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Discussions under thematic area one: Enhancing aquatic food and nutrition security, and sustainable consumption. Discussion topic 1: Increasing aquatic food consumption in family diet. Actions are needed to improve consumption levels of fish in resource constrained and vulnerable families, and especially by women and children in both rural and urban areas. One way is to promote production and consumption of micronutrient-rich small indigenous fish. There is also need to increase nutrition awareness and improve understanding on consumption of aquatic foods to meet nutritional requirements at di... Leer másfferent stages of the life cycle for people living in different social, economic, cultural and environmental context. Promotion of nutrition-sensitive aquaculture measures can help tackle the existing challenges of malnutrition. Nutrition education should build awareness and knowledge about processing, cooking and preparation of food mixed with nutrient rich fish for feeding minor children. Production and consumption of fish based products (fish powder and fish chutney) can help meet nutritional requirements of pregnant women, lactating mothers and minor children. Fish based products should also be included in school feeding programmes. The country should develop aquatic food based dietary guidelines and make it available to all people of Bangladesh. Discussion topic 2: Improving productivity and quality. Effective and efficient production and distribution systems are needed to ensure access by all, and especially the poor households. There is need to promote pond ownership at household level and to ensure access to public water bodies by resource restricted families, as fishers and most marginalised communities' livelihoods depend on common water resources. Aquatic food standards and regulations on safe aquatic foods without detrimental effects to health should be enforced along the entire value chain i.e. from production, processing, transportation and marketing. Discussion topic 3: Improving aquatic diversity. Diversity should be improved in terms of both production and intake of aquatic foods. This would address observed species diversity loss due to unsustainable practices that in turn affect fish species and production. There should be promotion of eco-nutrition that integrates environmental health, human nutrition and conservation of natural resources. Habitat restoration and community based management need to be promoted. Both government and other stakeholder may promote the establishment of adequate fish sanctuaries and sustainable management, along with awareness campaigns. Ensuring proper implementation of existing Fishing Regulation Act is very important to enhance fish biodiversity and sustainable production in the open waters. Leer menos

Resilient and Sustainable Food Systems are connected to every facet of the 2030 Agenda, either through primary, secondary, or tertiary system connections – and are, therefore, a Nexus of economic, social, and environmental development. Because of the broad, multi-level impacts of food systems, we believe that focusing on Integrated Natural Resource Management (“INRM”), as a high-impact leverage point can expedite and optimize the effect that food has on a variety of environmental and socioeconomic impacts, such as poverty, health, ecosystem integrity, industry, etc. A few exemplary conne... Leer másctions are delineated. Poor Food Systems --> Poor Ecosystem Integrity Currently, an estimated 821 million people are currently undernourished, representing the failings of the global food system . Food systems are under the simultaneous pressure of environmental change (e.g., land degradation, biodiversity loss, and changes in climate/weather), and non-climate stressors (e.g., population/income growth, and demand for animal-sourced products ). On the causal side, food systems may negatively affect the environment by depleting natural resources, and polluting both surface and groundwater, with pesticides and chemical fertilizer . INRM can support the sustainable yield of food systems, in particular within the ecosystem and biosphere’s capacity for renewal. Poor Food Systems --> Poor WASH Management --> Poor Health & Nutrition Food systems are dependent on water resource management, with inadequate water supply and sanitation, being inextricably linked to poverty. For example, poor sanitation practices can produce untreated wastewater which cause water quality changes (e.g., in lakes, rivers, oceans), damaging aquatic food sources, exacerbating food insecurity and malnutrition , . Food security relies on water security, and the provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene (“WASH”) services particularly in impoverished communities. INRM, with a focus on water resources management, can meet the needs of a global population by ensuring the fundamental safety and integrity of life below water. Poor Food Systems --> Poor Productivity --> Poor Economy / Higher Poverty Food insecurity leads to mal-/under-nutrition, which has adverse effects on the physiological and mental capacity of individuals . Malnutrition and poverty are mutually-reinforcing, creating a vicious cycle that hampers productivity levels, exacerbating countries’ poverty levels . Failing to address undernutrition continue to yield significant losses in potential, in both humans and economies. Poverty, along with socio-economic and political marginalization, disenfranchises women, children and the elderly with regard to climate change and food insecurity7. INRM can reduce trade-offs, increase productivity, food security, and a better quality of life for all – in order to help achieve not short-term relief, but rather - long-term sustainability. Therefore, Food System Resilience underpin the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs – committing to leave no one behind. In the long-term, and the knowledge and implementation of INRM will increase the ability of agri-food and forest systems to (i) ensure supply of goods (e.g., food, fodder, fibre, wood, and bio-energy) and ecosystem services (e.g., store, filter and transform nutrients, substance, and water, biodiversity and carbon pool) that human benefits from and significantly rely on, (ii) preserve natural resources that are non-renewable (soil and water), and (iii) enlarge social and economic benefits by reducing environmental costs and impacts. Leer menos

