Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

2. Sustainable consumption patterns for water and food Water-related consumption patterns of all stakeholders in the food systems – from consumers to industry and producers – optimize water use (for, processing and packaging, food loss and waste, etc.) to ensure sustainable access to clean water for healthy people and a healthy environment. Participants agreed that water was key to food security and underpinned all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Water plays a role at all stages of the value chain, and we cannot continue using water to the same extent that we are now. Sustainable consump... Read moretion of water requires global solutions, the effects of which would be felt at the local-level. One participant highlighted three key areas needed to ensure sustainable access to clean water, which framed a large portion of the discussion. These included (1) developing a unified agreement in the water space on what was important, (2) developing a suite of solutions for the global community to act on, and (3) developing a people-focused call to action to raise the profile of water. A key solution would be to break down the silos in the water community. Sustainable water use comes from integration, with the involvement of people from all sectors in conservation. This includes farmers, governments, the private sector, and the general public. Farmers could benefit from education programmes. Governments would benefit from access to high-quality data, allowing for the development of sustainable water policies. There would need to be a paradigm shift in the private sector, away from a risk-management perspective to an approach of water stewardship. Additionally, there is tension in terms of trade-offs and competition between different parts of the water sector which needed to be addressed. For the general public, sustainable consumption would require individuals coming closer to the understanding that water is sourced directly from nature and is essential to life. It would also be necessary to focus on local-level and community management, which would require building trust among all stakeholders. To a certain extent, participants diverged in terms of to what extent they thought the key issue was water scarcity vs. inefficient use of water. Those who framed the primary issue as inefficient use noted that technology and innovation could improve water-use efficiency and water productivity. These participants emphasized that increased demand for water and food requires excess capacity. However, others framed the primary issue as one of water scarcity, emphasizing an increased focus on sustainable consumption through awareness raising. For example, one participant noted that the agriculture sector focuses too heavily on measures that promote “more crop per drop” at the expense of generating awareness around sustainable consumption. Finally, participants highlighted the urgency of the issue. One participant noted that the global community would need to perform a miracle to integrate water action into SDG 17. Another noted that deforestation constantly makes front page news but water is being lost at a faster rate, and raised the question of why we are “here now when we’ve known that we’ve had a problem for so long?”. Read less

3. Boost/increase nature positive production of food through water management "Integrated watershed and agro-ecosystem management allows access to safe (pollution-free) and sufficient water for food production and human consumption while preserving or regenerating environmental water requirements (forests, lakes, groundwater recharge)." • Obstacles: Corruption, psychological resistance, barriers to knowledge and technologies, lacking and counter-productive incentive structures, financing and inadequate enabling environment (incl. legislation/regulation). • Cross-cutting actions o Inclusion... Read more: include marginalized populations, including women, indigenous groups, and youth, and guarantee equitable opportunities through support measures (e.g. subsidies). o Awareness-raising on farming practices and technologies as well as sustainability and equity issues o Governance: Political, institutional and legal change on the national level is central to transition to less water-intensive and more environment-preserving practices. Regulation needs to be developed and enforced, e.g. through rights-based approaches and enforcing voluntary standards. o Effective financing: Effective financial mechanisms/instruments are required to support these changes. o Systems thinking: Stakeholders need to shift from thinking in silos or two dimensions only to system approaches (e.g. water-energy-food nexus) including climate change considerations. Address trade-offs proactively through assessment tools on the landscape level and food systems. • Farmers as managers of land and water resources with fair financial incentive structures around: Farmers should be seen as both water consumers and conservers as they are de facto managers of not only their lands but a significant part of everyone’s water resources. This responsibility/service – if done sustainably – should be rewarded through appropriate incentives. • Promotion of and access to knowledge and technological innovation: Farmers and other stakeholders need better access to existing innovations and prototypes incl. awareness raising and capacity building. Innovators need better incentives and structures to proliferate their innovations. Knowledge of indigenous and marginalized groups must be promoted. Exchange visits between farmers can be a very effective mechanism. Governments need to pass required legislation and can support through subsidies and other means. Innovations can also substantially increase accountability o Innovation partnerships and market-based solutions: Develop new technologies through partnerships of researchers, private sector, finance, and end users. • Irrigation efficiency and crop selection: Irrigation as key intersection pertaining water use in agriculture requires capacity building and technological support for farmers for more efficient and crop-specific irrigation practices. Potential decrease in water consumption of up to 50%. Simultaneously, promote water-efficient and nutrient-rich crops (e.g. quinoa) while avoiding those with strong negative environmental impacts (e.g. crops for certain biofuels that have high economic value) and their support structures. Non-conventional water sources: A shift towards using non-conventional sources of water needs to take place across sectors. Awareness raising crucial due to strong psychological resistance. Read less

