The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) hosted a high-level Data Validation Workshop in Islamabad, bringing together stakeholders from agriculture, health, environment, trade, academia and social sectors to review and validate findings from the Food Systems Policy Coherence (FSPC) study in Pakistan.
The workshop is part of GAIN’s global efforts to foster inclusive, sustainable, and resilient food systems in response to growing challenges such as malnutrition, climate change, and fragmented policy responses. With Pakistan among the countries participating in the multi-country FSPC initiative, the study aims to enhance alignment and coherence of policies across sectors to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2: Zero Hunger.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Farrah Naz, Country Director, GAIN Pakistan, emphasized the urgency of integrated policy action: “Fragmented policies are no longer sufficient to meet today’s complex food system challenges. This workshop marks an important milestone in fostering dialogue across sectors and grounding our analysis in local realities.”
The FSPC diagnostic tool—developed under the Nourishing Food Pathways program in collaboration with Akademiya2063 , It includes two key modules:
- Foundational Module: Assesses structures, coordination, stakeholder engagement, and monitoring mechanisms to support food system transformation.
- Key Policies Module: Examines coherence among sectoral policies in agriculture, health/nutrition, trade, environment, and social protection.
The workshop created a space for cross-sector collaboration and joint analysis, contributing to a stronger evidence base for future action.
Mr. Faiz Rasool, Head of Policy and Advocacy at GAIN, highlighted the broader vision: “This is more than a validation workshop—it is a step toward a nationally owned process of building policy coherence to transform Pakistan’s food system. Only through alignment and collective effort can we meet the nutrition and sustainability needs of our population.”
The workshop concluded with a renewed commitment to integrate feedback into the final Policy Coherence analysis and engage policymakers in advancing food systems transformation in Pakistan.
