A Knowledge Agenda for food systems resilience in protracted crisis in the Horn of Africa

Abstract This paper develops a Knowledge Agenda for food systems resilience in the Horn of Africa, based on the recognition that knowledge needs of food systems transformation in protracted food crisis requires specific attention from humanitarian, development and peace partners, national governments, multilateral and bilateral organisations, the private sector, and universities and training centres. A knowledge agenda is an advocacy and policy document which highlights systemic, structural and individual/collective goals and targets as they relate to knowledge, competencies and perspectives in a particular field or domain. Such a Knowledge Agenda, comprising Knowledge Development Goals, can be a powerful tool for advocacy, policy and programming advice and for bridging research and practice. The framework for the Knowledge Agenda has been provided by the ‘Agenda Knowledge for Development’, informed by the literature on knowledge management for development, and on knowledge for food systems transformation and resilience. We have taken the approach of relying on a variety of literature because there is very little literature specifically addressing knowledge for food systems resilience in protracted crisis. Against this background, a draft Knowledge Agenda (pages 11–13) is proposed which features 12 Knowledge Development Goals with specific targets, recognising that the Agenda needs further elaboration and contextualization in a consultative process. This version has novelty and value as it provides a roadmap of how researchers, practitioners and policymakers can develop draft Knowledge Agenda for consultation for contexts where the literature is limited. [204 words].