Africa Regional Preparatory Meeting for UNFSS+4

Africa Regional Preparatory Meeting for UNFSS+4

Date: May 5–7, 2025
Venue: Nairobi, Kenya
Region: Africa
Registration (also for online participation): https://indico.un.org/event/10...

The Africa Regional Preparatory Meeting will provide a platform for stakeholders to assess progress, identify key challenges, and shape regional priorities for sustainable food systems transformation. While most regional meetings will be held alongside the 2025 Economic Commission Regional Sustainable Development Fora (February–April 2025), the Africa meeting will take place separately in Nairobi, Kenya, ensuring focused discussions on the region’s contributions to UNFSS+4.

The UNFSS+4 Regional Preparatory Meetings will be held in person and online. They are open to:

• Member States (National Convenors and other representatives)
• United Nations entities
• Civil society organizations
• Private sector actors
• Financial institutions
• Academia and research institutions
• Food systems coalitions and other stakeholders
• The broader Ecosystem of Support

MEETING PARTICIPANTS 

Food Systems National Convenors, academia, international and regional organizations, the private sector, and civil society are invited to join the meeting on 5-7 May 2025 at the UNON Complex in Nairobi. The outcome of this regional meeting will be synthesized into regional key messages to be considered for the preparation of the UNFSS+4. 

STRUCTURE AND PROGRAMME OVERVIEW OF THE REGIONAL MEETING 

The regional preparatory meeting will span three days and integrate plenary sessions, interactive breakaway group discussions optimizing on networking, learning and self-motivated matchmaking . In addition, during the three days the National Convenors will be invited to participate in one-to-one indepth interviews with staff of the Hub to share more details on country-level action. 

PROGRAMME OVERVIEW 

• Documenting Progress: presentations and discussion between National Convenors on progress on FST after the UNFSS+2, lessons learned and challenges that remain in FST. National Convenors will examine how their countries are defining FST goals, assess progress, and achieve tangible results. 
• Strengthening Accountability in FST: exploring mutual accountability and gaps in food systems transformation with a focus on examining the roles, commitments, and contributions of both state and non-state actors in driving food systems transformation. The session will be based on active interaction (panels, group discussions) between state and non-state actors. 
• Unlocking Investments for FST: dialogue between National Convenors, IFIs and the private sector to discuss investment opportunities and platforms that promote scalable, sustainable solutions in line with the Secretary-General Call to Action to ensure access to finance and investments for food systems transformation. 
• Converging Food Systems Transformation, Climate Action and other key agendas: Presentations of the Convergence Initiative and other relevant work that build upon the call to align the FST Pathways and relevant processes with Climate Action including the update of NDCs, NAPs and other strategic plans. Presentation of pilot countries. 
• Flagship Initiatives and Stakeholder Contributions to the SG Call to Action: discussions on private sector engagement, governance, financing, and science for food systems transformation.

The meetings will span three days and include plenary sessions, interactive discussions and peer-learning opportunities to ensure inclusive and action-oriented participation.

For more information on the preparatory meeting see this concept note.