UNDP has, with partners, initiated and led a range of global initiatives aiming to transform Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems, and operates as a core partner in global alliances.

All FACS projects and initiatives aim to Change Systems through Collective Action (CSCA), an approach evolved over more than 10 years of experience in bringing stakeholders together in food and value chain systems. The FACS team is skilled in taking a holistic, system-wide approach to transformative change..

FACS work builds on its past experience with Green Commodities Programme, which through its CSCA approach has successfully supported governments in 13 countries to define common visions and action plans for the sustainability of 8 commodities (palm oil, cocoa, coffee, beef, soy, pineapple, cashmere and fisheries).

The flagship Good Growth Partnership unites with NGO and UN agency partners to foster change at the global, national, and subnational level. The aim: halting deforestation from agricultural commodity supply chains while ensuring resilient livelihoods for small producers.

From Commitment to Action focuses on forest-positive activities, through the collaborative development of country roadmaps, highlighting current policies and investments, and further actions needed to fulfill the commitments made by governments and companies to reduce deforestation from commodities.

The UNDP-implemented Global Sustainable Supply Chains for Marine Commodities (GMC) project, is an initiative to transform the seafood market and policies though the establishment of multi-stakeholder dialogue roundtables (National Commodities Platforms),

In Private Sector Engagement, the Value Beyond Value Chains initiative engages major private sector players in working more closely with governments, moving beyond their own supply chains to realize more far-reaching positive change. UNDP, together with the Global Coffee Platform is supporting setting up a Coffee Public-Private Task Force with the purpose of contributing to the sustainability of the global coffee sector though multi-stakeholder action. 

FACS is working on systems change, through the co-inquiry where leading systems thinkers and practitioners have generated powerful individual and collective learning and insights on systems change, as well as a joint proposal with UNDP’s Strategic Innovation Unit and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on rethinking Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation for systems change.

Lastly, the Systems Monitoring Learning and Evaluation (MLE) initiative aims to catalyse the ‘next practice’ in systems change MLE. A key aspect of it lies in promoting knowledge and awareness among donors, governments, MLE practitioners and other international development professionals of MLE approaches, methods and tools that are aligned with a new development paradigm for working with food and other complex systems. 

Learn more about our global initiatives below.