The meeting was attended by key national and international strategic partners, including the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Agriculture and Environment (ISPAE), the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS), the Vietnam Rural Development Science Association (PHANO), and the Alliance of Bioversity & CIAT—who participated in person—as well as international experts from IFPRI and the network of senior experts from Wageningen University (the Netherlands), who joined online.
Overview of the project kick-off meeting
The CAPSHA activity is a core component with three main groups of activities identified:
(i) Developing and refining Training of Trainers (ToT) materials;
(ii) Developing a methodological framework for monitoring food system transformation, linking process monitoring with outcome monitoring; and
(iii) Establishing a learning and experience-sharing network among countries.
At the meeting, participants emphasized the need to continue reviewing, adjusting, and improving the ToT training materials to ensure they are specific, practical, and suitable to the Vietnamese context, thereby effectively supporting implementation at the provincial level. Some localities, such as Sơn La and Đồng Tháp, were identified as pilot sites, providing a basis for further refinement and scaling up in the future. In addition, the meeting acknowledged important changes in the policy context, particularly the strengthening of the role of nutrition within the preventive healthcare system, thereby promoting food system transformation and creating opportunities to integrate the food systems approach into policies and programs at both central and local levels.
The meeting reached consensus on strengthening close coordination among stakeholders, while also emphasizing the need to enhance capacity, develop practical tools, and mobilize international technical support to ensure effective implementation and gradual scaling up in the coming period.