We are welcoming the new year with renewed energy and appreciation for the power of partnership. At NFP, we are inspired by the drive and momentum already visible across our network. Thanks to this collective energy, we can start the year by sharing an abundance of opportunities to reflect on, connect around, and contribute to meaningful change in food systems. We’re looking forward to continuing to shape that change with you this year.

— Communications Team @NFP

Updates and Announcements

A better future starts with shared action. Since its launch in early 2025, the Biodiversity and Food Systems partnership has become a vibrant community that offers positivity and hope for the future. This blog reflects on what we worked on together and what we learned along the way. Have a read to catch up on the journey so far and where it is taking us next.

The first edition of the Food Systems Finance e-course brought together 240 professionals in 2025, primarily from public and private finance institutions. As part of the learning journey, participants from the first cohort were invited to submit personal blogs reflecting on their experiences and insights into food systems finance.

Out of 31 applications, nine participants were selected to develop blogs that connect course concepts with real-world practice. These reflections explore how public and private finance can be repurposed to support sustainable food systems transformation, drawing on diverse professional and geographical contexts. The blogs combine personal experience with key takeaways from the e-course, offering grounded and inspiring perspectives on financing food systems differently.

The first few blogs have just been published on NFPConnects !

In 2026, NFP is doubling down on what works: strong partnerships that turn shared priorities into joint action for sustainable food systems. This year, we will support and strengthen over 20 partnerships as they move from forming to performing.

Curious where you fit in? Explore where your work aligns (by country, sector, or theme) in our 2026 agenda and reach out to see how we can build together.

WSER study maps key biodiversity narratives in food systems
A new report from Wageningen Social & Economic Research looks at seven key biodiversity narratives that are often used when we talk about transforming food systems: food sovereignty, agroecology, One Health, more than human, multifunctional landscapes, market-based frameworks, and regenerative food systems.

The report, funded by PBL, was shaped through a co-creative process. Through the Biodiversity and Food Systems partnership, NFP contributed to the collaborative effort from start to finish. The seven narratives were collectively identified and selected in a joint mapping exercise, focusing on those narratives that best illustrate the diversity of thinking on biodiversity and food system transformation. NFP also helped bring in perspectives from policy, practice and research through a stakeholder dialogue session with members of the partnership that validated and enriched the findings.

We are excited to share that Dr. Namukolo Covic, member of the NFP Supervisory Board, has been appointed Head of the CGIAR Liaison Office for Africa. Since joining NFP in 2023, Dr. Covic has consistently brought a sharp perspective on food systems, championing science that responds to real demand while staying grounded in local priorities and delivery that reaches farmers, consumers, and the private sector.

This approach closely reflects NFP’s approach of initiating partnerships and coalitions between stakeholders from LMIC and the Netherlands to help achieve healthy diets and more sustainable and equitable food systems. Dr. Covic’s new position also fits with our work on the NL-CGIAR strategic partnership, where we support alignment between CGIAR’s global research agenda and Dutch research, innovation and policy actors to help accelerate food system impact in LMIC contexts. We look forward to seeing the Liaison Office strengthen CGIAR’s engagement across the continent under Dr. Covic’s leadership.

Inside the True Price partnership
What if the price we pay at the supermarket were to reflect the real environmental and social costs of our food? In this episode of Welcome to the Beehive, we sit down with Lisette van Benthum, NFP partnership builder working on the Global Partnership for the True Price of Food. She explains what True Price means, why it matters, and how it could change the way we think about food systems.

Rising salinity is not a single-issue topic. It touches livelihoods, production choices, and water systems all at once. This complexity is why RVO and the Netherlands Embassy in Vietnam organised an innovation mission focused on exploring how diverse expertise can address rising saltwater intrusion and salinity in the Mekong Delta. NFP joined 23 Dutch and Vietnamese organisations for a week of field visits, cross-sector panels, and university dialogues. NFP provided input throughout the mission to help shape the basis for a new Netherlands–Vietnam partnership on salinity, anchored in local realities.

Opportunities

Join the 7th edition of the E-course on Food Systems: a free, online programme designed for professionals working on food and nutrition security in low- and middle-income countries. Co-hosted by NFP and Wageningen Social & Economic Research (WUR), the course offers flexible self-paced learning, live plenary webinars, and a chance to connect with a global community across all sectors.

✓ 16–20 hours over 5 weeks
✓ Practical tools for real-world impact
✓ Certification upon completion

Deadline to register: 6 February
Course starts: 25 February

Interested in team-based learning for your organisation, partnership, or other collaboration? Reach out to us to learn more about the group training track.

Join the Horticulture Trade Mission to Nigeria from 23–28 March 2026, designed for Dutch companies and institutions active in horticulture, seeds, potatoes, and agri-tech. Organised around the NL Pavilion at Agrofood Nigeria (where the Netherlands will be a Guest of Honour), the programme includes business matchmaking, field visits, and meetings with key Nigerian stakeholders. For organisations offering solutions in inputs, greenhouse tech, processing, cold chains, or climate-smart agriculture, this is an ideal entry point.

Events