Key messages include: • The current food production system is upheld by 1.5 billion smallholders, concentrating power locally; therefore, science-policy interfaces must translate into planning that is simultaneously top-down and bottom-up (e.g. living labs ), to effectively mobilize the nexus approach on INRM. • Further, top-down food policy may not align consistently in national development plans, as governmental ministries and institutions lack communication with each other, despite working with equal information, yet feeding into different databases. • With regional FAO initiatives ru... Leer másn by multidisciplinary teams operating in various countries, it is essential for institutions to have a joint knowledge base to ground strategies upon. • The EC- Soil Health and Food Mission Board identified that farmers/producers eschew “to-do lists”, but rather responding best to quantitative evidence backing that “what is good for the environment, is often very good for business.” Contact between researchers and farmers in Living Labs is essential to produce viable results. • UNEP’s Sustainable Rice Platform yielded two major lessons : o It is important for the UN system to translate siloed research into a multi-goal format with principles, standards, and time-based deliverables, and; o Human empathy is required to communicate science, without judgement, in order to convene diverse stakeholders (e.g., Syngenta, BASF, Mars, Ben’s Original, etc.) • Food systems refer to the entwined relationships between humans and natural biophysical resources in systems. It is important, therefore, to have trained professionals who can: 1. Listen and understand other disciplines; 2. Discuss clearly with stakeholders, and 3. Present findings and participate effectively in policymaking. The lack of transferable skills in current professionals in the space (i.e., listening, discussing, and presenting) constitutes a capacity gap. • Furthermore, despite the importance of multidisciplinary thinking in INRM for food system resilience, there is a dominance of water-related researchers, in the Soil- Water-Food-Energy Nexus. The other three domains are missing representation, and therefore capacity. • Connecting “the dots” between research and practice, requires finance – constituting a capacity gap. In many countries, finance sectors influence the velocity of money and change. • As sustainable food systems require significant water inputs, FAO has developed six principles to base INRM strategies on when coping with water scarcity: Knowledge, Impact, Capacity, Coherence, Preparedness. • Supporting Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, UNCCD is currently supporting 127 countries that have committed to setting their voluntary targets of which 104 have successfully set their targets. The scientific conceptual framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN-SCF) that underpins these guidelines comprises five modules, which describe the overall approach to LDN. • To translate science into actionable ideas for producers, IWMI-CGIAR is designing a leadership programme to directly bridge this gap, noting that a forthcoming Water-Food-Energy-Forest-Biodiversity Nexus Initiative seeks to significantly redesign research agendas. • Storytelling and case studies operationalize the science, helping it seem more relatable, and as it feeds into policy – achieve greater political uptake and stakeholder acceptance. • Food resilience and INRM are embedded in the SDGs, but due to a lack of concrete definitions, guidelines, and handbooks to define INRM, conventional agricultural practices are still promoted as supporting SDG 2&3, despite its often negative impacts on SDGs 6, 10, 13, 15, and 16. It is recommended that the UN system produce a guidance policy document on INRM’s efficacy on food systems. • Furthermore, governments should seek to integrate INRM and the Nexus Approach into existing processes, e.g., national implementation of the SDGs and the Voluntary National Review process. • Food production (including its socio-political issues, energy needs) is inextricable from land use and degradation, and it is highly recommended that the UN system and policymakers view food policy through the land lens. • Addressing food system resilience and transformation recommends that policymakers appreciate the need for upfront long-term investment and capacity development (e.g., groundwater management, reforestation) despite the time lag between investment and payoff. A stable and sound governance system is needed to provide an enabling environment conducive to long-term innovation funding earmarked for environmental and social sustainability in food systems. The rationale is set. There is a need for a coalition created among the key UNU institutes, UNEP, IWMI-CGIAR, FAO, and other relevant UN system agencies to engage in interagency collaboration to produce a policy/guidance document which: 1. Lays out the guidelines of a common INRM approach supporting current and future food systems resilience; 2. Support countries in identifying a pathway which ensures compatibility between sustainable consumption and production needs, and; 3. Feeds an actionable narrative and concrete recommendations to be included into the CBD, COP 26, and Stockholm+50 ongoing intergovernmental processes. Leer menos

