SHAPE Policy Lab in Philippines
SHAPE Asia Policy Lab Advances Action on Healthier Food Retail and Marketing in the Philippines
SHAPE Asia convened a Policy Lab titled “Shaping Food Environments: Policy Dialogues on Food Retail and Marketing in the Philippines” on October 14, 2025, bringing together government agencies, researchers, civil society, and development partners to address one of the most pressing public health challenges today: transforming food environments to support healthier diets.
Held in Manila, the Policy Lab was designed not as a conventional dialogue, but as a space to move from discussion toward actionable, evidence-informed policy solutions. It focused on how food retail and marketing practices shape consumption patterns, particularly in the context of rising obesity, undernutrition, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases in the Philippines.
From Dialogue to Action
Facilitated by Dr. Elaine Borazon, the session emphasized the need to shift beyond fragmented discussions toward coordinated policy action. As highlighted during the dialogue, the objective was not to introduce entirely new frameworks, but to strengthen, align, and scale existing efforts. This reflects a critical policy insight: many challenges in food environments are not due to a lack of policies, but rather gaps in coordination, implementation, and accessibility at the local level. Participants worked collectively to identify policy gaps, align strategies across sectors, and explore practical solutions that can be implemented within existing systems.
A Multi-Sector Platform for Policy Alignment
The Policy Lab brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives from the Department of Health, National Nutrition Council, DOST-FNRI, UNICEF Philippines, local government units, civil society organizations, and development partners. This diversity of actors was not incidental. It reflects the structural reality that food environments are shaped by multiple systems, including health, agriculture, trade, and local governance. As such, policy coherence across these domains is essential.
Discussions highlighted the importance of:
Strengthening cross-sector collaboration
Co-creating practical and locally relevant solutions
Aligning national policies with local implementation realities
Advancing inclusive and sustainable approaches to food systems
A shared vision emerged across agencies: the need to create a healthier, well-nourished population through enabling food environments rather than relying solely on individual behavior change.
Critical Policy Tensions: Industry, Evidence, and Implementation
The dialogue surfaced several structural challenges that continue to shape food policy in the Philippines. One key issue is the need for stronger evidence on how food marketing influences consumption, particularly among children. Local government representatives emphasized that without context-specific research, regulatory action remains limited. At the same time, participants acknowledged the complexity of balancing public health goals with economic and industry considerations. This includes navigating resistance, ensuring feasibility for implementation, and maintaining policy coherence across institutions with differing mandates. A recurring insight was that policy effectiveness depends not only on design, but on how well policies are communicated, coordinated, and enforced.
Equity and Gender in Food Environments
The discussion also brought forward an often underexamined dimension of food policy: gender and equity. Representatives from the Philippine Commission on Women highlighted that food retail systems are closely linked to women’s livelihoods. With a significant proportion of food vendors being women, policy shifts in food retail and marketing have direct socioeconomic implications. This raises an important consideration for policymakers: efforts to improve food environments must also account for equity, ensuring that reforms do not disproportionately burden small-scale, women-led enterprises.
Learning Across Regions
Insights from Madiha Ahmed of the International Development Research Centre reinforced that the challenges discussed are not unique to the Philippines. Similar patterns are observed across Asia, Africa, and other regions, particularly in the rise of ultra-processed foods and the difficulty of translating evidence into enforceable policy. At the same time, this convergence of challenges creates an opportunity. Cross-country learning can accelerate progress by allowing policymakers to draw on tested approaches, avoid common pitfalls, and adapt solutions to local contexts.
From Commitments to Implementation
The Policy Lab concluded with a clear emphasis on moving toward implementation. Participants identified several actionable directions, including: strengthening dissemination and monitoring of existing policies; enhancing nutrition education and public awareness; supporting local government initiatives, including procurement and school-based programs; and exploring policy harmonization across agencies.
A key takeaway was that progress does not necessarily require new policies, but more effective use of those already in place. SHAPE Asia will continue to work with partners to support follow-up initiatives, including collaborative research, technical assistance, and pilot interventions with local governments. As a regional network, SHAPE Asia plays a catalytic role in connecting research, policy, and practice across countries. The Policy Lab in the Philippines demonstrates how multi-stakeholder dialogue can serve as a foundation for more coordinated and context-responsive policy action.
As emphasized in the closing reflection, the goal is not to replace existing efforts, but to amplify and align them. Building healthier food environments requires sustained collaboration, grounded evidence, and a shared commitment to translating policy into practice.
