Traditional wet markets are the main source of fresh food and the largest source of daily nutrient intake for citizens of Hanoi. Nevertheless, due to the lack of traceability and sales registration systems, food flows within these markets remain largely invisible. This makes it challenging to assess the impact of shocks, such as pandemics, on these markets.

A new food system indicator framework and monitoring architecture is presented to track food system transformation towards global development, health and sustainability goals. Five themes are considered:

Like many countries, the Vietnamese government and international aid organizations in Vietnam have considerable interest in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which are inextricably linked with sustainable diets. The authors grounded the development of our conceptual framework in a Vietnamese context from the outset of the study, while also drawing from the scientific literature to incorporate the breadth of knowledge and theory available on sustainable diets.

The protein shift, or transition, entails a reduction in the production and consumption of animal-source foods, and an increase in plant-based foods and alternative proteins, at a global level. The shift is primarily motivated by the need to minimise the impact of the food system on social-ecological systems.

While progress has been made recently in understanding food systems per se, much less is known about policies around those food systems.

Using data collected from a cross-sectional study in Moc Chau, Dong Anh and Cau Giay districts in Vietnam, this report aims to elucidate specific components of local Vietnamese food systems along a rural to urban transect focusing specifically on (i) diets, (ii) nutrition status (anthropometry), (iii) consumer behavior, (iv) food environment, and (v) food flows. The results are summarized as below:

The call for transforming food systems from their current unsustainable trajectories toward more desirable, healthy, sustainable, resilient, and equitable outcomes has received unprecedented echoes recently—particularly following the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.

Current food systems fail to provide equity, sustainability, and positive health outcomes, thus underscoring the critical need for their transformation. Intervening in food environments holds substantial promise for contributing to this much-needed transformation.

This Food Systems (FS) profile aims to provide a synopsis of the food system of the Moc Chau District in Son La, a peri-urban area in north Vietnam. This profile gives an overview of the main food system outcomes, constituent elements and drivers.

This Food Systems (FS) profile aims to provide a synopsis of the food system of the Dong Anh district in Hanoi, a peri-urban area in north Vietnam. This profile gives an overview of the main food system outcomes, constituent elements and drivers.

This Food Systems (FS) profile aims to provide a synopsis of the food system of the Cau Giay district in Hanoi, an urban area in north Vietnam.

This policy baseline assessment was to provide a snapshot of the views and perceptions of policy-makers and key actors in different domains directly related to food system in Vietnam. This work contributes in Vietnam to the Food System for Healthier Diet flagship implemented as part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) CGIAR Research Programme.