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1. Israeli agriculture is advanced and reaches high levels of productivity under difficult conditions. Israeli agricultural sector is based on an advanced R&D system, government-supported research and innovative start-ups, educated farmers open to innovation and an extension service connecting between farmers and research and facilitating the adoption of innovations. The wide variety of crops and different growing conditions in a small geographical area facilitate the testing new technologies. These advantages can enable an increase in the development and export of agricultural knowledge a... Leer másnd technologies. This can make a real contribution to raising productivity and tackling climate change in other countries, in addition to contributing to national food security worldwide. 2. Despite these advantages, we observe a decline in productivity in recent years. Agricultural production is stagnating, few young farmers take up agricultural production, and risk of production is increasing because of climate change, changing market conditions and frequent policy changes. To provide regulatory stability and ensure the future of the Israeli agricultural sector it is necessary to develop and adopt a strategic plan for the agricultural sector, to set clear medium and long-term targets for domestic food production, and provide the incentives and means to reach these targets through sustainable intensification of agricultural production (especially plants). 3. A unanimous agreement about the importance of Israel's agriculture. There is a need for statutory acknowledging the importance of agriculture ("Law of Agriculture"), to ensure the means of production for the future of the agricultural sector, and enable the development of a sustainable domestic agricultural sector, which will continue to provide most fresh agricultural produce for a growing population. 4. Ensure the availability of production factors necessary to increase plant production (land, water, labor). The value of land for agricultural production has to be taken into account in decisions of building and infrastructure development. Investment in infrastructure to increase the availability of water for irrigation. Decrease the dependence of foreign labor through mechanization. 5. Ensure production profitability for farmers. This entails a variety of measures, which are detailed in the following points: 6. Increase productivity in crop growing by encouraging and investing in the research and development of new technologies. Facilitate and encourage the use of 'big data' in decision making. 7. Increase investment subsidies to farmers, to facilitate the adoption of new technology but also encourage investing in existing proven technologies, which can improve productivity, decrease risk, decrease the dependence on foreign workers and reduce negative environmental impacts. 8. Strengthen the safety net provided to farmers by increasing the government support to insurance and by providing new instruments of insurance. This is especially important in light of the climate crisis. Risk management also entails the growing of a wide variety of crops and the investment in infrastructure to minimize risks (e.g. drainage). 9. Strengthen competition and the position of farmers in marketing by encouraging cooperation of farmers, and by developing alternative market channels (e.g. digital platforms, direct marketing, a modern wholesale market) 10. Consider encouraging people to change their consumption habits towards nutrition mainly based on plants by a variety of means (education, labeling schemes, incentives). 11. Encourage and strengthen cooperation of farmers, especially family farms, to enable knowledge sharing and economies of scale in production and marketing, strengthen the bargaining position of farmers and enable sustainable agricultural projects on a regional scale (e.g. integrated pest management). 12. Collaborations with the local industry regarding the treatment of agricultural waste. 13. Encourage a young generation to enter agricultural production. Decrease entry barriers for people who would like to take up agricultural production but are not from a farming family. Decrease barriers for the development of urban agriculture. 14. Minimize the regulatory burden, which is encountered by many farmers (e.g. joint production, precision agriculture). Minimize barriers and regulatory burden for farmers who want to take up activities related to agriculture or complementing their agricultural production and enabling them to increase earnings and the viability of their farm. 15. Increase subsidies for agriculture. It is necessary to combine a variety of instruments, and adapt them to agricultural sectors and regions, based on concrete targets (strategic plan for agriculture – see point 2), and an impact assessment (cost-benefit analysis) of the different policy instruments. Because of the uncertainty involving policy changes pilot programs and gradual changes are essential. 16. Actions to improve the environmental sustainability of agricultural plant production and to adapt the agricultural sector to climate change and decrease emissions. The Ministry of Agriculture is developing measures to decrease the environmental impact of agricultural production and to tackle climate change impacts. Knowledge gaps have to be closed. Many concrete actions with regard to improving the environmental impact of agriculture were suggested (e.g. increase cooperation and policy coherence between the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, increase cooperation. Leer menos

The third dialogue tried to provide answers to the following questions: 1. What actions are necessary in order to reach the goals by 2030? 2. What are Israel's strengths regarding plant food systems? How can they be leveraged and used to enhance our food systems? 3. Which regulatory tools should be used? The answers and outcomes of each question in provided in Main Findings.

