Research and advisory for transformation
Helping sustainable futures take shape.
We help research organisations, governments and public-purpose institutions turn complex questions into usable analysis, credible strategies and practical programmes.
Grounded in food-systems experience and working globally, we help organisations move from arrangements that no longer serve them towards more sustainable systems—and leverage unexpected changes as opportunities to do new things.
Who we work with
International agencies and development organisations
Non-governmental organisations
Networks and multi-stakeholder programmes
Private sector
What we do
Support matched to
the decision at hand.
Research for informed decisions
Focused research, systematic reviews and institutional analysis that turn complex questions into evidence organisations can use.
Strategy and programme design
Strategies, programmes and scaling pathways that connect practical action with the institutional conditions needed for change.
Evaluation and learning
Reflexive monitoring and evaluation that track progress, surface trade-offs and help teams adjust as conditions change.
Alliances and evidence translation
Partnerships and focused dialogue that connect research teams, public agencies and practitioners around shared decisions.
Our starting point
Food systems connect
more than food.
Food connects the everyday with some of our biggest shared challenges. Changing how it is grown, moved, sold and consumed means working across those connections.
Climate and nature
↔ Food production
Farming depends on land, water and biodiversity—and shapes the ecosystems and climate that sustain it.
Health and wellbeing
↔ Diets and access
What is available, affordable and culturally valued shapes what people eat and their opportunities for healthier lives.
Livelihoods and equity
↔ Markets and work
Food systems sustain livelihoods. How markets and institutions work influences who earns, who benefits and who bears the risks.
Energy and transport
↔ Storage and distribution
Power, cooling and transport connect producers with consumers, influencing food loss, costs, access and emissions.
These connections are our starting point for understanding where change is needed—and which actions need to happen together.
Discover our approachOur approach
The solution to complexity is not simplicity.
It is clarity.
The complexity of food and other systems can make it hard to know where and how to act. Connections across sectors and goals, unpredictable events and uncertain trade-offs make decisions harder still.
Making things simple is appealing, but it can serve us poorly in a necessarily complex world.
We propose clarity: uncovering hidden connections, working through possible trade-offs and recognising that hard choices remain. Decisions need room for adjustment as conditions evolve.
Discover hidden connectionsFace the hard choicesKeep room to adapt
See the connections
Change rarely sits
in one place.
We look across six connected elements. Their importance—and the relationships between them—depends on the context.
Double-headed arrows show mutual influence, not a fixed sequence.
Behaviours and cultures
What people do, value and consider possible.
Technologies and practices
The activities and alternatives through which needs are met.
Markets and infrastructure
Resources, finance, services and the physical assets that enable action.
Institutions and organisational capabilities
Rules, mandates, skills and routines that shape how organisations work.
Research, evidence and learning
Which questions are asked, whose knowledge counts and how learning informs action.
Policy, governance and power
How priorities are set, influence is exercised, and benefits and costs are distributed.
Alliances
Work out who
can do what.
Transformation is not simply top-down or bottom-up. Our research examines how public agencies, researchers, communities and other actors contribute at different stages.
We identify the functions needed—from generating evidence and mobilising resources to building trust and influencing policy—and the alliances that can fill gaps between them.
Read the systematic review (opens in a new tab)Pathways
Get the sequence
and timing right.
A new practice may need infrastructure. Infrastructure may need finance. Finance may depend on policy or evidence of demand.
We identify these dependencies, helping organisations coordinate complementary actions and connect immediate decisions with longer-term directions.
Learning
Keep room
for the unexpected.
Unexpected events can disrupt plans and open new possibilities. We help teams revisit assumptions, recognise these openings and adjust as evidence and circumstances change.
Reflexive monitoring and evaluation
Learn. Adjust. Protect.
Throughout, we ask whose priorities are being pursued, who can participate and who bears the costs.
Through reflexive monitoring and evaluation, we track progress iteratively and revisit our assumptions. This helps identify trade-offs to address, adjustments to make and measures needed to protect those who bear the costs of change.
Start a conversation
Working through a difficult research or programme question?
Tell us what you are trying to achieve, the decisions you face and where you need support.
Discuss a project