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Food Security - Breakout Session Room 5 Partnerships with respect to NFPs and levels of government working together to resolve food insecurity issues that are in Toronto: Vulnerable groups and people who are really in need of support (data to drive decision making; understanding where vulnerabilities lie and where the gaps are) Looking in the future, food banks are not viable future - we need better tracking of food insecurity and replace this with income security - Canada needs a basic guaranteed income Food is a basic right - access, grow, and share their food; public gardens and use public ... قراءة المزيدspaces (community gardens and space, indoor production; opportunity to get municipal government involved) Many first nations are without accessible and appropriate food Many food systems create waste and infrastructure are needed to prevent waste People know how to grow food and add to the F&V options: The opportunity to train more people into agriculture Looking at accessibility and affordability where there is greater yield without GMOs Opportunity for the agriculture sector: The use of the land and with the reduction of animal agriculture the feed could be channeled to feed people قراءة القليل

La thématique abordée ce jour a porté sur « Passer à des modèles de consommation durables ». Elle a été examinée sous trois (3) axes majeurs : 1. Promotion de l’inter connectivité des parties prenantes / Développement des chaines de valeur : il s’agissait de déterminer les moyens à mettre en œuvre pour aboutir à une inter connectivité des acteurs du secteur agricole, pour développer les chaines de valeur des produits locaux de façon durable et soutenir la distribution des produits alimentaires sur l’ensemble du territoire national. 2. Promotion des circuits courts d’... قراءة المزيدapprovisionnement : il a été question d’identifier les difficultés d’approvisionnement et de distribution des semences, du matériel végétal, des engrais, du matériel agricole et des pesticides. La quasi-totalité des intrants agricoles sont importés. Il n’existe plus de centres de production et de multiplication de matériel végétal et des semences. Les principaux agriculteurs n’ont pas accès à de semences de qualité à haut rendement. Cette situation crée des dépendances vis-à-vis de l’étranger pour leur approvisionnement. En matière d’élevage, l’accès à l’aliment pour bétail constitue le principal point bloquant qui affecte négativement le circuit d’approvisionnement et donc la production. L’indisponibilité des matières premières utilisables pour fabriquer l’aliment pour bétail est persistante du fait des difficultés rencontrées auprès des différents départements ministériels intervenant dans le processus d’importation. 3. Renforcement de l’agriculture familiale : la problématique a tourné autour des modalités d’accompagnement des familles installées autour des Zones Agricoles à forte Productivité (ZAP) et qui cultivent sur des terres ancestrales. Quels sont les mécanismes prévus par l’Etat pour les former à une agriculture sédentaire et commerciale ? قراءة القليل

Des principales conclusions qui ont émergé des discussions, il ressort ce qui suit : - L’Etat doit reconnaitre formellement l’agriculture familiale, comme acteur important du développement du secteur agricole. ll doit investir dans ce secteur et mettre en place tous les moyens techniques et financiers ainsi qu’un renforcement de capacités pour rendre cette agriculture résiliente. - Il est indispensable pour les autorités de faire œuvre de pédagogie auprès des acteurs du secteur agricole, en diffusant toute la réglementation en vigueur, surtout auprès des organisations paysanne... قراءة المزيدs agricoles, des populations autochtones, des communautés locales et des multinationales qui très souvent ignorent la teneur de ces textes juridiques. - Pour disposer de données météorologiques permettant aux exploitants agricoles d’adapter leurs systèmes culturaux, le Ministère de l’Agriculture et celui des Transports (la Direction Générale de la Météo nationale) doivent développer un partenariat, avec le recours de l’expertise de l’ASECNA, afin de permettre l’installation de stations agro-climatiques dans les plantations ; - les zones rurales sont désertées par les jeunes. L’agriculture dans ces zones est pratiquée essentiellement par les femmes et les jeunes, il est primordial que l’Etat mette en place des mécanismes pour rendre attractive l’agriculture dans ces zones et promouvoir le retour à la terre ; - Le conflit homme-faune persiste dans les communautés rurales et constitue un frein pour la pratique de l’agriculture. L’Etat doit donc y apporter une solution durable, notamment en prévoyant le dédommagement des familles lorsque les plantations sont dévastées par les animaux ; - Les moyens de production des exploitants doivent être renforcés notamment en augmentant l’accès aux superficies suffisantes de terres, aux semences surtout les variétés locales, aux équipements et machines agricoles. قراءة القليل