No areas of divergence emerged during the third dialogue.

Ensure the availability of safe nutritious food Since food safety is directly and indirectly interconnected with various other sectors of economy, during the dialogue much importance was attached to the coordinated approach towards solution of food safety problems as major outcome of the discussions. The engagement of the private sector actors was highlighted as a key in the form of co-financing initiatives for ensuring the availability of safe nutritious food. The EU-GAIA representatives made clear that innovative systemic solutions are needed along different value chains for increasing produ... Leer másctivity and implementing safety standards with the example of animal husbandry and horticultural crops value chains. The government representatives highlighted that also for legumes and cereals production communities have a need for systemic support along the respective value chains. Investments could make these crops attractive as nutritious food, and the government is willing to scale-up successful models for the entire country. Leer menos

Boost nature-positive production at scale Two possible approaches were presents by government representatives for consolidating agricultural land and implementing effective reform processes - voluntarily or with state intervention. The discussion showed that fragmented land hinders private sector actors investing in agriculture. Cases were presented where unclear distribution of land and incorrectness in land cadaster certificates cause challenges for starting production and using the existing potential. It was agreed that the establishment of a land agency could speed the land reform process ... Leer másand help to clarify land right issues. Moreover, the land agency could play an intermediary role between investors and farmers for boosting agricultural production in Armenia. Leer menos

Strengthen capacities to resist vulnerabilities and the often changing economic environment The need of transparent and inclusive collaboration mechanisms between different food system actors in Armenia was mentioned as a precondition for meeting challenges and strengthening capacities to resist vulnerabilities and shocks. Based on the results and findings of the discussion by this outcome the focus lies on the research and education and the transformation processes in this sector. The representative from the Armenian National Agrarian University presented several examples on how to better lin... Leer másk academia, practice and policy making, e.g., by providing trainings for farmers and cooperatives as well as consultancy to the respective line ministries. At the same time several challenges were presented related to cooperatives in agricultural sector. It was highlighted that successful example of collaborations - such as the farmers’ cooperative “Tavsho Hatik” - should be disseminated and scaled-up across the county. Finally, in order to boost investments and strengthen capacities in food systems, the Enterprise Armenia (EA) was presented as the national investment promotion authority with the main mission of promoting and facilitating foreign and domestic investments, attracting new foreign direct investments as well as supporting and providing financing to farmers and SMEs. Leer menos

There was mutual understanding on all five dialogue topics and no major divergencies during the discussion were found out.

The third stage of the Armenia National Dialogue focused on developing recommendations and action plans to: (a) ensure the availability of safe nutritious food; (b) boost nature-positive production at scale and, (c) strengthen capacities to resist vulnerabilities and the often changing economic environment; thus, building more socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable food systems in Armenia. The presentations and discussions were broken into five main action areas identified during the first National Dialogue and aligned with the UN Food Systems Summit “action tracks” as out... Leer máslined below: 1. Recommended actions for Effective Land reform – The main focus was placed on presenting and discussing mechanisms for sustainable and effective use of agricultural land in Armenia. Several suggestions have been discussed on how to bring unutilized land into production, improv farm structures, increase productivity and efficiency, develop a land market (bank) and effectively regulate access and control of agricultural land. 2. Investing in Food Systems: Multi - sectoral approach for Food Systems Development – Strategies have been presented and discussed on how to enhance food security through an inclusive multi-sectoral approach. A special emphasis was put on the collaboration for improved nutrition and ensuring safe, quality, and nutritional food for all for building resilience to shocks. 3. Transforming Agriculture Education and Research for resilient food systems – The role of education and research sector was particularly highlighted in discussions for sustainable food systems transformation. Needs for action were identifies in order to achieve a new stage of technological development and e-agriculture as a key enabler of agricultural and rural development. 4. Value Chain Approach to promote Green Agriculture – Based on the approaches applied in the frame of the “EU Green Agriculture Initiative in Armenia” (EU-GAIA) project, several strategies along selected value chains have been presented and discussed for promoting green agriculture and sustainable food supply chain. The focus was put on resource efficient, innovative and eco-friendly technologies. 5. Strengthening Public and Private partnerships for food systems transformation – Mechanisms have been discussed on haw to deepen strategic cooperation between government and private sector organizations as well as research and academic institutions and international organizations. It was emphasized that only an effective dialogue mechanism can enable sustainable development and boost investments in different segments of the food value chain. Leer menos

The main conclusion drawn from the discussions was that a continuous and target-oriented dialogue is needed between public and private sector actors for effectively transforming Armenian food systems. Thereby, research and academic institutions such as the Armenian National Agrarian University and international organizations such as the UN World Food Programme could play an important role in order to enable technological development, boost investment and contribute to the process of building resilient food systems. Based on the discussion results a strategy will be elaborated on how to enhance... Leer más food security through an inclusive multi-sectoral approach for making food systems more resilience against shocks and thus, improving nutrition for all. The example of EU-GAIA project on promoting Green Agriculture through targeted approaches along different food value chain could serve as a reference on how to develop inclusive and sustainable food supply chains in the frame of multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral dialogue processes. At the same time, there was an overall agreement that fragmented and ineffective use of agricultural land remains as the main challenge for the development of agricultural sector and thus, the starting point for transforming food systems in Armenia. Therefore, all invited representatives have expressed their commitment to get engaged in the process of developing mechanisms for sustainable and effective use of agricultural land in Armenia for improving farm structures and increasing productivity and efficiency of agriculture. Leer menos

In this dialogue, we discussed challenges and opportunities especially related to all Action Tracks.

The dialogue with municipal governments (Obihiro City, Hanamaki City, Toyama City, Kyoto City, Toyooka City, Chikuzen Town) was held to exchange opinions related to SDGs and sustainable food systems. Please see the attached file for details of discussions.

In this dialogue, we discussed challenges and opportunities especially related to all Action Tracks.

