THP Perspective:

• Chronic hunger lies at the center of a nexus of inextricably linked issues. Only by solving these issues together can we solve any of them. (See our 1995 Essay The New Human Agenda).
• Systems thinking is critical to sustainability, resilience, gender equality and improving nutrition.
• THP was born with a systems approach. The Systems Thinking pioneer – Donella Meadows – was a member of the working group that formulated The Hunger Project and served on our board of directors from 1979 to 1992.

Image courtesy systemswiki.org

Key Interventions:

• Systems analysis – looking at the big picture, and mapping a comprehensive set of components.
• Theory of Change – mapping the sequence of outcomes that lead to the outcomes we want.
• “Theory U” – a process of collective unlearning and developing insights into complex systems

Key messages:

• A key question – “if it were working here, how would it work?”
• Recognizing and building on local capacity and local systems.

Global Campaigns and Initiatives:

• USAID Local Systems Framework

Key agencies:

• Society for Organizational Learning
• International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Key reports and data sources:

• Buckminster Fuller Synergetics.
• Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer

Must-read books:

• Donella Meadows et al, Limits to Growth (read this thoughtful review on its 40th anniversary).
• Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline.