As part of the decade of action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the first Food Systems Summit will take place in September 2021 in New York. The Summit aims to raise awareness to the public of the fact that we all must work, together to transform the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food. Convened by the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, the event will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some extent on healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems.

As a result, Cameroon has launched the preparation process of its participation to this global summit. A national concertation dialogue on Food Systems in Cameroon has been officially initiated by the Minister of agriculture and rural development, Gabriel Mbairobe on May 11, 2021 as a kick-start of a nations wide decentralized series of consultative workshops. The United Nations, through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP), the two lead specialized agencies of the food security sector, support the government in the preparation and implementation of this ambitious consultation to ensure an inclusive and fruitful participation from all the 10 regions of Cameroon.

Now, this exercise was able to bring together members of parliament, regional presidents, municipal executives, members of producers organizations and numerous civil society actors. Having a decentralized dialogues has been very instrumental to allow a broad set of actors who live the daily realities of the local food systems  from the diverse agro-ecological zones of the country, to express themselves on their strengths and their shortcomings and to suggest possible solutions to make food systems more sustainable.

In order to gather all the information obtained at the level of the ten regions, a consolidation workshop was organized on May 25, 2021 thus, closing the national concertation on Food Systems. Key actors at the level of the ten regions, the private sector, the civil society, FAO and WFP experts were present to finalize the Cameroon’s letter of commitment.

Guided by five Action Tracks, the Summit will bring together key players from science, business, policy, healthcare and academia fields, as well as farmers, indigenous people, youth organizations, consumer groups, environmental activists, and other key stakeholders. Before, during and after the Summit, these actors will come together to bring about tangible, positive changes to the world’s food systems.