By Jim Woodhill and Bram Peters
We’re excited to launch our new guide: “Using Foresight for Food Systems Transformation – A Guide for Policymakers, Practitioners, and Researchers.” Developed collaboratively by the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub and Foresight4Food, this guide is being released today to coincide with the UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake (UNFSS+4), taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from July 27 to 29.
Why This Guide Matters
Transforming food systems to ensure better health, greater equity, and environmental resilience demands future thinking. We must collectively envision how our food systems can evolve—and confront the risks of “business as usual.” Anticipating future shocks and stresses can help drive proactive policy, investment, and innovation before crises hit.
This guide is a hands-on resource for applying foresight and scenario analysis at national and local levels to accelerate food systems transformation. It demystifies the basics of foresight, lays out practical steps for launching a foresight process, and offers real-world examples and curated resources.
What You’ll Find in the Guide
- Clear explanations of foresight and scenario analysis methods
- Step-by-step guidance for facilitating participatory foresight processes
- Insights and tools drawn from the global Foresight4Food network
- Case examples illustrating how foresight is being used in diverse contexts
At the heart of this approach is bringing together diverse stakeholders—from farmers and consumers to policymakers and private sector actors—to build shared understanding, trust, and momentum for collective action.
Part of a Broader Set of Resources
This new guide complements the Foresight4Food “Foresight for Food Systems Change Process Guide & Toolkit”, which dives deeper into participatory tools and techniques for systems mapping and scenario building.
It also aligns with new resources like FAO’s “Transforming Food and Agriculture through a Systems Approach”, which supports systems thinking for transformation. In parallel, Alliance Biodiversity and CIAT are highlighting the importance of subnational stakeholder engagement as a critical entry point for change.
A Call to Action
Transforming food systems will require significant investment—but more importantly, it needs broad-based commitment. Consumers, producers, businesses, and political leaders must be aligned on the necessary changes and the trade-offs involved. That means shifting mindsets, creating political will, forging new alliances, and rebalancing power.
As we move beyond the UNFSS+4, we need renewed focus on investing in high-quality, inclusive stakeholder processes. The foresight approach outlined in our new guide offers a powerful pathway to doing just that.