The rationale is set. There is a need for a coalition created among the key UNU institutes, UNEP, IWMI-CGIAR, FAO, and other relevant UN system agencies to engage in interagency collaboration to produce a policy/guidance document which: 1. Lays out the guidelines of a common INRM approach supporting current and future food systems resilience; 2. Support countries in identifying a pathway which ensures compatibility between sustainable consumption and production needs, and; 3. Feeds an actionable narrative and concrete recommendations to be included into the CBD, COP 26, and Stockholm+50 ongoin... Leer másg intergovernmental processes. Leer menos

• Food systems refer to the entwined relationships between humans and natural biophysical resources in systems. It is important, therefore, to have trained professionals who can: 1. Listen and understand other disciplines; 2. Discuss clearly with stakeholders, and 3. Present findings and participate effectively in policymaking. The lack of transferable skills in current professionals in the space (i.e., listening, discussing, and presenting) constitutes a capacity gap. • Furthermore, despite the importance of multidisciplinary thinking in INRM for food system resilience, there is a dominan... Leer másce of water-related researchers, in the Soil- Water-Food-Energy Nexus. The other three domains are missing representation, and therefore capacity. • Connecting “the dots” between research and practice, requires finance – constituting a capacity gap. In many countries, finance sectors influence the velocity of money and change. • Food resilience and INRM are embedded in the SDGs, but due to a lack of concrete definitions, guidelines, and handbooks to define INRM, conventional agricultural practices are still promoted as supporting SDG 2&3, despite its often negative impacts on SDGs 6, 10, 13, 15, and 16. It is recommended that the UN system produce a guidance policy document on INRM’s efficacy on food systems. • Addressing food system resilience and transformation recommends that policymakers appreciate the need for upfront long-term investment and capacity development (e.g., groundwater management, reforestation) despite the time lag between investment and payoff. A stable and sound governance system is needed to provide an enabling environment conducive to long-term innovation funding earmarked for environmental and social sustainability in food systems. Leer menos

On the 31st of May 2021, the Holy See Secretariat of State and the Pontifical Academies for Science and Social Science hosted an online event on Food Conflicts and the Future of Food Systems. This was the final webinar of the “Food for Life, Food Justice, Food for All,” series, born from the collaboration between the aforementioned organizations, the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to FAO, WFP & IFAD, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Vatican COVID-19 Commission. Building on the knowledge generated in the previous two webinars on The Role of Women in the ... Leer másPromotion of Integral Human Development and Jobs, Innovation and Finance at the Service of Food Justice, this webinar deepened the analysis of responses to food conflicts and how the Church can best contribute and collaborate to address hunger and food inequality around the world. It featured presentations from H.Em. Card. Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See; Dr. Qu Dongyu, Director General of FAO; H. Em. Peter K.A. Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Dr. Agnes Kalibata, UN Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit and many more. Leer menos

