Business & the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit

SUN Business Network and GAIN host meeting to discuss business engagement in the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit

On the 14th February 2019, the SUN Business Network and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) organised a meeting at the Ajinomoto head office in Tokyo, Japan to discuss how to engage business in the next Global Nutrition Summit which will take place in Japan in 2020. The meeting brought together 60 participants, including representatives from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, national and regional businesses, and development partners.

The key objectives of the meeting were to:

• Identify key opportunities and challenges of working with business in the food system to achieve nutrition targets of SDGs in Asia
• Engage business in the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit
• Discuss opportunities for collaboration around accountability mechanisms for business for the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit

Dr Manabu Sumi, Director Global Health Policy Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Government of Japan, opened the meeting declaring that improving nutrition is critical for achieving SDG2 and that malnutrition is increasingly becoming a leading cause of the global burden of disease. It is for these reasons that Japan has decided to host the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit which will have two main goals:

1. To secure new and refreshed policy commitments on nutrition from all stakeholders
2. To catalyse new financial contributions to nutrition.

The Japanese MoFA recognises businsess as a key player in ensuring that nutritious food is available and affordable for all. They have asked GAIN to organise a private sector working group in the lead up to the Summit.

The meeting included three panel discussions on what business is doing to tackle malnutrition, how this can be endorsed by the wider business community and how business should be held accountable.

For the full meeting summary, read the report here.

Next steps

The 2020 Global Nutrition Summit requires strong engagement from business in Japan, in Asia and globally. Businesses should use this opportunity to endorse and implement commitments to make nutritious food more available, affordable and desirable to consumers and employees. Business is a powerful actor for positive change in the food system.

GAIN and the SUN Business Network will continue to mobilise businesses ahead of the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit in coordination with global, regional and Japanese businesses and business alliances, such as Ajinomoto and the Nutrition Japan Public Private Partnership.