Facilitating food security systems change in regional Australia through a strengths-based, co-design process

Food security is a multifaceted, 'wicked' issue that refers to the sufficient physical, social, and economic access to food at all times. Given its complexity, food security action requires a systems-based, collaborative, and adaptive approach. This paper outlines the application of a strengths-based, co-design process to support food security systems change among government and community-led initiatives operating in rural, regional, and remote areas of Western Australia. Baseline, semistructured interviews were conducted with leaders of food initiatives to understand whether and how the initiatives were contributing to food security systems change and identify the 'windows of opportunity' where initiatives could be strengthened. Participants co-designed actions to address the 'windows of opportunity' and enhance their initiatives. Six months after the co-design process, follow-up interviews were conducted to understand which actions had been implemented. Interview data were analysed thematically using NVivo. Twenty-seven initiative leaders co-designed an action plan, which included 244 actions in total. Based on the 10 six-month follow-up interviews that were conducted, 28 actions were implemented across nine initiatives. Initiative leaders were most likely to implement actions that required fewer resources and could leverage existing activities in comparison to actions that required collaborating or engaging with government representatives. To enhance food security systems change, initiative leaders require support to undertake actions related to government advocacy and collaborating with government organizations.