The first session focused on the current state of global food insecurity, its driving factors and present-day opportunities to reformulate them. Cardinal Turkson opened the panel with a presentation inspired by the knowledge and proposals shared in the previous two webinars. Following a see-judge-act methodology, His Eminence reiterated that conflict, climate change and COVID-19 are the main drivers of global hunger today, and emphasized integral ecology, human dignity and the common good as guiding principles for a holistic regeneration of food systems. He highlighted the need to bring the vo... Leer másices of vulnerable communities to the center of international political debates, promote circular models of food production and consumption, enhance local and traditional knowledge to ensure better protection of natural resources and reform present-day technological and financial structures to support the transformation of food systems. His intervention was followed by FAO Director General, Dr. Qu Dongyu who highlighted the interconnection between global conflicts and food insecurity and the need to guarantee food for all as a fundamental premise for world peace. In that regard, he called for further collaboration and partnerships, especially between humanitarian and development workers, to address the root causes of food insecurity and ensure coherent and sustained actions are taken to end the cycle of hunger, poverty and instability. Dr. Dongyu’s remarks were followed by a deepened analysis of the economic dimension of food systems by Prof. Stefano Zamagni, President of the Pontifical Academy for the Social Sciences. Given that national and global policies determine the availability, affordability and quality of available foods, these must aim at; i) enhancing and diversifying local food markets and curtailing monopolistic tendencies so that food may be immediately available at fair prices to all; ii) promoting quality-based strategies for food production in light of growing consumer sovereignty and demands for ecologically and socially responsible food systems, iii) reformulate financial astructures to support the transformation of food systems, and iv) nurture partnerships to ensure food for all in the context of mass urbanization. The panel was closed with a testimony from Fr. Fabio Mussi, Coordinator of Caritas of the Diocese of Yagoua, Cameroon, who offered examples of concrete, creative, community-based solutions to responses to malnutrition in Western and Central Africa. The second session sought to address the topic of conflicts and food systems from an interdisciplinary perspective. The discussion was opened by Dr Agnes Kalibata, UN Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit, who insisted on the need to address poverty and inequality, which are at the root of global conflict and hunger. She called for deeper dialogue in light of the UNFSS, to emphasize the idea of human beings as a critical element of agroecology and the necessity to come through for the people who need it most. Following her presentation, Professor Joachim von Braun, President of the Pontifical Academy for the Sciences, spoke of the long-term consequences of food insecurity and conflicts (armed conflicts, resource conflicts, conflicts derived from food insecurity) on social fabrics and ecosystems. He called for renewed political action to affirm access to food as a fundamental human right, and heightened investment into the development and empowerment of local communities affected by food conflicts. Maurizio Pitzolu and Virginia Solis of the Agriculture and Justice village of the Economy of Francesco brought the voices of youth leaders and changemakers involved in the transformations of food systems. They shared the work of the village across the world and highlighted the opportunity to respond to the pandemic through a unified response to the cry of the earth and the poor. The panel was completed by Professor Vincenzo Buonomo, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, who expressed the need to develop a stronger sense of moral responsibility toward creating and governing food security, and the need for structural change on the basis of the common good. Concluding remarks were given by His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, who reiterated the need for concrete action to transform food systems, especially in the wake of the pandemic, which has exacerbated all humanitarian crises. A new paradigm with integral ecology and respect for human dignity at the core is needed to put people at the center. Leer menos

1) Bring the voices of vulnerable communities to the center of international political debates 2) Promote circular models of food production and consumption 3) Enhance local and traditional knowledge 4) Reform present-day technological and financial structures to support the transformation of food systems 5) Need for further collaboration and partnerships, especially between humanitarian and development workers, to address the root causes of food insecurity and ensure coherent and sustained actions are taken to end the cycle of hunger, poverty and instability 6) Strong policies to; i) enhance ... Leer másand diversify local food markets and curtailing monopolistic tendencies to ensure availability and affordability of food products; ii) articulate quality-based strategies for food production in light of growing consumer sovereignty and demands for ecologically and socially responsible food systems, iii) reformulate financial structures to support the transformation of food systems, and iv) nurture partnerships to ensure food for all in the context of mass urbanization Leer menos

1) Emphasize the idea of human beings as a critical element of agroecology at the UNFSS 2) UFSS to renew political action to affirm access to food as a fundamental human right, and increase investments into the development and empowerment of local communities affected by food conflicts

