For years, food systems transformation has been guided by shared global visions, grounded in the idea that sustainable food production and consumption are essential to a resilient, healthy and equitable future. But progress has stalled – and in some places it’s even gone into reverse.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), around 673 million people faced hunger in 2024. More than 2.3 billion experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, and 2.6 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet.

As global cooperation fragments and geopolitical tensions reshape national priorities, food systems are increasingly governed less by shared global visions such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and more by power, security, trade and finance.

In this episode of Think Change, senior leaders examine what this shift means for the future of food systems governance, exploring who shapes the rules, how competing political priorities are redefining cooperation, and what choices will determine resilience, equity and sustainability in the decade ahead.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, President & CEO, the ONE Campaign
• Maryam Rezaei, Food systems lead, Research Fellow, ODI Global
• Anna Taylor, CEO, The Food Foundation

Related resources

• Five forces reshaping food systems in 2026 (Expert comment, ODI Global)
• Politics, power, and the slow march to just agrifood systems (Expert comment, ODI Global)
• Healthy islands and islanders: towards a new paradigm for integrating climate change, food security and nutrition in Small Island Developing States (Policy brief, ODI Global)

Mobilising private capital has become central to development finance and to the future of the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) itself. In this episode of Think Change, we unpack what private capital mobilisation actually means in practice, and why it has become such a defining measure of success.

We explore the pressures facing the IFC, the changing expectations of global and institutional investors, and what’s really “in it” for the private sector as well as for development outcomes in emerging markets.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano, (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Alfonso García Mora, Vice President for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group)
• Nazmeera Moola, Chief Commercial Officer, Private Markets at Ninety One
• Martin Koehring, ODI Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Centre for Private Finance in Development

How do wars actually end, and what does it take to make peace lasting and just? What lessons has the world still not learned about how wars end?

In collaboration with Conciliation Resources, this episode reflects on what past conflicts can teach us about the pathways out of war, what current wars might tell us about the limits and possibilities of peacemaking today, and how peace processes can be designed to be not only durable but also just and inclusive.

Looking ahead, we ask: in a world of increasing geopolitical tension and fragmented global governance, how might wars end in the future, and what role can civil society, diplomacy and public engagement play in making peace possible?

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Founder and CEO, International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
• Jonathan Cohen, Executive Director, Conciliation Resources
• Claire Hajaj, Executive Director, Inter Mediate
• Jago Salmon, Principal Policy Fellow, ODI Global

This episode is dedicated to Nicholas “Fink” Haysom – a close friend and an extraordinary figure in global peacebuilding.

Over a lifetime of service, Haysom played a pivotal role in some of the world’s most complex conflicts, from supporting Nelson Mandela during South Africa’s democratic transition to leading UN missions and peace processes across Burundi, Sudan, Sri Lanka and beyond. He was widely respected not only for his expertise, but for his integrity, humility, and deep commitment to dialogue as a path to lasting peace.

For those who knew him, his loss is deeply personal. This episode honours his legacy and the values he lived by, and reflects on the responsibility to carry that work forward.