Page 16 - GUIDELINES FOR FOOD SYSTEMS ISSUES PRIORITIZATION, ACTOR AND ACTION MAPPING at sub-national levels in Vietnam

tasks of the unit or agency. This fragmentation can undermine the effectiveness of local
interventions, leading to difficulty in harmonizing those interventions with broader food
system goals.

To support coherent and system-wide actions, prioritizing food systems issues must
focus on those issues which are multi- and inter-sectoral that various local stakeholders
are facing. Also, given the multitude of potential issues and the limited resources and
capacities at the local level, prioritization should focus on the most pressing challenges
that align with the capabilities and strategic interests of local institutions.

Therefore, the prioritization activities should be carried out in a participatory and
inclusive manner. Multiple stakeholders involved in the provincial food systems should
be engaged, including representatives from the provincial focal point organization, other
public agences and the private sector. Diverse sectoral representation ensures the
diversity of perspectives on the conditions and challenges of local food systems, as well
as how to identify, define, prioritize and act on food system issues. Harmonizing various
perspectives and interests of the stakeholders is critical and requires well-structured
instructions and efficient facilitation to support the stakeholder’s discussions and
selection. Local stakeholder engagement should be maintained throughout the entire
process, from the establishment of Provincial Inter-Sectoral Working Group (PWG) to
lead the development process at sub-national levels, to the consultation with the PWGs
and other stakeholders to prepare, score, select, and validate the food systems issues,
as well as mapping resources and actions to address them.

These guidelines provide instructions to classify, evaluate and prioritize interdisciplinary
food systems issues, to enable strategic and practical actions that optimize local resource
use and prevent inefficiencies or the dispersal of efforts.

These guidelines are structured around four key actions, including: (i) identifying food
systems issues at the provincial level; (ii) developing indicators for scoring priority food
systems issues at the provincial level; (iii) mapping actors relevant to addressing the
selected food systems issues; and (iv) identifying key activities and resources needed to
address selected food systems issues.

2.3. Responsible actors for carrying out the activities

The activity can be conducted by an inter-disciplinary/inter-sectoral group including:

- The Provincial Inter-Sectoral Working Group (PWG), under the Provincial
People’s Committee, leads the development process at the sub-national levels.
The PWG is composed of local officials and experts from multiple sectors-
such as agriculture, health, forestry, fishery, trade and economics, science and
technology, statistics, environment, policy and governance, and education- which

16 Guidelines for food systems issues prioritization, actor and action mapping at subnational levels in Vietnam