Our Initiatives | United Nations Development Programme

Our Initiatives

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

UNDP Food Systems 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 Food Systems team is skilled in taking a holistic, system-wide approach to transformative change.

Learn more about our global initiatives below.

Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA)

The Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA), is a movement of food, agriculture, and consciousness practitioners, convened by UNDP, and united around a common goal: to support people from across food and agriculture systems to cultivate the inner capacities that activate systemic change and regeneration.

Green Commodities Programme

The Green Commodities Programme (GCP), funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), was launched by UNDP in 2010 to improve the economic, social, and environmental performance of agricultural commodity sectors—supporting farmers’ livelihoods while protecting forests and vulnerable ecosystems.

Food Systems, Land Use, and Restoration (FOLUR)

The FOLUR Impact Program, led by the World Bank and supported by the GEF, aims to transform food systems through sustainable landscapes and efficient value chains. Through the Good Growth Partnership, UNDP supports the Global Platform, which assists 27 Country Projects focused on eight key commodities: beef, cocoa, corn, coffee, palm oil, rice, soy, and wheat.

Food and Power Initiative

The Food and Power Initiative (FPI) is an emerging global programme which aims to support countries and stakeholders to better understand, navigate and address the power dynamics of food systems transformation.

Involve Communities

Involve is a global platform uniting Communities of Practice driving systems change for the planet. It fosters learning, collaboration, and knowledge exchange across biodiversity, land use, climate and forest, resilient ecosystems and food systems, and connects 1000+ practitioners to co-create and scale nature-positive solutions and sectoral transformations for sustainability.

Systems Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation (SMLE)

The Systems Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation (SMLE) initiative was launched by UNDP in 2023, with support from the Gates Foundation, to rethink how monitoring, learning, and evaluation can better be used to address complex challenges such as climate change, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss.