A multi-stakeholder / sector wide participatory approach was used in organizing the dialogues to ensure the principles of engagement were observed and used during stakeholder exchanges. The National dialogues were organized as follows:

1. The First Dialogue (Part 1) was 5-half days (9am to 1pm) Focus Group sessions based on the Food Systems Summit’s 5 Action Tracks. Each group had 10-15 persons from relevant Government agencies, private sector, farmers and fishers’ organizations, civil society, and research organizations and academia.

The aim of the first dialogue was to consider the initial set of ideas for game-changing and systemic solutions to achieve the goals of the 5 Action Tracks of the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in the context of Samoa.

The focus groups had a good mixture of technical, development practitioners, policy, women, youth and business people. Guiding questions were used to steer the discussion in an informal setting to allow for more open exchanges. The groups were tasked to identify gaps/challenges, solutions and areas of divergence based on a rapid assessment of the current situation of Samoa’s food system.

The focus groups were also used to select facilitators and notetakers for the second dialogue, given that they have now been sensitized and introduced to the Food System concept and how it builds on existing national systems, recent review of Samoa’s SDGs and relevant policies and sector plans that shape a sustainable food system pathway for Samoa.

2. The Second Dialogue (Part 2) was a half day (9am to 1.30pm) with an expected audience of 70-100 participants. A briefing session for facilitators and notetakers was held a day before the dialogue. A dialogue package was provided for information and to assist facilitators and notetakers. The package contained the following:
3. Facilitator guidelines, guiding questions and running sheet.
4. Notetaker’s template 

The discussion groups for the second dialogue were divided into 5 thematic areas – Government /  Private Sector / Farmers and Fishers Organizations / Civil Society / Research Organisations and Academia. Guiding questions developed from the FSS’s 5 action tracks were grafted for each of the groups.

3. The Third Dialogue (Part 3) was a half day (9am to 12.00pm) dialogue with development partners. This was an open dialogue between key national actors of the food system in Samoa (government, private sector and civil society) and key development partners (e.g. DFAT, China, MFAT New Zealand). This was important given that a lot of the development programs/projects in Samoa are implemented with technical and financial assistances from donor/development partners.

This was a plenary format session with participants provided with a Synthesis Report (analyzing the current status of the food systems in Samoa) and an outcome report of the national dialogue based on the completion of First and Second Dialogues (as mentioned above). Key findings from these reports were used as the basis to inform the dialogue, with room provided to explore any areas not coveted in the reports and the previous two dialogues.