The dialogue with Municipal Governments (Tsuruoka City, Yokohama City, Niigata City, Ohnan Town, Maniwa City and Itoman City) was held to exchange opinions related to SDGs and sustainable food systems. Please see the attached file for details of discussions.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Food Systems Food Systems of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is tightly connected with global food systems. However, biotic and abiotic stresses along with dryland conditions under the implications of climate change adding complexityto our local food production systems. Therefore, KSA food systems are passing through a transition by following a pathway of holistic systems-based approach and coordinated actions to incorporate scientific and technological innovations and best practices into our policy-making. In this session, several dimensions related to the national food pr... Leer másoduction systems and food security strategy and safety were discussed under the presence of multi-stakeholders inclusivity across the Saudi food systems. The most important findings contributing to the entire food supply chain in this session are as follows: 1. Local Food Production: - Encourage Research & Development for interdisciplinary collaboration to transform agriculture in drylands, which are supporting different types of food production systems. - Adaptation choices and risk management actions across temporal and spatial scales and contexts will need to build on robust methods of designing, implementing, and evaluating detailed development pathways. Such pathways, yet to be fully elucidated, must strengthen climate-resilience and limit trade-offs between different actors. - Controlled environment agriculture is the inherent need due to the agro-climatic conditions, and natural resource scarcity. The in-depth research is needed on various aspects to preserve the environment and natural resources enhanced productivity, and sustainably develop them to grow strategic food crops. - Providing real-time ongoing extension support services to farmers for decision making on individual entities by carefully blending local knowledge with modern science and technology that account for all dimensions of sustainability including environmental, social, and economic. - Advocating Nature-based solutions to protect ecosystems and biodiversity services for sustainable food system at national and global scale. - Prioritizing Science-based solutions to enhance resource use efficiency, empower people, and improve livelihood. - Invest in basic research and its translation into food security outcomes via Government/Private Sector Partnerships as an important component for long-term strategic planning to increase domestic production and foster food self-sufficiency. - Transboundary pests and diseases are serious threats to food production systems at all levels. The economic damages caused by them are worsening year by year. It is the right time to accelerate global efforts to scale up international response against transboundary plant pests and diseases to secure sustainable food production by avoiding agriculture losses due to Transboundary and Emerging Plant Pests and Diseases. - Encouraging the compliance of Saudi Good Agricultural Practices (SAUDI G.A.P.) standards to increase consumers' confidence in food safety and traceability. - Climate-smart practices are important to reduce the meteorological disasters loss by enhancing crop productivity, stabilizing yield, and ensuring global food security and nutrition. 2. Food Supply Chain - Due to high food import bill, it is the need of the hour to introduce fully integrated international and domestic food and agriculture monitoring system to ensure the provision of food to all parts of the Kingdom, efficiently and effectively, together with an early warning system for low levels. - Diversification of investment in importing food items bearing in mind the Virtual Water Trade and food value chain efficiency - Infrastructure development related to the agricultural sector and supporting sectors such as ports, railways, and roads at the level of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to ensure efficient and smooth flow of goods between them. - Preparing clear standards and controls for value-added chains, agricultural marketing mechanisms and services, and ensuring that they meet the requirements of the beneficiaries. 3. Consumption - Campaigns on social media platforms are very important to raise society' Leer menos

Sustainable agricultural rural development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program (2018-2025) was mainly launched to target eight sectors including 1) Smallholdings and traditional agriculture; 2) Production, processing, and marketing of Arabic coffee; 3) Beekeeping and honey production; 4) Rose cultivation and marketing; 5) fruit production and marketing; 6) Small-scale fisheries and fish farming; 7) Smallholder livestock production; 8) Rain-fed crops. The mission of the program is to achieve sustainable agricultural rural development in all regi... Leer másons of the Kingdom by strengthening the capacities of small-scale agricultural producers and their cooperatives and rural institutions to enable them to have access to productive resources, agricultural services and markets. The most important findings of this session are as follows: - Support and encourage the contribution of productive families and small enterprises in the agricultural sector. - Providing technical and logistical support to small farmers to grow promising crops such as coffee, roses and tropical fruits, etc., is very important. - Electronic extension services are critically important for capacity building and evidence-based decision-making about farming. - It is important to engage International Organization working on rural development for maximum returns. - The program will ensure sustained access to healthy food, while increasing women’s participation in the labour market as envisioned in Vision 2030. - Organic farming is providing exciting opportunities for rural development by increasing employment, reconnecting consumers with producers, and ecosystem services. - Rural development is crucial to fight poverty and improve the income level of family farming (FF). It is important to strengthen efforts to support small-family farming by improving their access to education, technology, and market, as rural development is directly linked with global food security. There is a need to empower youth and women because of their catalytic role in rural development. - R&D should be encouraged and incentivized to identify and deploy high-impact solutions across the value chain. The private sector can also play a key role in identifying commercially viable solutions for family farming. This includes the promotion of affordable technologies and the implementation of integrated innovative practices tailored to the needs of small-scale family farms and producers. Leer menos