Résultats spécifiques du sujet de discussion 1 : « Promotion de l’inter connectivité des parties prenantes / Développement des chaines de valeur » : - Etablir une cartographie des marchés et renforcer les infrastructures routières ; - Créer une chambre nationale d’agriculture pour organiser les filières et les interprofessions ; - Renforcer les capacités opérationnelles et managériales des producteurs ; - Créer des unités de transformation artisanale couvrant la chaine de valeur agricole ; - Procéder au contrôle de la qualité des produits et de la répression des fraudes.... قراءة المزيد Résultats spécifiques du sujet de discussion 2 : « Promotion des circuits courts d’approvisionnement » - Se regrouper en coopératives ; - Créer et Installer des centres de production et de multiplication et d’achat des plants des semences végétales animales halieutique et cynégétiques ; - Mettre l’accent sur la recherche/développement pour une agriculture biologique respectueuse de l’environnement ; - Mettre en place un centre de tri et de traitement des déchets ménagers et alimentaires en vue de valoriser la matière organique ; - Produire les matières premières utilisées dans la production de l’aliment pour bétail ; - Favoriser la multiplication des ZAP ; - Mettre en place une plateforme d’échanges entre les industriels et les agriculteurs pour utiliser les résidus de leur production (drèche, mélasse…) ; - Créer des marchés agricoles locaux. Résultats spécifiques du sujet de discussion3 : « Renforcement de l’agriculture familiale » - Renforcer l’agriculture familiale autour des forêts communautaires en prenant des textes d’application en vue de sécuriser les acquis des populations rurales et les peuples autochtones dans les zones d’activités agricoles et les zones de finage identifiées dans la règlementation forestière ; - Promouvoir à travers la formation et la recherche en agroforesterie la sédentarisation des acteurs de l’agriculture familiale ; - Organiser et valoriser les filières ; - Renforcer les capacités des services déconcentrés ; - Vulgariser les productions des végétaux qui vont favoriser le développement de la filière élevage ; - Caractériser, promouvoir et protéger les espèces locales ; - Prendre en compte les droits des populations Autochtones, des femmes et des personnes vivant avec un handicap dans les questions d’accès à la terre ; - Appuyer l’agriculture familiale dans la disponibilité des intrants, la vulgarisation de la petite mécanisation et améliorer les pistes agricoles pour mieux écouler les productions ; - Prendre en compte les jeunes, les personnes vivant avec un handicap et l’autonomisation des femmes ; - Encadrer et former les agriculteurs en vue d’améliorer l’agriculture familiale ; - Améliorer le cadre de vie des acteurs de l’agriculture familiale ; - Appuyer l’Agriculture Familiale à travers des financements issus des grandes entreprises exerçant dans les zones agricoles concernées قراءة القليل

The main part of the dialogue was the exchange in the discussion groups. The main findings, experiences and recommendations from the group discussions are captured below. However, as a main conclusion all participants agreed that the participatory and inclusive coalition building process under the UNFSS is a promising step to generate the momentum for identifying and supporting initiatives to bring about the food systems transformation needed to create employment opportunities for rural youth, particularly in agri-food systems and emerging green sectors and to support the empowerment of youth ... قراءة المزيدto productively contribute to and benefit from sustainable rural livelihoods. It is important to hear the voices of youth themselves in terms of what they want to happen if they are to be involved in the agri-food sector. It is important to ensure to transform Africa’s rural economies to provide more and better jobs for rural youth and particularly young women. Investing in young people is key for rejuvenating and improving the performance of the agri-food sector. Therefore, it is important, also in the further process of the UNFSS, to further consolidate the game changers and solution clusters and strike out the focus on youth – not only as a crosscutting issue but as a key line of intervention. قراءة القليل

Discussion topic: How to strengthen youth capacities and skills for inclusion in food systems development and productive activities (wage or self-employment, in and off farm)? The open floor discussion was based on guiding questions with the following inputs gathered: 1. What works in rural skills development for sustainable food system transformation? • Real political participation from the local to the national level, even in international processes (UNFSS, climate negotiations, international trade) instead of having side events with youth at the child table. • Major challenge is sustain... قراءة المزيدability of agriculture as a business: how to keep youth in the business and make good gains out of it, despite the ups and downs. Financial management skills are key: record and bookkeeping, profit investment, not just how to make money but also how to use it without wasting it. • Entrepreneurial skills are also important to build strong partnerships in the system (e.g. potential clients to sell your harvest). • Skills to access and find relevant information related to their work in the agricultural sector are also needed • Youth want quick returns, so to encourage them to engage in agriculture we need: 1) short term varieties of crops (like vegetables that grow quickly and have higher value); 2) value addition. 2. How to expand access to quality education and vocational training and make it more effective for rural youth? • Increase collaboration of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Agriculture to develop to develop national curriculum. • Including agriculture in secondary school curriculum would be effective so by the time of entering university young people have agricultural knowledge. • Community service (internship-like) to go and work in agricultural institutions for some 3 months and would give the youth practical skills. 3. How to ensure young women have access to education and training and the opportunity to use their knowledge and skills productively in the food system? • Prepare teachers to give good school and career advice to girls and have strong role models. Project-based learning with established women entrepreneurs as mentors. This influences motivation but also equips young women with better networks and services if they choose to venture in agriculture. • Ensure participation quotas for women in learning opportunities (despite the larger numbers of male applicants) and empower young women champions as mentors and service providers to other youth. 4. Which capacities and skills do rural youth need to actively shape the food system transformation? (poll result) a. Business/entrepreneurial skills (e.g. business planning, marketing, financial literacy) b. Soft skills (e.g. teamwork, problem-solving) c. Technical skills (e.g. mechanical skills, cultivating) d. Green skills (e.g. recycle, energy efficient process, waste management, climate smart agriculture) e. Leadership skills (e.g. decision-making, communication/advocacy skills, knowledge of political processes) f. Digital skills (e.g. digital security, data management, online learning) g. Other (risk management) قراءة القليل

