Capabilities assessment to support food systems transformation towards sustainable healthy diets in Viet Nam

Namugumya, Brenda S.; Herens, Marion; Kruft, Krista; de Groote, Bram; Tuyen, Huynh Thi Thanh; Huong, Pham Thi Mai; and Thanh, Duong Thi. 2024. Capabilities assessment to support food systems transformation towards sustainable healthy diets in Viet Nam. SHiFT Working Paper September 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169021

Collaborative governance processes are increasingly recognized as critical for normative food systems transformation (FST) globally. For instance, collective action and multistakeholder partnerships is one of the main levers of change stated in Viet Nam’s “National Action Plan on Food Systems Transformation in Viet Nam towards Transparency, Responsibility, and Sustainability by 2030” (FST-NAP). The collaborative processes bring together government, private actors and citizens in collective forums and networks to engage in long-term goal-oriented decision making and implementation, for example, change towards sustainable healthy diets and better planetary health for all populations (Ansell and Gash 2008). Forming and maintaining collaborative governance processes entail navigating different challenges attributed to the inherently dynamic nature of such partnerships.