2. Jessica Fanzo, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Food Policy and Ethics at Johns Hopkins University, High Level Panel of Experts on Food and Nutrition Security, EAT-Lancet Commission Saskia Osendarp, Executive Director Micronutrient Forum, Associate Professor at Wageningen University, co-lead of the Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium, Women eat last and less, and have higher nutritional requirements. More than one third of women are suffering from anemia. 75% of all under nourished women do not live in 20% poorest households. Matter of equity than poverty. Women play an im... Leer másportant role along aspects of food chain - realisation of women's rights. less access to productive resources, markets, training, social protection, and earn considerably less. On top of this, women have difficult home lives. Enforced by cultural norms and traditions. Face heavy physical workloads that undermine their wellbeing. While unfair to women, it is a tragedy to households, to communities, to communities, to enabling girl's and women is essential not only to build productive and resilient food systems but for development of countries overall. Food systems need to ensure access to diverse foods, complemented with interventions such as fortification, and women need adequate antenatal care to ensure maternal micronutrient interventions, such as MMS - anemia (which is an indicator of poor women nutrition). Need other interventions that address Poor women's nutrition needs to be addressed as an equity issue - Anemia Action Alliance game-changer proposal is part of Women Solutions Cluster. Leer menos

Ndidi Nwuneli, Managing Partner Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Ltd. Nigeria, Managing Director AACE Foods and Founder of Lead Africa - Power of SMEs that are co-founded by women. Mama programme - supports women to distribute their product through building an inclusive supply chain and access to market and training and finances. - Dairy Value Chain - advancing local dairy in Nigeria - empowering SMEs to source locally - while men own cows, women own the milk. Ensuring financial and nutritional education through cooperatives to move women on a path to agency and empowerment. - Nouris... Leer máshing Africa - helping entrepreneurs, providing knowledge and access to training and financing. Leer menos

Michael Oja, GAIN Country Director, Nigeria Solutions that are having an impact in Nigeria include: - Multi-sectoral policies and partnerships that bring key sectors together. - Quality implementation of interventions, such as fortification of staples - Co-ordination of mulit-sectoral approach. - Disaggregated information on what women are selling and eating.

Jemimah Njuki, Head Africa IFPRI, Custodian for UN FSS gender equality - Propositions are developed with a gender lens - guiding principles: - Elevating women's voices and positions in food systems, access to resources. - Proposition: Women's Leadership and Empowerment Cluster - Proposition: Gender financing gap - Proposition: Resilience and building women's assets - Social norms - influence food allocation and access to assets. - Policies - make food systems policies gender transformative

Investment in maternal and women's nutrition is often linked to women's reproductive roles as mothers. There was common agreement that investment needs to happen because of women's innate rights -- as people. However, there was some divergence about the extent to which messaging should focus on women's innate human rights vs their economic roles and ability to contribute to GDP and output.

A comprehensive discussion on the role of women's empowerment and nutrition in resilience building post pandemic with a focus on solutions that can empower women across food, health and social protection sectors. Strong focus on Lever of Change: Gender Mention of solutions relating to all Action Tracks. Strong focus on Action Track 1 (Women's Leadership and Empowerment Cluster) and Action Track 5 (Resilience Building)

Overall framing: The well-being and resilience of women is essential to the strength and resilience of their families, communities and the broader social and economic development of nations.  Investing in women has multiplying effect on communities. "If you educate a woman you educate a whole nation" - improving women's nutrition needs to be game-changing within the FSS. "Women need to be at the table and be heard." Convergence in opinion between all participants that women play an essential role in all aspects of the food chain, yet in 2021 we are still fighting for women's rights. Overall,... Leer más women's work - at home and at work - is unquantifiable. At the same time, while a huge number of women are involved in production and trading, few women have positions higher up the value chain. Other important discussions include the fact that women have higher nutritional needs than men (e.g., x2.5 iron intake) Yet, women eat last and least around the world. Overall, women have significantly higher levels of malnutrition than men. Poor women's nutrition is an equity issue - A study by the World Bank on poverty and nutrition in 30 sub-Saharan African countries found that nearly 75 percent of underweight women live in households with a male head who is not underweight and nearly 75 percent of underweight women and undernourished children do not live in the poorest 20 percent of households. Solutions Clusters proposed/discussed: Cluster: Women's leadership Cluster: Social norms and influencing women's access (and allocations) to nutritious foods Cluster: Addressing the gender finance gap Cluster: Changing policies to make food systems gender transformative Fundamentally, there was consensus on the need to engage men and have male champions for women, especially in agribusiness. Example actions put forward by AGREA - Redesign Farm Schools to promote and support women - Invest in ethical micro-finance and training to support women - Change policies for banks and rural banks to include women - Ensure simple agriculture tools are adapted to use by women Example solutions put forward by Nourishing Africa (Nigeria). Important context: In Nigeria male entrepreneurs earn 60% more. - Enable policies that push for inclusion. - Actively invest in female extension workers throughout the agriculture landscape - Invest in business development for women - Allocate catalytic and patient capital (in particular, to support the introduction of new products). Summary question: How can women be a part of the move to resilient and sustainable food systems? - Ensure that men champion women leaders in the food system - Intentional support women by adapting farming and technology and ensure women are involved in the design. - Disincentivize banks that do not provide banking services for women - Women need to bring their seat at the table and be championed by men - Challenge norms and systems that prevent women and youth from participating - Involve women in designing (farm and other) technology - Disaggregate data to get a good understanding of issues women face. - Give women entrepreneurial role models and connect women Leer menos