Role of innovation and technology in the National Food Systems of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Modern agricultural practices and cutting-edge agri-tech innovations have enhanced the potential for partnering with farmers to promote sustainable agriculture development. Investment in agricultural technologies to increase crop and animal production is one of the most promising pathways for achieving sustainable agri-food systems and food security. Therefore, it is the right time to focus on the transition in agriculture by investing and adopting on all the available innovative technologies by keepi... Leer másng in mind megatrends and especially focusing our younger generations and women participation to fulfill the needs of future farmers to develop farm technologists instead of farmers. The most important findings of this session are as follows: - Research and innovation, policy intervention and educational measures are essential for meeting the five pillars 5P of the SDGs that are people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership - Research should focus on targeted areas focusing on technology and content-specific research. The main focus of research to invent, advance, and further develop local farming techniques. - Allocating funds to Research and Development to government bodies and private sector to answer various implementation questions to co-create tailor-made approaches, adapted to the local needs of farmers, rural communities, value chains, and consumers. - The use of ICT technology can help to improve water management, for example, remote sensing technology, to monitor and diagnose the water and nutrient status of crops, and artificial intelligence models. Such technology is very important in determining the water and fertilizer demand of the crop, so as to supply water and nutrients for crops at the appropriate stage, and reduce the luxury consumption of water, and fertilizer and protect the soil and water in the environment. - Seawater farming and saline agriculture is an exciting opportunity to unleash the potential of these resources for sustainable agriculture development - The concept of modern farming (Vertical farming, Hydroponic, Aquaponic) should be given priority to research, development and efficient use, and in this regard much research should be done on various aspects to start the cultivation of basic and strategic crops in such farming systems. - Vertical Farming is a specialized form of growing target crops, however, it is very important to optimize Vertical Farming to local climate and to the local situation from the design of the farm to the harvest of the produce. - There should be more discussion related to use of food produced through modern technologies, for example, culture meat, and these technologies can be considered a future priority areas of research. - Water, energy, and food security are key pillars for sustainable food production, human well-being, and rural poverty reduction. A better understanding of the interdependence of Water, Energy and Food (WEF Nexus) is critical for developing policies and innovation that enable a sustainable food system at a global scale, enable resource use efficiency, protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, improve livelihood, empower people, ensure food security and nutrition, and optimize sustainable economic benefits. Leer menos

Saudi Efforts Fighting against Food Loss and Waste Food Loss and Waste is a global problem of enormous economic, environmental, and societal significance contributes to a considerable portion of the global food supply. Its ramifications are part of several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both directly and indirectly. In order to tackle food sustainability challenges, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched several initiatives to ensure sustainability in our food system and preserving natural resources. In this regard, Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) under the umbrella of MEW... Leer másA launched a national program to reduce Food Loss and Waste based on the evidence of the magnitude of FLW. The first edition of this initiative revealed that overall 33.1 % of the total available food in the Kingdom is lost and wasted during the entire food supply chain that translates into 4.07 million tons of food per year. In this regard, establishing the intermediate targets to achieving SDG commitment 12.3 taking into account each country’s specific circumstances will be the way forward to tackle FLW. The most important findings of this session are as follows: - There is a need to quantify FLW by individual drivers across the supply chain - It is important to develop or amend legislative instruments to support the reduction of FLW and setting clear targets in line with SDG 12.3, a roadmap to achieve the desired objectives - The concept of Circular Economy, which mainly aimed to maximize resource efficiency, and reduce the environmental impacts by waste management hierarchy is pertinent in this context to recover nutrients and energy from wastes. - The regional and global efforts and awareness events with respect to sharing knowledge, best practices and experiences on FLW prevention activities along the entire food supply chain will help to tackle this growing issue at the country, regional, and global level. - FLW awareness campaigns were launched on responsible consumption patterns, it is important to maintain continuity. - Organizing events targeting young people to innovate and develop solutions to reduce food loss and waste. - The promotion of Food banks concept could help to rescue massive volumes of wasted food as an important element of food waste management strategy. - FLW is creating opportunities and attractive avenues for science and technology to provide tailored made innovative solutions to curb FLW. Leer menos