Discussion topic: How to unpack the opportunities and constraints for youth in local food system models to take off and respond to local and regional food demands? The open floor discussion was based on guiding questions with the following inputs gathered: 1. The development of downstream activities (food processing and marketing) of the agrifood value chain is stalling in many sub-Saharan African countries. What would be the one knot that needs to be untangled to make the agro-food industry bring more value added to the economy and create decent jobs? Although participants generally agreed th... قراءة المزيدat there are many relevant and context specific constraints, three constraints emerged as priorities: 1. Infrastructure and market linkages, 2. Lack of or inadequate quality standards 3. Access to financing. The first and second constraints were jointly emphasized as challenges to possibilities for youth to link up with downstream segments and move into higher value-added production. 2. What local food market models are working well that reconcile economic, social and environmental objectives? Participants shared various business models that were successful in their experience. These ranged from public sector support and coordination to private sector involvement, as well as multiple stakeholder approaches, namely those stressing the linkages between youth farmers and agribusinesses and the conditions necessary to enable this. Some examples: The Sholi coffee cooperative in Rwanda: A women-led cooperative that produces coffee for export and sells own-branded products in large retailers. This example of more direct forms of trade allows farmers to capture more value addition and higher price returns. FAO’s project on beans in Mozambique (jointly with UNIDO and IFAD): In spite of local production and demand for local products, supermarkets were supplying imported beans. The project aimed to improve quality standards for bean producers by putting in place processing equipment in areas where youth cooperatives and organizations were active, and by facilitating the implementation of rural infrastructure. GIZ Nigeria’s Green Innovation Centers Project- Cassava chip production The project aimed to improve productivity and employment of farmers through trainings on business and agro-entrepreneurship skills. It focused on organizing and supporting farmer groups and cooperatives and linking them to private sector actors and institutions. SNV Push-Match-Pull Model This model emphasizes the role of the private sector as it is crucial in providing market access and facilitating access to financial resources. It also looks at the role of the public sector as providing an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and economic development. 3. What are the key success factors? How do market models consider economic, social and environmental impact (e.g. livelihoods of producers, environmental footprint, job creation for rural youth)? The main success factors for these models to take off include establishing rural infrastructure, enhancing storage capacities and improving technologies and processing equipment to meet quality standards of large retailers and exporters and move into higher value production. Key to the success of these upgrading efforts was a multistakeholder approach channelling the capacities of the private sector. This consisted of: 1) joining up youth groups and cooperatives with agro-businesses to facilitate access to processing equipment, market linkage facilities, and loans, 2) linking youth to relevant business opportunities and 3) and develop the appropriate skillset, through private or public training, for rural youth employment. Public sector involvement was also raised as a critical success factor, e.g. by providing an enabling regulatory environment for entrepreneurship and facilitating private sector-farmer partnerships as well as the need to organize and strengthen farmer cooperatives. Finally, it is important to identify models that are relatively low risk, require low investment and provide quick returns, especially for those youth groups that don’t have the access to financing. قراءة القليل

Discussion topic: How to accelerate action for more & better jobs for rural youth? The open floor discussion was based on guiding questions with the following inputs gathered: 1. What would be the priority actions that should be taken to promote more and better jobs? a) In terms of knowledge generation? The ‘Job-Agri’ (https://www.ilo.org/emppolicy/pubs/WCMS_762511/lang--en/index.htm) project aims for knowledge generation on the quality and quantity of labour in agriculture and agri-food value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. The ILO, FAO and IFAD have together conceptualized this initiat... قراءة المزيدive for bridging the knowledge gap on the precise type and quality of jobs which could be generated by various agro-food models in different type of settings. b) In terms of policy & programming support? • Building ownership with the governments and RECs can escalate initiatives beyond knowledge sharing and technical collaboration, to bring about programmatic change. “Decent Jobs for Youth” (https://www.decentjobsforyouth.org/) is an example of such an initiative. • Putting more programmatic attention to improving conditions of waged youth workers in agri-food systems. • More attention and investment in social dialogue to ease the challenges faced by waged workers in agri-food value chains. • Attention to decent wage employment is important, focus on entrepreneurship is crucial to generate sufficient jobs to accommodate the scale of young people entering the market. • Collaboration among stakeholders needs to be strengthened. The coalition building process under the UNFSS is a promising step to generate the momentum for supporting such initiatives, including Decent Jobs for Youth, to bring about the change needed. c) In terms of capacity development? • The Agripreneurship Alliance (https://www.theagripreneur.org/) has developed a training programme on entrepreneurship in agri-business, covering all the steps needed to run an agri-business. • Youth Business International (https://www.youthbusiness.org/) has developed a curriculum specifically for young people starting business. Making a business case for inclusivity in supply chains can ensure the buy-in of the private sector. 2. What are the major challenges that could be encountered in advancing towards the implementation of these priorities? • Connectivity and power cuts are two of the most severe challenges for conducting trainings in rural areas. • Connecting the challenge of digital access with inclusivity, organizations are struggling with inclusivity of digital technology, not only in terms of how to reach people in terms of internet access, but how to make the technology itself inclusive too • ‘Human centred digitalization’ in agri-food systems can help ensuring existing divides are not deepened and new divides are not created. • Initiatives by young people are at risk of operating in silos and serving as ‘small islands of brilliance’. • Lack of ‘inclusivity’ is a major cross-cutting challenge and while focusing on agency and potential of young entrepreneurs, young people in waged employment need to be kept under consideration too. • Formal education systems are unable to meet the rapidly changing, dynamic needs of the market. • Young people are coping through pluralistic models such as extension and advisory services, that in many respects, bridge the education gap, with young people becoming both the providers and recipients of services. 3. Which stakeholders are key? What would be their role? • Youth organizations and networks are critical but rarely engage in governance making processes, usually due to limited capacity and representation. Young people working in the sector can become lighthouses to inspire others. When a market-systems or value chain approaches is adopted, it is important to observe case studies from territories, to understand the role of the youth. • There is an increasing interest in agriculture from young people from engineering, technology and scientific backgrounds. It would be interesting to include universities providing such programmes in the ongoing discussions as that’s where innovation often emanates from. قراءة القليل