Cherrie Atilano, CEO AGREA, Ambassador for SUN, UN Food System Champion and Philippine Ambassador - Working with 30,000 smallholder farmers. - Sad reality that people and women working in the food and agriculture sector is poorest. Crime against humanity that those at top of food chain are the ones who profit. - AGREA is hosting a leading farm school. - Trains women on money, mentor and market - capacity building. Finding opportunities for women in rural and agricultural rural development. - Education opportunities for women farmers include working on food supply chains (processing) and teachi... Leer másng agribusiness, managing savings etc. Youth friendly women's farmers' federation increases economies of scale to be able to access to markets and improve consistency of supply. - Initiative to inform , inspire and include women. - Advocacy targeting congress and domestic policy changes. Leer menos

In light of the "human rights, finance and technology" levers of change, this dialogue emphasized the importance of dignified work, finance and innovation in rebuilding sustainable food systems in the post-COVID future and how they can be effectively used in a way that serves everyone equally. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified pre existing structural injustices in global labour and financial markets, that have made some better capable than others to navigate the pandemic. According to the latest Oxfam report, while hundreds of millions of jobs have been lost since the start of the pandemic -... Leer más with direct consequences on access to food and nutrition -, by the end of 2020 stock market activity had increased the collective wealth of the world’s billionaires by $3.9 trillion. The 10 richest billionaires in the world witnessed an increase of $540 billion in their collective wealth; a figure exceeding the amount necessary to guarantee universal access to COVID-19 vaccines and food security. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions continued to increase throughout 2020, determined to be the warmest year on record globally, thereby threatening the integrity of ecosystems and their capacity to sustain agri-food systems in the future. As environmental and social disparities are more evident than ever, there is an urgent need to find new ways of re-articulating and re-building food systems to become more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable. When employed in the right way, innovation and finance can be essential tools for developing models of economically-viable food production, capable of recognizing farmers’ rights, strengthening supply chains and ensuring the integrity of ecosystems for future generations. While the Church rejoices in the capacity of technological innovations to serve the common good as they are the fruits of God-given talents and creativity. “Technology has remedied countless evils which used to harm and limit human beings. How can we not feel gratitude and appreciation for this progress [...]?” (Laudato Si’, 102-103). Moreover, it embraces finance as an “instrument directed towards improved wealth creation and development” (Caritas in Veritate, 65) by connecting those with innovative ideas to serve the common good, with those with the resources to bring them to life. Applied to food systems, this entails ensuring equitable access to financial services for food producers to enhance food security and food justice, while also nurturing innovations that are designed and used in a way that cares for our common home and respects human dignity, of which labour is an essential component. “All this calls for an alternative way of thinking. [...] if we accept the great principle that there are rights born of our inalienable human dignity [including the right to food and nutrition: Fratelli Tutti, 189], we can rise to the challenge of envisaging a new humanity. We can aspire to a world that provides land, housing and work for all.” (Fratelli Tutti, 127). Therefore, the objective of this dialogue was to listen and share experiences on the role of dignified work, finance and innovation in ensuring fair and sustainable food systems, while addressing the need for a new development paradigm that could guide their application and use in favor of regenerative models of food production. Leer menos