Empowering women and youth engagement in the Agri-food Systems In this session, the most important challenges facing the food systems in the Kingdom were discussed (from the point of view of women and youth), and the reasons for the reluctance of young people and women from agriculture, which were represented in many aspects, including problems related to manpower, unfair competition, training and efficiency, and others. The most important findings of this session are as follows: - Empowering women and youth and enhancing their role in participating in the food and agricultural supply chain in... Leer más the Kingdom. - It is very important to engage youth and women for the development of future sustainable and resilient food production systems. - Raising awareness and developing capabilities, by conducting training programs for women and fresh graduates through an integrated and flexible methodology. - Providing financial support to women and youth through the Agricultural Development Fund through long-term soft loans, to encourage investment in the food supply chain. - Support and enable agricultural associations with youth and women participation in the technical and marketing fields to develop mechanisms for marketing operations locally and abroad. - Capacity development of the rural youth through vocational training and extension for services to enhance employment outcomes and secure global food security Leer menos

MAJOR FOCUS The MEWA-led national dialogue focuses on bringing together a wide range of perspectives from the stakeholders ranging from science, industry, policy to the community involved directly and indirectly in the food systems to facilitate the dynamic exchange of knowledge and address interlinkages in the food system. The dialogue agenda comprised of Opening remarks, followed by one seventy-five minutes first session about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Food Systems. The second session was organized in parallel break-out sessions with small groups with different composition of participants ... Leer másunder the following four themes covering all the five action tracks of the Summit. Theme I: Sustainable agricultural rural development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (10 min presentation + 65 min discussion) Theme II: Role of innovation and technology in the National Food Systems of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (10 min presentation + 65 min discussion) Theme III: Saudi Efforts Fighting against Food Loss and Waste (10 min presentation + 65 min discussion) Theme IV: Empowering women and youth engagement in the Agri-food Systems (10 min presentation + 65 min discussion) In order to motivate discussions during break-out sessions, participants were encouraged to provide their opinion to overcome the challenges highlighted during the first session in order to develop sustainable, and resilient national food systems. After breakout sessions, participants were reunited to listen each session moderator outcomes for discussion in the presence of all the stake-holders that ultimately led to final concluding remarks. Leer menos

- Scientific research, modern technologies and cutting-edge innovations attain huge potential to transform the agriculture sector by introducing new farming concepts such as vertical farming, digital agriculture, circular agriculture, seawater farming aquaponics etc., to achieve sustainable agriculture development in drylands. There is a need to scale up and reflect in the policy instrument. - The FLW is a serious global issue that demands novel practices and innovative approaches. We should actively play our role in fostering and supporting initiatives contributing to the global reduction of ... Leer másFLW as well as the enhancement of food security. There is a dire need to set FLW intermediary targets for each country or region based on value chain specificities. Furthermore, enhance cooperation to develop mechanisms in order to promote coordination between value chain players responsible for interrelated food issues, such as marketing, storage, handling, pro-cessing, quality, and safety must be encouraged at all levels. - It is of utmost importance to invest in the capacity/capability of the local farmers and infrastructure. Such responsible investments in agriculture are of great potential in meeting the increasing demand for food and rural development. - It is the need of the hour to benchmark current farming systems through water use efficiency of crop income/mm of rainfall over the cropping sequence in order to devise a realistic system approach to achieve sustainable agricultural development in drylands. - Bridging the gap between science and policy through collaboration is very much crucial to develop efficient, affordable, and cost-effective solutions/technologies for impactful agricultural transformation. - A better understanding of the interdependence of Water, Energy and Food (WEF Nexus) is critical for developing policies and innovation that enable a sustainable food system at a global scale, enable resource use efficiency, protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, improve livelihood, empower people, ensure food security and nutrition and optimize sustainable economic benefits. In this regard, there is an urgent need to shift the idea of WEF Nexus from THINKING to ACTING through muti-disciplinary collaboration and close cooperation between companies, knowledge institutes, and government sector. Leer menos