Knowledge tools for policy coherence and market reform
Welcome to the KISM – the Knowledge Platform for Inclusive and Sustainable Food Markets and Value Chains (KISM). KISM is a research and knowledge gateway to help farmer organizations, food businesses, governments, and practitioners make better-informed investment and policy decisions on inclusive and sustainable food value chains.
Situated within a new CGIAR initiative on Rethinking Food Markets, the KISM is designed to share cutting edge research emerging from this multidisciplinary research initiative and convene stakeholder dialogues to make sense of this research and improve policy coherence and market reform. KISM is also your gateway to access further credible research and data in this field through other knowledge platforms such as Evidensia and Value Chains knowledge portal.
About the CGIAR Rethinking Markets Initiative
Not much is known on how to leverage the rapid evolution of food markets and value chains in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and post-harvest innovations to create decent livelihoods, especially for women and youth, and achieve sustainability. Addressing the multiple constraints faced by small food market actors in poor countries will require combinations of solutions or, as the panel indicates, “bundles” of complementary technological and institutional innovations and policies providing new incentives and capacities for adopting these innovations.
Launched in January 2022, the Rethinking Food Markets initiative is a collaborative effort of seven CGIAR centres, including the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and WorldFish. The initiative further collaborates with national and international partners to leverage innovations and policies that improve the functioning of food markets and value chains in order to address food insecurity and malnutrition, reduce poverty and income inequality, and minimize food systems’ ecological footprint.
The CGIAR Rethinking Food Markets aims to provide evidence on what types of bundled innovations, incentive structures and policies are most effective for creating more equitable sharing of income and employment opportunities in growing food markets, while reducing the food sector’s environmental footprint.
This objective will be accomplished through:
- Piloting and scaling of bundled innovations
- Innovating and designing policies
- Promoting knowledge tools for policy coherence and market reform
The initiative is currently undertaking research testing the effectiveness and scalability of market and value chain innovations in seven countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The Initiative works with a wide array of partners, including funding and development partners and development banks, such as the African Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Banks, and the World Bank’s CGAP and International Finance Corporation. Demand and scaling partners further involve national governments in the selected countries, as well as nationally and internationally operating private food businesses and business associations, such as, for example, Coldhubs (a logistics SME in Nigeria), East-West Seed International (an international seed and quality certification business), the SUN Business Network, and local farmers’ organizations. Key innovation partners, include local research centres in each country and global research partners, such as Wageningen University and Research and the Michigan State University.
KISM Partners
The KISM was launched in December 2022 in partnership with ISEAL and Evidensia.
ISEAL supports ambitious sustainability systems and their partners to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. From the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis to human rights and persistent poverty, the world needs scalable and effective solutions. ISEAL’s convening power through its growing membership and thought leadership accelerate positive change on these critical challenges, so companies and governments can meet their sustainability commitments and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
With growing commitment by governments and businesses to tackle sustainability challenges, there is a need for understanding what approaches work where, why and how. Evidensia was launched in 2019 by ISEAL and partners with the mission of powering market action on sustainability with credible research, insight and analysis. Evidensia helps you access and interpret credible research on the sustainability impacts and effectiveness of supply chain initiatives and tools. It also drives learning and sense-making on research results and implications for sustainability policy and action.