The CoFTI Story: A Coalition for a Food Secure Future
It starts with a simple truth: food connects us all.
From the kitchen gardens in small villages to bustling city markets, from farmers’ fields to the plates in our homes, food is the thread that weaves us together. It shapes our health, carries our traditions, sustains our livelihoods, and connects us to the land we live on.
But today, that thread is fraying.
India stands at a unique crossroads. As a food-surplus nation, we have the capacity to nourish everyone, yet many still face challenges in accessing the right kind of nutrition. Undernutrition continues to affect millions, while lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity are also on the rise. At the same time, our farmlands, water resources, and food supply chains are under increasing pressure.
These aren’t isolated problems. They are pieces of one big puzzle: Our food system.
And to fix it, we must look at the whole picture.
In 2021, the UN Food Systems Summit triggered discussion on how to feed people in ways that also care for the planet. For India's food systems landscape, it was a turning point. The Food Future Foundation, with the support of BMZ / GIZ and CII-FACE, brought together voices from across the country – farmers, researchers, businesses, policymakers, and youth leaders.
They shared one belief: real change can only happen when we act together.
From those conversations, emerged the Coalition for Food Systems Transformation in India (CoFTI) – a space where different people, institutions, ideas and actions meet. Government and grassroots. Science and tradition. Industry and community.
Because transformation begins with Us. Shared power, shared learning, and shared responsibility.
CoFTI’s vision is simple in words but ambitious in scope: A future where everyone in India has access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food without harming the planet or leaving anyone behind.
It’s not just about producing more. It’s about producing better. It’s about protecting biodiversity while feeding people. It’s about ensuring that farmers earn a fair price for their work. It’s about building resilience so that our food systems can weather climate change, economic shocks, and be prepared for future crises.
"We need to look at our food systems not as isolated problems to fix, but as a living network where every change ripples across health, environment, and livelihoods. Transformation starts when we work together with a shared vision."
— Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food Future Foundation
In its formative years, the India Food System Vision Report 2030 became a guiding document for CoFTI.
This report is the collective voice of farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs, nutritionists, and community leaders from across the country. It outlines 32 actionable pathways that touch every part of the system from what we grow, how we grow it, to how we eat it. And it recognises one vital truth: food security, environmental health, and economic prosperity are inseparable.
If the vision report is our map, the Action Labs are the engines driving CoFTI forward. They are spaces where members meet, engage, deliberate and plan. CoFTI's Action Labs are:
- Diets & Consumption – aims to generate knowledge and awareness so people, and especially children, make better food choices
- Agroecology & Smallholder Farmers – supports agroecological transformation
- Food Businesses – Builds knowledge and connects small producers with ingredient science to make healtheir products
- Food Waste & Loss – Focuses on knowledge generation around food waste valorising
- Food Environments – Examines urban and rural food environments to improve accessibility, affordability, availability and safety, while ensuring just transition
- Policy & Institutions – Works toward strengthening the systems and policies that shape what we eat and how it’s produced
- Food Systems Leadership – Network building to create the next generation of change-makers
The Coalition brings together multiple partners and food system actors, moving in the same direction. Food system transformation isn’t a solo act. It buils on the knowledge of the farmer who grows the crop, the scientist who studies the soil and water, the policymaker who shapes processes, the business that moves the food, the school that teaches healthy eating, and the consumer who makes the choices.
No one can be left out of the conversation about our food future. It needs women farmers to have equal access to land and resources. It needs young people to bring fresh energy and innovation. It needs us - all of us to play our part.
The road to a food-secure future is long. But with every new partner, every shared idea, every community-led solution, we can get closer. Whether you are a programme leader, policymaker, farmer, business leader, student, or simply someone who cares about the food you eat, you are already part of this story.
Join us. Bring your skills, your ideas, your passion. Because the future of food is a shared table. And there’s a seat for you.
