SHiFT researcher joins technical panel for forthcoming report on sustainability transformations

Nature Sustainability recently announced plans to develop a technical report on sustainability transformations. Dr. Chris Béné, Principal Scientist and Senior Policy Advisor at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, will serve as a panel member. Dr. Béné is the only representative from CGIAR on the panel for this report.

The technical report will be organized around 10 case studies across three different systems – the electricity system, agri-food system, and auto-mobility system – that will summarize patterns and underlying mechanisms of resistance and transition. The report will answer two questions:

• What are the recurring patterns of behavior and underlying root causes that resist sustainability transitions, and how do these manifest across different sectors and geographical contexts?
• What are the key leverage points across the system that can be targeted to overcome resistance and facilitate transitions towards more sustainable futures?

In addition, Dr. Béné leads Work Package 3 on governance and inclusive food systems in the CGIAR Research Initiative on Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation (SHiFT). SHiFT research from Work Package 3 has been exploring similar questions about food systems transitions. Recently, part of the research team published a conceptual framework that can be used as a diagnostic and prescriptive tool for food systems transformation in high- and lower-income countries. The authors explain that the framework can be applied to understand past transformation processes and explore what politics may have hindered new ideas from emerging or new innovations to be scaled. The team has also published papers on narratives around the protein transition and system- and paradigm-level drivers of a planetary health-focused dietary transition. Dr. Béné is also a member of the Food Systems Countdown Initiative team, which produced the Food Systems Countdown Report 2023: The State of Food Systems Worldwide.

The International Food Policy Research Institute and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT lead SHiFT in close collaboration with Wageningen University and Research and with contributions from the International Potato Center. SHiFT combines high-quality nutritional and social science research capacity with development partnerships to generate innovative, robust solutions that contribute to healthier, more sustainable dietary choices and consumption of sustainable healthy diets. It builds on CGIAR’s unparalleled track record of agricultural research for development, including ten years of work on food systems and nutrition under the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.

Header image: Tea farms in Kenya’s Tana River watershed. Photo by Georgina Smith/CIAT from Flickr.