Barriers and facilitators for food systems policy development and implementation in African countries and cities

Abstract Background The sustainable food systems policy index (SFS index) was created to evaluate government actions towards healthy diets from sustainable food systems at national and city level. A mapping of policies was conducted across East (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) and West (Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo) African countries and cities. Only few recommended policies were in place. Therefore, this study set out to identify the barriers and facilitators for food systems policy development and implementation within food supply chains and environments at national and city level. Methods A total of 64 semi-structured interviews are being conducted (April-July 2023) across aforementioned eight East and West African countries. Per country, four city level and four national stakeholders actively engaged in the design, implementation or evaluation of food systems policies were selected, 36 working on food supply chains, 27 on food environments and one involved in both. Results Results of the interviews are expected to highlight common barriers and facilitators to develop and implement policies to obtain healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Moreover, these will contribute to the finalisation of the SFS index. Conclusions Understanding barriers and facilitators influencing sustainable food systems policies is key to achieving the sustainable development goals. Moreover, the final SFS index will be useable in countries and cities across the world to map existing policies to obtain healthy diets from sustainable food systems and identify areas of improvement.