For nearly two decades, my life has revolved around policy and advocacy, working to influence governments, donors and civil society in shaping solutions that can end poverty in all its forms. From work in rural areas to national capitals, and in global forums where policy frameworks are hammered out, this experience has shown how decisions taken in boardrooms can ripple down, or not, to communities.
In many communities, food insecurity is not an abstract term but a daily struggle tied to whether they have access to water, the right farming inputs on time or the infrastructure necessary to connect them to agriculture extension services and to markets.
More recently, my perspective has been sharpened by a personal journey: running my late father’s smallholder livestock farm, in Kabwe, just over 100 kilometres from Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. Every decision – when to buy feed, collect hay, how to manage costs in the face of fluctuating markets – connects directly to bigger policy questions. This blend of policy work and local practice underscores one truth: ending hunger and malnutrition requires bold, innovative policy choices that are rooted in the realities of farmers and rural communities.
National systems strengthening as the backbone of policy innovation
The first innovation is not glamorous, but it is fundamental and foundational: strong and resilient national and subnational systems. Too often, food insecurity and malnutrition are treated as a crisis to be responded to, rather than a structural issue to be prevented. This fosters short-term fixes rather than long-term resilience building that addresses structural and systemic inequalities and leaves communities in a strengthened position post-crisis.
Countries that have made progress against hunger, such as Brazil, have invested in robust systems, data collection that captures who is hungry and why, agricultural extension services that reach remote farmers and functioning social protection systems that can be scaled up in times of crisis.
The third African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP3) framework recognises the importance of strong systems. But implementation often fails. A renewed commitment is needed, backed by political will and capacity, to build national food systems that can withstand climatic, economic or political shocks and stresses.
Ring-fenced funding
Money matters. Without adequate financing, even the best policy designs remain paper promises. Ensuring adequate and sustainable funding is perhaps so obvious that it may not be thought of as innovation, however, dedicating resources to areas of most need, focused on what are sometimes referred to as double-duty actions aimed at transforming food systems and bringing them to scale, is critical. Ringfencing allocations in national budgets that cannot be diverted for other uses, for rural communities, smallholder farmers and R&D is not the norm.
Hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition disproportionately affect marginalised groups: low-income households, smallholder farmers, women, Indigenous Peoples and those living in fragile or conflict-affected settings. In rural areas, 32 per cent of people were food insecure compared to 28.6 per cent in urban areas. Yet, these groups often do not participate in decision making and are least prioritised in resource allocation. Targeted and ring-fenced allocations for rural agricultural development, nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions and rural infrastructure (such as feeder roads, storage and electrification) can change this reality.
When governments signal, through their budgetary allocations, that funding for hunger and rural livelihoods is protected, donors and private investors are more likely to align and contribute. Financial predictability also allows farmers themselves to plan with confidence.
Tackling the drivers of marginalisation
Hunger is not only about lack of food, it is also about inequity and exclusion. Policies that address hunger nutritiously must therefore tackle the underlying drivers of marginalisation. This means addressing gender disparities that limit women’s access to land, credit and technology. It means ensuring pastoralist communities are not displaced from ancestral lands without compensation or alternatives. It means designing food systems policies that are attentive to diverse needs and people are not just beneficiaries but active shapers of agricultural futures.
Working on a smallholder farm, I see how small barriers accumulate. Access to affordable veterinary services, for example, determines whether livestock can scale or stagnate. If such services are unavailable or prohibitively expensive, smallholders remain locked in subsistence cycles. This requires policy targeting rural services and incentives for equitable access.
Smallholder farmers: from margins to mainstream
Smallholder farmers produce about one-third of the world’s food. In Africa, their contribution is even greater. Yet they remain poorly supported, often treated as marginal rather than central actors in food systems. Policy innovation must answer their needs for access to markets on fair terms, affordable credit, crop and livestock insurance, climate adaptation tools and technologies. Land tenure reforms that give security, especially to women, are essential. Crucially, mechanisms for smallholder farmers to participate in policy development and prioritisation must exist.
On farms, decisions about feed, breeding and sales are inseparable from wider systemic questions, such as whether roads are maintained, local markets are predictable and veterinary services and drugs are affordable. These realities, multiplied across millions of smallholders, should shape national agricultural policies.
Policy to practice: a call for courage to transform
Ending hunger and malnutrition is not a technical puzzle that lacks solutions. We know what works: strong systems, ring-fenced resources, inclusive policies and the right support for farmers. What often lacks is political courage to transform. Policy innovation requires governance innovation, inclusive decision-making, citizen participation, accountability for results and political leadership that sees hunger not as inevitable but as unacceptable.
As we fast march towards the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, the urgency is undeniable. With climate change intensifying, conflicts displacing millions and economic shocks reverberating globally, hunger and malnutrition remain too high. Innovation in this moment means not only new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technologies but new ways of governing, financing and valuing the people who put food on our tables.
The future of food is not only a matter of producing more in ways that nourish both people and the planet, but it is also about producing fairer systems. Policy innovations are the seeds that can grow into a world free of hunger, with the right leadership and commitment.