The Independent Dialogue was centred around the urgent need of a food system transformation. The challenges of youth in the food system are on-going and the need for action is based on the contemporary situation for youth in developing areas. The dialogue was committed to the summit with a clear motivation to feed back to the FSS structure by using game changers proposed to the summit as a backdrop and framework for the dialogue. The objective was also to find potential partners for further collaborations and potential coalitions going forward with the summit structure. The Dialogue highlighte... قراءة المزيدd issues affecting rural youth and gathered inputs for Game Changer solutions for decent jobs creation for rural youth in food systems. First, a round of opening statements by the TWG co-chairs, a youth representative from Malawi as well as representatives from AUC and the UNFSS, set the scene. The event was centred around two game-changing solutions that were selected under AT1 and AT4. They were chosen based on their focus on youth and presented by representatives of the organisations that submitted the game changer prepositions: 1. Launch of a coalition for youth in African Agriculture (Nourishing Africa, AT1) 2. Empowering youth as innovators and change makers for sustainable food systems (FAO, AT4) In the following breakout groups session participants exchanged experiences, gathered best practice examples and concrete recommendations as input to the presented Game Changers focusing on the following aspects: How to boost youth agency to actively participate and coordinate action in food systems and their governance mechanisms through partnerships & networks? How to strengthen youth capacities and skills for inclusion in food systems development and productive activities (wage or self-employment, in and off farm)? How to unpack the opportunities and constraints for youth in local food system models to take off and respond to local and regional food demands? How to connect youth with opportunities in sustainable food systems by promoting more and better jobs? قراءة القليل

The 2nd SFS-MED Independent Food Systems Summit Dialogue had the aim to continue advancing a common understanding of the complex environment of Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) for coping with the growing and interdependent challenges facing the Mediterranean, through a context-specific SFS approach for the region. In the Mediterranean region, population growth, demographic changes, urbanization and globalization are changing consumption and production patterns, in a context of climate change and decline of ecosystems. Today, more than ever, the region is facing unprecedented and interconnected ... قراءة المزيدenvironmental, economic and social challenges that affect food security, health, nutrition, sustainability, and, thus, the livelihoods of all people across the Mediterranean. Building on the findings of the 1st SFS-MED Dialogue held on 27 April, the focus of this Dialogue was to identify what is needed to enable the actions and the entry points identified in the first one, to foster common pathways supporting the transformation towards sustainability of food systems in the Mediterranean, and ultimately advancing progress on the 2030 Agenda in the region. The objectives of the 2nd SFS-MED Dialogue were: • Catalysing joint action to improve the sustainability, understanding and resilience of Mediterranean food systems by bridging Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), using the Mediterranean diet as a lever of change, among others. • Engaging a wide network of SFS stakeholders within the broader framework of green, blue and circular economy, with the SFS-MED Platform playing a key role in strengthening regional cooperation at the service of Mediterranean youth and women, to accelerate the regional implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Food system transformation in the Mediterranean region is a very complex and dynamic process, that requires to consider sustainable food systems as a whole, rather than in separate pieces, going beyond disciplinary approaches and silos. Moreover, policy-makers are constrained to take into consideration a web of interconnected and interdependent components, within a decision-making environment concerning food systems is very fragmented, with a wide range of voices from different interest groups and agendas, with diverse institutional and agro-ecological constraints in countries and territories on all shores of the Mediterranean. One of the key objectives of this dialogue was to explore how the Food Systems Summit Dialogues process has been initiated in Mediterranean countries. To this effect, the Member State Dialogues Convenors of Albania, Egypt, France, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey engaged in a roundtable entitled “Moving towards more sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean region” to identify the constraints faced in their countries in pushing this process forward, and to highlight new opportunities for greater regional cooperation across the Mediterranean, emerging from the discussions at national level. Before the roundtable, the Minister of Agriculture of Jordan, National Convenor for his country, delivered a keynote speech highlighting the main challenges Jordan is facing in relation to food systems transformation. The dialogue was then articulated in three discussions panels, each addressing a potential lever of change: • Partnerships for sustainable food systems: the role of multi-stakeholder collaboration and inclusive governance. • Financing for sustainable food systems: leveraging public and private investments. • Building awareness and capacities for food systems transformation. The Dialogue’s focus on strengthening trans-disciplinary regional cooperation also helped setting the stage for the inception of the “SFS-MED Platform”, a multi-stakeholder initiative currently under co-development by CIHEAM, FAO and UfMS, as an affiliated project of the OPN-SFSP, conceived as a game-changing solution for tackling the interdependent environmental, economic, socio-cultural, educational and health/nutrition-related challenges Mediterranean countries are facing, ultimately accelerating progress on the 2030 Agenda in the region. قراءة القليل

