On November 19, 2024, a meeting titled "Consultation on the Current Status of the Food System in Son La Province" was organized by the Son La Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the inter-agency task force (Biodiversity Alliance and CIAT, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development, National Institute of Nutrition). This event is part of a series of consultation activities aimed at developing the profile of the current status of the food system in Son La Province.

On August 08-09, 2024, Can Tho University, in collaboration with the Bioversity International Alliance and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of Dong Thap Province, the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS), the National Institute of Nutrition, the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Can Tho, organized a training program to enhance the knowledge of related departments in Dong Thap on food systems transformation towards healthy and sustainable diets and promoting agroecological transformation. This training activity is sponsored by the One CGIAR initiative "Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation - SHiFT."

The food systems programme is an annual ministry-level conference, first held in 2017, that is a platform for dialogue to drive change in the food system.

Vietnam has implemented the "National Action Plan on Food Systems Transformation toward Transparency, Responsibility, and Sustainability until 2030". The plan, issued by the Prime Minister at the end of March, aims to turn Vietnam into a transparent, responsible, sustainable food producer and supplier to ensure food security and nutrition for its 100 million people and contribute to world food security.

Vietnam aims to transform its food systems in a transparent, responsible and sustainable manner. To help achieve this, the new CGIAR research initiative “Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation” (SHiFT) is working with the emerging multi-stakeholder platforms in the country in order to support the planning and implementation of specific activities. This article demonstrates success already achieved.

Sustainable food systems are those food systems that aim at achieving food and nutrition security and healthy diets while limiting negative environmental impacts and improving socio-economic welfare.

Vietnam’s food system is complex, encompassing all the people and processes from the farm all the way through processing, transport, sales, and consumption. For those studying food systems, particularly as they pertain to healthy diets and nutrition, grasping an overview can be a significant challenge.