The first session focused on the challenges and opportunities specific to agricultural workers across the world. Mons. Robert Vitillo, General Secretary of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), began with an analysis of the fragility of food systems, amplified by the pandemic, and the real consequences these have on the people at every stage of the food system. He elevated solidarity, subsidiarity, equity, and the respect for human dignity as essential pillars to guide international action towards resilient food systems, starting from the enhancement of local food production ... Leer másto ensure greater availability and affordability of food and youth engagement programs to integrate future generations into food systems, based on a renewed set of values. Dr. Maurizio Martina, Deputy Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), followed and spoke of the need to re-value agricultural labor. In order to ensure adequate remuneration for agricultural workers and combat exploitation in food systems, states and public institutions need to assume heightened regulatory responsibilities, through stronger and more targeted policies, to regulate market competition and ensure equitable prices of final food products. The panel was closed by Ms. Harriet Cynthia Nakasi, Executive Director of the Advocacy Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture (ACSA), who gave an overview of food systems in Uganda and ongoing work by grassroot advocacy groups in support of smallholder farmers (supporting local innovation, guaranteeing access to land and financial resources, etc.). The second session was centred around how to apply emerging technologies and innovations to transform food systems in a way that benefits all and leaves no one behind. Dr. Esben Larsen, fellow in Food, Forests, and Water Program, World Resources Institute (WRI) proposed; i) a global research and innovation pact between the world’s largest economies to conduct research and innovate so as to improve conditions in Global South and promote sustainable practices in the Global North, ii) guarantee the Global South real access to technology, and iii) increase opportunities for vocational training in agri-food production to equip workers to optimise the use of available technologies. Faith communities can play a special role in providing thought leadership and convening decision-makers to employ available technologies and listen to local knowledge to accelerate concrete action towards resilient, inclusive and sustainable food systems. Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Chief Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), thereafter stated that technology and innovation can enable the elimination of world hunger, while staying within planetary boundaries. She called for institutional innovation along the lines of a lifecycle approach, integrated policy and local empowerment. In order to minimize trade-offs between ensuring universal access to food and caring for our common home, multi-stakeholder dialogue, coordination across sectors and among policy arenas are required to articulate concrete and holistic measures capable of rebuilding food systems from the grassroot-level, up. She praised the centrality of human dignity, fairness and justice in the webinar, as they are often absent in global dialogues on the topic. Finally, Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture urged the adoption of a systemic approach to technology, capable of recognizing its impacts on social and natural ecosystems. Technology, such as artificial intelligence and big data, can help achieve a more nuanced judgement of how the use of technological innovations impact food systems as a whole by constructing data sets that comprise diverse disciplines, wisdoms and local knowledge. The adoption of this approach at global level can provide the necessary framework for local initiatives to thrive and promote an awareness of individual participation and responsibilities in food systems. The panel was closed by Mr. Houman Haddad, Head of Emerging Technologies at World Food Programme (WFP), who presented WFP’s Building Blocks project, which employs blockchain technology to coordinate humanitarian aid and food assistance to Rohingya and Syrian refugees. Maximo Torero, Chief Economist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) opened the session with an overview of the state of global food insecurity and the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing fragilities and inequalities. He called for a more concise and targeted destination of COVID-19 recovery funds to solve the urgent food crisis while laying the foundations for a long-term transformation of global financial architectures so that they may sustain resilient and inclusive food systems. Jeanne-Maureen Jorand, Head of Food Sovereignty and Climate Advocacy Unit, CCFD-Terre Solidaire stated the need to revisit global and local governance structures to truly recognize food security as a fundamental human right and empower local communities as key drivers of change. Finally, Sr. Helen Alford outlined the role and responsibility of the Church in guiding international debates towards the common good. The universal church must be active in mobilizing its resources to connect COVID-19 recovery plans with the people who need support, and enrich global discussions with values that can promote systemic change towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals once and for all. The panel was closed with success stories of targeted financing for agroecology projects. Leer menos

1) Need to enhance local food systems to ensure greater availability and affordability of food 2) Need for more youth engagement programs 3) Need for stronger and more targeted policies to regulate market competition and ensure equitable prices of final food products