The need of a change of route in Mediterranean food systems was recognized by all participating stakeholders, including representatives of national governments. Such crucial change requires a consolidated multi-stakeholder cooperation at 360° at regional level to be implemented efficiently and effectively. The centrality of food systems transformation (FST) to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and all 17 SDGs was reaffirmed. The Mediterranean region and its food systems are not exempted from the several challenges facing global food systems. Effects of climate change are negatively impacting... قراءة المزيد all countries in the region at several levels. Desertification, land degradation, water scarcity trigger rural-urban migration and population growth, leading to an increase in food demand, affecting consumption and production patterns that, in turn, contribute to the over-exploitation of natural resources and biodiversity loss. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the already precarious situation. The FSS process was seen as a timely opportunity to consolidate such efforts. Most countries are already reflecting on their own food systems and potential pathways for transformation through national FSS Dialogues, while looking at regional cooperation as a source of new ideas and a catalyst of transformative actions. All stakeholders concurred that a regional approach, such as the one taken with these SFS-MED Dialogues, was of essence and highly useful to support pathways for SFS in the region. The discussions confirmed the outcomes of the first SFS-MED Dialogue, i.e. that actions conducive to FST in the Mediterranean pivot around the following entry points: blue, green and circular economy; sustainable management of land and water resources; the Mediterranean diet as a potential model of sustainability; the centrality of cities and rural-urban food systems; equitable livelihoods. In the second Dialogue, 4 key levers of change emerged as potential enablers for FST in the region: multi-stakeholder partnerships; sustainable finance and investments; science, data and innovation; education, capacity building and awareness raising. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are key to provide an arena for dialogue, based on equal footing among stakeholders, co-ownership, co-management and co-funding, to avoid power imbalances and top-down dynamics. Such processes, backed by the existing mechanisms (UNFSS, EU-F2F, etc) and building on science-based recommendations (CFS, HLPE, etc) and local knowledge, could help identify common priorities, set strategic integrated goals, pushing FST forward at national and regional level. Equitable and inclusive partnerships have the potential of fostering inclusive governance and effective policy-making, which is key to generate transformative change, coupled with sustainable finance and capacity building. Underfunding emerged as a common key issue during the discussions. An inclusive multi-stakeholder approach to strengthen the linkages between private and public finance is needed, supporting small-holders by making investments in SFS more attractive (de-risking), including through innovation and digitalization, following the patterns of a green, blue and circular economy. Development banks play an important role in this interface. Economic, social and environmental standards and labelling/certification schemes could be functional to putting consumers’ demand at the centre. Stakeholders recalled that only political will can foster sustainable finance and investments, key to FST. FST starts locally, involving all stakeholders, who must be enabled to take part in this process. Effective capacity building is needed, linking researchers and innovators to the beneficiaries (farmers/fishers/foresters, investors, etc), fostering the development of skills and inclusive entrepreneurship, especially for women and youth. This needs a strong policy pull from governments and an enabling environment where all parties cooperate equally under a shared vision embracing everyone’s requirements (e.g. policy labs). Capacity building is key to overcome the risk of smallholders seeing sustainability only as a bureaucratic burden. All stakeholders agreed in recognising the importance and the necessity of a strong regional cooperation, through a shared approach to SFS. To this effect, the SFS-MED Platform was welcomed as an ideal tool to bring together stakeholders from all shores of the Mediterranean, fostering dialogue at several levels to leverage the potential of local knowledge and data sharing, exchanges of best practices, to catalyse knowledge and collective action for more SFS. The Platform shall build on the existing frameworks present in the Mediterranean region, complementing and integrating them through a shared, context-specific SFS approach in which stakeholders can rely on mutual support. The two Dialogues provided a clear way forward to continue supporting the efforts that countries and stakeholders are engaging across the whole region to move towards more sustainable food systems. The follow-up process on the FSS outcomes beyond Sep 2021 and their concrete application at local, national and regional level will allow continuing on that “change of route”, as it emerged from the discussions in the two regional Dialogues. The SFS-MED Platform was called to play its role supporting such FST pathways, by catalysing different initiatives/mechanisms and identifying concrete collaborative solutions to common challenges hindering food systems in the region. قراءة القليل

In the roundtable session, Member State Dialogue Convenors from 9 Mediterranean countries had the unique opportunity to share their perspectives and approaches to food systems transformation, explaining how the National Dialogues have facilitated setting their priority goals and actions to build sustainable food systems based on an inclusive understanding of current challenges and potential solutions. The dialogues proved to be a valuable opportunity to strengthen understanding and collaboration among national and Mediterranean actors on data, science, innovation, sharing of best practices and... قراءة المزيد experiences. Opening the dialogues to different stakeholders (institutional & private actors, NGOs, academia & research institutions, local authorities, financial operators, etc) at national & subnational levels was highlighted as a success factor in moving forward. The National Convenors explained how the Dialogues process helped identify many of the common challenges their countries face on many levels (environmental, social, economic, health-related), such as water and resources scarcity, climate change effects (e.g. desertification), increasing urbanization, high dependency on food imports, insufficient funding, prevalence of unhealthy and unsustainable dietary patterns, lack of capacity and limited training, weak legal frameworks and poor institutional coordination, etc. Some of the actions these countries are taking (or planning) to address these challenges were also shared. Proposed actions included the sustainable management of land & water; sustainable use of natural resources and of farm inputs (e.g. agroecology); promoting healthy dietary choices and sustainable consumption; strengthening urban-rural linkages; promoting sustainable rural entrepreneurship through the development of capacities and skills, with a focus on women and youth; reducing food losses and waste; improve and harmonise SFS governance at national and regional level, fostering reforms and strategies that cut across sectors (e.g. OneHealth), considering trade-offs, complementarities, also using some of the existing frameworks (e.g. F2F, FSS); etc. Several speakers also stressed the importance of the cultural and “human” dimension of food in the region, with the Mediterranean diet as an opportunity to build healthier and more sustainable food systems. In this context, there was a call to switch to sustainable consumption and production models, noting that often consumption and production are still treated separately by policies and stakeholders, and recognizing that only a systemic approach would allow moving towards sustainable food systems. The speakers also highlighted some of the elements needed to enable food systems transformation. These include the need to: foster multi-stakeholder partnerships at national and regional level to build trust and commitments based on shared understanding and inclusion; mobilize resources to implement actions at scale, through sustainable investments (public, private, blended) and other instruments such as public incentives (subsidies, taxes); harness the potential of innovation and technology, making them accessible to farmers/fishers/foresters; identify trade-offs between actions/sectors and strategies to minimize them; foster behavioural change across food systems actors through education and awareness building. An important finding that emerged from the roundtable was the general agreement on the need for strengthened regional cooperation to foster sustainable food systems at different levels (harmonization of legal frameworks, setting of standards, trade, sharing of data, knowledge and best practices, promotion of regional models, etc). Some of the National Convenors welcomed the proposed SFS-MED Platform as a good basis to bring together Mediterranean stakeholders to share and collaborate, through a common approach to food systems, as a systemic response to the challenges hindering the region. The Platform was seen as a potential tool to integrate and address both thematic and crosscutting issues leading to food systems transformation and to the long-term, sustainable and inclusive development for the whole region. قراءة القليل

