Statement from Sir John Beddington, Chair of the Global Panel
After more than a decade of considerable impact and success, the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition will conclude its work on January 30th 2026. The Panel has been very fortunate to have support from several funders during its existence which it has used to influence policy makers and many others to make decisions informed by rigorous analysis of the best available scientific evidence. The Panel has played a very significant part in the wide recognition now given to the importance of sustainable food systems in enabling healthy diets for all.
Since it was founded in 2013, the Global Panel has published 22 policy and technical briefs, two major Foresight reports and a report on Resilience of African Food Systems. These have been influential in encouraging governments and others in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to adopt a food systems lens to deliver sustainable, healthy and affordable diets. With its distinguished membership, the Panel and its staff have been able to share these insights at the highest levels of government whilst also influencing donors and senior experts. This is a legacy of impact of which the Panel can be proud.
However, the policy environment for food systems is in a very different place today from when the Panel was formed. Food systems remain profoundly vulnerable in a world that is becoming increasingly volatile, increasing the risk of their collapse in the decades ahead. Moreover, there is a growing unwillingness in the international policy and donor community to think beyond the near term - to determine how current threats and uncertainties could undermine current progress. This, together with the recent substantial shifts in international aid, is a cause for real concern.
In closing, I should like to express my gratitude to all the Panel members and their representatives, past and present, for the part they have played in our achievements. Members have opened doors to senior decision makers, offered the valuable support of their host institutions, travelled far and wide to participate in meetings and reviewed drafts of the Panel’s many publications. None of this would have been possible without the many hundreds of experts and colleagues around the world who have contributed their time and expertise to help ensure that the Panel’s work is robust, relevant and pragmatic. I would also like to thank Director Prof Sandy Thomas and Technical Advisor Prof Patrick Webb for their leadership, the Secretariat staff for their dedicated support, and consultants Derek Flynn and Darren Hughes for their valuable and long standing contributions. Finally, I should like to thank the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for hosting the Secretariat.
I am deeply grateful to all.
Professor Sir John Beddington, CMG FRS FRSE Hon FREng, Chair, Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition
