UN SDG influence maps:
Zero hunger
29th March 2021
Zero hunger
Primary influencer types: Raisers, experts
Network profile: Dispersed conversations
Overall, it’s a rather sparse map with various organisations, charities, academics and experts holding influence in this field. We see a few different clusters of conversations in this map, each with an influential account leading the discussion of zero hunger. These distinct clusters intersect at times with each other, but there isn’t a singular dominant account connecting these conversations. Instead, we see clusters form around niches within zero hunger and individuals or organisations holding influence within specific topics.
For example, in discussions of water sanitation, UN Water, Sanitation and Water for All and Henk Ovink (Special Envoy for International Water Affairs) seem to be influential within the light purple cluster. Connected closely to these accounts, the light green cluster overlaps with accounts related agricultural development, food security and sustainability. Here, it’s mostly humanitarian organisations, charities and research institutes, including International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), CGIAR, IPES Food, WFO, USAID, World Fish, World Bank and International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
It seems that these discussions may have been sparked from tweets from UN Food Systems Summit 2021 - the account at the centre of the light green cluster - with a few universities and departments linked to this: Biology at York, City University of London and its School of Health Sciences, for example. Below this, a distinct group of academics, experts and individuals working with the UN forms adjacent to the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES Food).
The disparate nature of conversations in this map speaks to the potentially disconnected nature of the research areas covered by this goal. The UN itself includes topics such as “sustainable development”, “food commodity markets” and “rural infrastructure” under this heading - all related to each other, but perhaps not as closely connected as might be hoped.
The high number of organisational accounts involved in the conversation around the UN Food Systems Summit is evidence of something we often see in these maps - the Twitter “back channel” of real-world events can often generate wider interest in a topic that might otherwise have been quite insular.
Recommendations
If you’ve got work to communicate in any of the zero hunger areas, it appears that connecting the different conversations is a way to reach a wider audience. Consider how you might be able to share your work with related organisations or academics so that you can push outside what might be your immediate sphere.
Consider asking academics to share content, either through their own posts or by amplifying an institutional post. Their networks are likely to include individuals who will promote the content further.
Events are clearly an opportunity to reach an interconnected network, so make sure you’re keeping an eye on those conversations for any immediate or future opportunities to join in.
Next up
We’ll be creating more influencer maps on this topic and the other 17 Sustainable Development Goals over time, so stay tuned for the next update, and visit the maps section to explore the other topics.
If you are interested in uncovering the key influencers and communities in a certain field or topic, get in touch to talk through your ideas.
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