Panel 1 introduced the topic of partnerships as a dialogue across all shores of the Mediterranean towards strengthened regional cooperation on SFS, overcoming fragmented sectorial approaches and jointly coping with the multiple interconnected challenges facing the region. The need of a shift towards blue, green and circular economy was raised as a priority to tackle these challenges through an integrated ecosystems approach and coordinated collaborative regional solutions, taking into account country specificities. The need for more participation from Southern/Eastern countries in the coordina... قراءة المزيدtion and co-ownership of funded research projects was also pointed out. The necessity of setting an equal balance among diverse stakeholders in the co-development and governance of multi-stakeholder partnerships such as the SFS-MED Platform emerged as a key challenge. It was considered critical to have all stakeholders on the same playfield since the inception of the partnership, in order to avoid top-down decisions. The object of a collaboration needs to be clear for a partnership to work: collaborations are not sufficient per se, particularly in a multi-stakeholder context, but require a clear shared understanding on what the collaboration is about and how that can be done, taking in consideration the environmental, economic and social sustainability dimensions of a SFS transformation in the region. The urgent need of a change of paradigm for rethinking food systems in the Mediterranean was underlined, considering that the current one is mainly based on maximising productivity at the expenses of environment/health/social dimensions. A concern was raised about the fact that the need of an urgent and profound rethinking of our cultures on food systems was still not sufficiently recognized within the Summit debate. The desire to know how the SFS-MED Platform could contribute to such a change of paradigm was expressed to better understand how interested stakeholders could support the process, and according to which rules of engagement. The CFS multi-stakeholder framework and its policy recommendations on agroecological innovation linked to the 13 principles of agroecological transformation was suggested as a possible model for the SFS-MED Platform to follow to develop an effective partnership. Within the framework of the 2021 CoR report “Agriculture and food security in the context of climate change in the Mediterranean”, some tangible solutions were proposed for ensuring resilient food security and food sovereignty in the Mediterranean. By taking into account the interconnected social, environmental, economic and nutritional and health-related challenges present in the Mediterranean, it was stressed that it is crucial to adopt an integrated approach, people-centered and specific to the Mediterranean context, to provide a better understanding of the multidimensionality of the sustainability of food systems, by linking the sustainable management of natural resources with the sustainable food consumption and production (SCP). In this context, the Mediterranean Diet could act as a sustainable lever to bridge the gap between consumption and food production in the region. The format of the SFS-MED Platform, initiated by CIHEAM, FAO and UfMS at the 2nd World MD Conference organized in 2019 by CIHEAM-Bari, was considered a possible operational framework for dialogue and action on the ground, and for setting up a Community of Practice for strengthening knowledge sharing, innovation and capacity building related to sustainable food consumption and production across the Mediterranean, with particular attention to the employability of youth and women, and the Mediterranean diet acting as a driver. The development of SFS-MED Platform flagship projects was foreseen as an enabling action for Mediterranean smallholders, rural and coastal communities, youth and women, to have more access to local and global markets. The 3rd World Conference on “Mediterranean diet and Sustainable Food Systems” foreseen in 2022 was presented by CIHEAM-Bari as an opportunity to further consolidate the programme of action of the SFS-MED Platform with all interested actors. قراءة القليل

