credit: Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT

This work is part of the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS). CGIAR launched NPS with national and international partners to build policy coherence, respond to policy demands and crises, and integrate policy tools at national and subnational levels in countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CGIAR centers participating in NPS are The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Potato Center (CIP), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and WorldFish. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.