SHAPE Asia convened a Policy Lab titled “Shaping Food Environments: Policy Dialogues on Food Retail and Marketing in the Philippines” on October 14, 2025, bringing together government agencies, researchers, civil society, and development partners to address one of the most pressing public health challenges today: transforming food environments to support healthier diets.
Held in Manila, the Policy Lab was designed not as a conventional dialogue, but as a space to move from discussion toward actionable, evidence-informed policy solutions. It focused on how food retail and marketing practices shape consumption patterns, particularly in the context of rising obesity, undernutrition, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases in the Philippines.
From Dialogue to Action
Facilitated by Dr. Elaine Borazon, the session emphasized the need to shift beyond fragmented discussions toward coordinated policy action. As highlighted during the dialogue, the objective was not to introduce entirely new frameworks, but to strengthen, align, and scale existing efforts. This reflects a critical policy insight: many challenges in food environments are not due to a lack of policies, but rather gaps in coordination, implementation, and accessibility at the local level. Participants worked collectively to identify policy gaps, align strategies across sectors, and explore practical solutions that can be implemented within existing systems.
A Multi-Sector Platform for Policy Alignment
The Policy Lab brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives from the Department of Health, National Nutrition Council, DOST-FNRI, UNICEF Philippines, local government units, civil society organizations, and development partners. This diversity of actors was not incidental. It reflects the structural reality that food environments are shaped by multiple systems, including health, agriculture, trade, and local governance. As such, policy coherence across these domains is essential.
Discussions highlighted the importance of:
Strengthening cross-sector collaboration
Co-creating practical and locally relevant solutions
Aligning national policies with local implementation realities
Advancing inclusive and sustainable approaches to food systems
A shared vision emerged across agencies: the need to create a healthier, well-nourished population through enabling food environments rather than relying solely on individual behavior change.
Critical Policy Tensions: Industry, Evidence, and Implementation
The dialogue surfaced several structural challenges that continue to shape food policy in the Philippines. One key issue is the need for stronger evidence on how food marketing influences consumption, particularly among children. Local government representatives emphasized that without context-specific research, regulatory action remains limited. At the same time, participants acknowledged the complexity of balancing public health goals with economic and industry considerations. This includes navigating resistance, ensuring feasibility for implementation, and maintaining policy coherence across institutions with differing mandates. A recurring insight was that policy effectiveness depends not only on design, but on how well policies are communicated, coordinated, and enforced.
Equity and Gender in Food Environments
The discussion also brought forward an often underexamined dimension of food policy: gender and equity. Representatives from the Philippine Commission on Women highlighted that food retail systems are closely linked to women’s livelihoods. With a significant proportion of food vendors being women, policy shifts in food retail and marketing have direct socioeconomic implications. This raises an important consideration for policymakers: efforts to improve food environments must also account for equity, ensuring that reforms do not disproportionately burden small-scale, women-led enterprises.
Learning Across Regions
Insights from Madiha Ahmed of the International Development Research Centre reinforced that the challenges discussed are not unique to the Philippines. Similar patterns are observed across Asia, Africa, and other regions, particularly in the rise of ultra-processed foods and the difficulty of translating evidence into enforceable policy. At the same time, this convergence of challenges creates an opportunity. Cross-country learning can accelerate progress by allowing policymakers to draw on tested approaches, avoid common pitfalls, and adapt solutions to local contexts.
From Commitments to Implementation
The Policy Lab concluded with a clear emphasis on moving toward implementation. Participants identified several actionable directions, including: strengthening dissemination and monitoring of existing policies; enhancing nutrition education and public awareness; supporting local government initiatives, including procurement and school-based programs; and exploring policy harmonization across agencies.
A key takeaway was that progress does not necessarily require new policies, but more effective use of those already in place. SHAPE Asia will continue to work with partners to support follow-up initiatives, including collaborative research, technical assistance, and pilot interventions with local governments. As a regional network, SHAPE Asia plays a catalytic role in connecting research, policy, and practice across countries. The Policy Lab in the Philippines demonstrates how multi-stakeholder dialogue can serve as a foundation for more coordinated and context-responsive policy action.
As emphasized in the closing reflection, the goal is not to replace existing efforts, but to amplify and align them. Building healthier food environments requires sustained collaboration, grounded evidence, and a shared commitment to translating policy into practice.