Panel 2 discussed how sustainable finance and investments in line with green, blue and circular economy principles are pivotal to enabling FST in the Mediterranean, crucial for sustainability. Underfunding is a major issue, as it is still not seen as a priority in political agendas. These should take into consideration factors such as climate change, nutrition, agriculture, health and adopt a multi-stakeholder approach, in order to provide an enabling environment for investments in SFS, making them more attractive to the several players of the financial ecosystem (public and private entities, ... قراءة المزيدphilanthropists, banks and international financial institutions (IFIs), cooperatives, insurances, etc). The UN and IFIs can play a catalyst role in this regard, supporting the mobilization of efforts and promoting policy reform to improve the investment climate to increase public and private finance and investments functional to making the private sector more agile, and to rebalance its role in relation to the public sector. The role of public development banks could also be enhanced through digitalization, paying attention also to social inclusion and gender equality, following the guidance of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris agreement. Tools such as blending can be used to leverage the areas of expertise of different stakeholders, capturing food systems as a whole, to scale up sustainable blue and green finance to develop more bankable projects and address negative externalities determined by phenomena such as COVID-19. In this respect, the Sustainable Blue Finance Principles and the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities were mentioned. There is also a need to link innovation and finance through holistic and community-wide programmes with certification schemes that guarantee that the retail power of sustainability is utilised at its fullest, putting consumers’ demand for healthy and sustainable products at the centre (the Mediterranean diet is a major asset in this regard). Investments shall be made along the whole food value chain, strengthening linkages and increasing standards. For example, investments shall support transition towards more efficient landscape planning, diversification of crops, switch to organic farming, integration of precision farming, valorisation of biomass, sustainable aquaculture; resource efficiency should be the core of investments in agroindustry, consolidating processes, taking advantage of economies of scale to facilitate modernization through innovation. Among others, investments shall target foods that have competitive edge for export, where they can be leveraged by promoting capacity building and skills development, fostering a more agile system and shifting the subsidies regime. Public and private support to farmers/fishers and SMEs to learn the grammar of sustainability in developing comprehensive business plans could help de-risking investments and putting consumers at the centre. IFIs should support more foreign direct investments in private sector and primary agriculture, triggering the creation of linkages to foster inclusion and economic activities especially for youth, and contributing to the development of infrastructures. Standards for environment, social inclusion, governance, procurement (transparency, pricing, etc) are also important to attract more investment in the region. Finance and investments are necessary to build stakeholders’ capacities to advance sustainability in their practices, fully understanding its potential and not considering it only as an administrative burden. An ideal setting for this to happen is the SFS-MED Platform: dialogue and mutual support can enhance policy coherence within and across countries and partners, focusing on green, inclusive, digital innovation to support the scaling up of investments contributing to sustainable growth. Such a platform is also a useful tool to consolidate lessons learned, push for high-standards, and support capacity and institutional building for countries and companies (in particular MSMEs), creating the perfect enabling environment for cooperation, understanding, mutual support to achieve the common goals of sustainability. قراءة القليل

Panel 3 discussed how capacity development and awareness raising are key to the transformation of food systems, which requires deep behavioural change of both producers and consumers, respecting diversity, plurality of cultures and opinions, but at the same time trying to stick to common guiding principles. The discussion pivoted around these main pillars: circularity of green/blue economies, biodiversity, landscape management, Mediterranean diet & urban food framework. A multi-stakeholder approach is crucial to mobilizing all actors, directly involving them in research and innovation proj... قراءة المزيدects at local level, co-designing food systems’ transition to sustainability through policy labs and flagship projects to test solutions in real life. The European Commission has allocated about 500 million euros (Horizon) to support R&I projects on food systems transformation that include components linked to capacity building and awareness raising. Bridges need to be built between business leaders, research and decision-makers under a shared vision, where the science-policy interface and multi-stakeholder dialogue are crucial to achieve coordinated policies. In this environment, stakeholders are able to complement their efforts, recognising and respecting each other’s requirements. Food systems transformation must be an inclusive process. Women’s participation is paramount, and needs to be enhanced. Women shall be empowered to transfer skills and to improve their awareness on climate change, technology, human rights, health issues, agriculture, food security, production, consumption. In addition, a social and cultural change in the mindset of people is required to foster women and youth entrepreneurship (through more opportunities and more motivation), especially in the agricultural sector (cooperatives) and in rural contexts. Moreover, policy-making needs to adopt a strategic and inclusive vision to create an enabling environment for effective cooperation among all actors/stakeholders: governments, academia, private sector and civil society (quadruple helix) shall find synergies and cooperate for the collective interest of people. Engagement of youth is paramount to increase awareness and deliver messages on food systems transformation, including through events, campaigns and media outlets (social media, cinema, etc.) at national and regional level. Knowledge and capacities on food systems sustainability need to be enhanced, especially in rural contexts, including through training and education . Multi-stakeholder partnerships such as the SFS-MED Platform are crucial to support entrepreneurs in the transition to more sustainable practices at local and national level, developing sustainable business plans, accessing funding, establishing solid networks, etc. Such partnerships have the potential to be effective also at regional level, provided that countries agree on minimum common measures (i.e. framework) for the sustainability of food systems. قراءة القليل

No major divergences have emerged from the discussions, but there was common consensus on the need of a change of route in food systems, pushing for their transformation towards sustainability by 2030.

1. Make joint efforts to nourish a campus culture for promoting food literacy In many schools and universities, we see students rush into the crowded canteens during the short lunch break to grab something to eat, many of them choose unhealthy foods high in calories that can quickly bring satisfaction. To address the challenge, leadership, educators, chefs, nutritionists, all staff and students, and even parents should strive to nourish a culture in which the interwoven pleasures of cooking and sharing healthy food become an integral and memorable part of the campus culture. Keystone Academy n... قراءة المزيدot only makes reference to environmental awareness twice in its Mission, but also actively explores what that means with a number of initiatives to engage students and enable behavior change. In 2019, it seems to be a sudden decision for the school to go completely vegetarian every Monday, but most of the teachers and students embraced the journey, as environmental consciousness has long been a part of the campus culture. 2. Shift the mindset of meal-offering from pursuing variety and quantity to improving the nutritional quality The standardized dish library of Zhejiang University's smart cafeteria has recorded information on 3,000 dishes, and the variety of dishes is amazing. Many schools are also pushing the envelope to meet the diverse tastes of their students. Discussion participants mentioned the idea of introducing standardized, measured nutritional combo meals that revolve around local, seasonal, plant-based ingredients, with each cafeteria's culinary team and nutritionist taking full advantage of their talents and creativity to lead the menu changes. The number of nutritional combo meals in each cafeteria should not be large but can present different dining styles so that the menu is not repetitive, this might be a path worth exploring. The popularity of healthy dishes should be used as a criterion for healthy competition among different cafeterias, with corresponding incentive mechanisms. 3. Promote Chefs’ Leadership It is always agreed that there are only two kinds of food in the world: delicious ones and the contrary. Participants all believed that chefs should play a critical role in promoting healthy and sustainable food. It requires scientific and systematic training for chefs. Moreover, participants also emphasized the importance of opening up career development channels, the opportunity of title evaluation, and a favorable policy for household registration for future chef leaders. 4. Raise Students’ awareness of the true cost of food Based on the existing nutrition and health perspective, expanding monitoring dimensions of the intelligent system to fully utilize its scientific, accurate and transparent information, can raise students’ awareness of the true cost of food and the benefits of healthy eating from all aspects. Thus, they can be nudged to better eating habits. 5. Utilizing behavioral interventions to effectively guide dietary habit change Behavioral science can also provide many ideas to guide healthy eating through food education and advocacy. For example, the widespread application of the "Nudge" principle can have a multiplier effect. In recent years, some experience has been gained from experiments and studies, for example, discussion participants mentioned • Direct substitution with products that mimic meat, such as plant-based meats. • Placing healthy dishes in easier-to-reach places when laying out dishes. For example, in a buffet, place plant-based dishes at the front of the pick-up line. • List plant-based dishes at the front of the menu. • When naming dishes, be sure to make healthy dishes appetizing. A common misconception is that nutritious meals are often named with an emphasis on benefits such as "healthy" and "low-cal" while undermining the appeal of the dish itself in terms of taste. • By the same token, avoid using labels like "vegetarian". Studies have shown that feel-good, planet-friendly, direct protein and sun-powered are all good choices to convey the same meaning. The role of role models should not be overlooked either. When the Good Food Fund visited Google's corporate headquarters during the 2019 Food Leadership Forum, they found that four of the five main courses in their employee cafeteria lunch buffet were made entirely from plant-based ingredients. According to Yale's annual report, 85 percent of the options in their student cafeteria are vegan. Inviting lectures from leading experts in the field also helps to convince students of the concept of healthy eating. قراءة القليل

The Sunshine School Meal Data Platform (hereinafter referred to as the “Data Platform”) was established by the China Development Research Foundation in May 2015. It has covered 13 provinces, 100 counties, more than 9,200 schools, and over 3.5 million students around the country. The data platform monitors and analyzes recipes, purchase prices of ingredients, the quantity of purchase, the quantity of consumption, and the number of people to eat, which increased the transparency of the use of dietary subsidy funds and the quality of local policy implementation, transformed the local governme... قراءة المزيدnt’s concept of governance, and improved the nutritional conditions of rural students obviously. According to the standards from China’s Dietary and Nutrition Guidebook for Rural Students, nutritional meals in most monitored counties have met students’ basic needs in general, meat intake has reached a sufficient amount but heavily relies on pork. Other nutrition problems include critically low intake of legumes and beans, too much salt and fat, calcium and vitamin-A deficiency, and so on. More diversified food sources are necessary to safeguard students’ nutrition when they still face the risk of hidden hunger when the quality of food they eat does not meet their nutrient requirements. Participants in the discussion suggested that the Data Platform should add local small-scale supplier databases for nearby township schools to choose from. Through accurate digital governance, it can open the access for small farmers and achieve the organic combination of standardization and flexibility of procurement mode. Of course, this depends on the preconditions such as information and communication technology as well as the concept of local governance. قراءة القليل

Participants in the discussion repeatedly stressed the importance of building a local food system that not only helps local economic development but also enhances resilience to the uncertainty of environmental change. In the local food system, the value of local ingredients can be maximized. For example, it was mentioned in the discussion that in the arid northern part of Shanxi province, every family has soybeans in their yard. Soybeans grow very easily and can be made into a variety of soy products, enriching recipes. It can also be made into soy milk as a substitute for milk. Even soybean y... قراءة المزيدogurt can be fermented to become a sweet product for children. In addition, planting soybeans has the effect of fixing nitrogen and improving soil fertility. By making full use of local ingredients for innovation, we can better maintain the quality of nutrition and avoid problems such as excessive processing and packaging contamination of foreign foods. قراءة القليل

To produce diverse and high-quality ingredients locally and to establish a more balanced supply and demand system requires a lot of effort and more costs. Without the participation of multiple parties in society, it is difficult to truly realize this vision. Under the coordination of local governments, it is crucial to establish a joint construction mechanism involving schools, parents, farmers, cooperatives, companies, and social organizations. From the perspective of ensuring the quality of school meals for their children, parents should be important supervisors and beneficiaries at the same... قراءة المزيد time. The localized food system also helps to create employment locally, so that children are no longer left behind. The participants mentioned many practical models, such as the combination of school farming, localization teaching, and work-study, courtyard economy, family farms, To develop a model of ecological agriculture and mutual support among communities. قراءة القليل