4. Advance livelihoods and equity through safe water "The human rights to water and sanitation and the right to food are achieved conjunctly with all people everywhere – in particular low-income households, marginalized groups, women, and youth – having fair, sustainable and equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and water for food production, processing, and consumption including food safety." Participants shared a range of perspectives to advance livelihoods and equity through water: 1) It is crucial to recognize the paradoxical nature of the global water crisis consider... Read moreing that we live on the “water planet”; in this regard, it was emphasized that the water crisis closely relates to water systems’ health, quality, and sustainability rather than to water scarcity. 2) Leveraging the rights to water and water allocation mechanisms were foundational measures to advance livelihoods and equity through water. 3) Advanced water management technologies (such as drip irrigation, sewage water harvesting and treatment, water desalinisation, prevention of food and water waste, etc.) and sustainable, integrated land and water management schemes were described as paramount to materializing enhanced livelihoods and equity. 4) The role of synergies across sectors and action tracks is central (e.g. landscape and value chain approaches, the water-food-energy nexus, etc.). There is a need of sound water governance, and tailored and coherent food systems/related policies, developed in close collaboration with indigenous people and farmers (e.g. the New Zealand example). Additional considerations include the “intergenerational equity” aspects (“if more water is spent now, there will be less water in the future”), resilience (“considering that not everybody is exposed to the same risks”), and data (“data enable water valuing and good water governance”). Read less

5. Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress "The resilience of water systems in the face of climate change is strengthened to meet the competing demands of agriculture, domestic use, industry, and environmental flows." Participants focused on how to build the resilience of water systems in the face of climate change to meet the competing demands of agriculture, domestic use, industry/energy, and environmental water requirements. There was a focus on regenerative agriculture, including the storage of water in the soil, seed selection, and rebuilding soil biodiversity, all of which... Read more improve the water cycling in agricultural systems. The continued degradation of soil through agriculture makes droughts much more severe. Regenerative agriculture offers a solution following nature’s principles. The fact that the most agriculture in Africa is rainfed was raised, pointing to the need for systems that predict rainfall for small farmers given that hydrological patterns are impacted by climate change. Rainwater harvesting can also offer part of the solution. The need to use natural systems including floodplains was discussed, farming that is compatible with flooding can maximize benefits. Three main needs were identified: 1) Systems transformation – this transformation is knowledge-intensive, requiring research, monitoring and learning, e.g. small farmers can benefit from a better understanding of when and how much to irrigate. More knowledge about grey/green infrastructure is needed. 2) Better policies– since local action is critical, how can policy impact this level. Faith-based organizations and municipal level actors are key. At the same time, national, regional and global policies can help create an enabling environment. Financial incentives need to change. 3) Changemakers – change will come through the “movers and shakers”; these champions must be empowered to lead. The group agreed that water should be firmly established in the FSS, however, only one of the 25 “game changers” in Action Track 5 focuses on water. Read less

There was very little divergence expressed in the breakout rooms, or at least very little was recorded by the notetakers and facilitators. However, many different views of what "good food" actually entailed were expressed; good food was defined as healthy, nutritious, culturally relevant, sustainable, spiritual, emotional, diverse, local, home-grown, fresh, communally shared, produced with dignity, affordable, tasty, and more.

Overview: Gathering youth voices from around the world, the Food Systems Summit Global Youth Dialogue invited a curated group of 100 youth for a discussion on the future of our food systems. The Global Dialogue brought together youth advocates from across the globe who champion a range of issues in their local contexts – from agriculture to climate to education. The Dialogue opened with high-level welcome remarks, followed by guest speakers answering the question, “What does ‘good food’ mean to you? Youth participants were then divided into groups for a dynamic discussion on the varied... Read more meanings of ‘good food’ sharing their ideas to help shape the future of our food systems in diverse contexts. To close the Dialogue, youth facilitators shared key insights from their groups and participants were issued a challenge to run 100 Independent Dialogues in their own contexts and communities. The Dialogue closed with the launch of the #Act4food #Act4change campaign. Opening Session: The opening session kicked off a conversation around youth engagement in food systems and how to inspire others to drive forward inclusive and sustainable actions to change the food system. The opening session featured: 1. Launch of series on Netflix with Waffles and Mochi exploring the wonder of food across the world 2. Ms Amina J Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General - spoke about those who are suffering from climate change are the most vulnerable, but highlighted that youth are most resilient. What is important is mobilising peer-to-peer support and having intergenerational partnerships. 3. Jessica Vega Ortega, Coordinator of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus - spoke about experiences of indigenous groups and her community’s different relationship with food, production, and on being linked to the land. She highlighted how we need to reinvent our practices and decolonise the existing food system to make it inclusive and equitable 4. Ms. Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF - raised 4 key issues that need to be reformed: the quality of what children eat; the quality of food environments; improving feeding practices in early childhood; reducing carbon footprints of production and minimising environmental damage. 5. Ms. Janya Green, youth co-chair for Action Track 1 - spoke on her own experience of setting up a community garden at age 12 and the importance of having initiatives be locally-owned and sustainable. Ms. Green also expressed support for new initiatives such as #actforfood #actforchange. 6. Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth - shared her thoughts on the intersection of food systems with climate action, such as how leaders are paying more attention to these issues but need to make sure they are translated into action. The Envoy on Youth also noted there is a huge potential for a new food system to create decent work, but this needs to be supported by policies, decision-makers, and finance. 7. Ms. Agnes Kalibata, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit - encouraged youth to be bold and highlighted the importance of these dialogues. The Special Envoy also highlighted that we need to be clear about what youth are bringing to the table, discuss what we expect from the Summit, and what actions youth would like to see in the future. 8. Ms. Emi Mahmoud, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador – shared an emotive spoken word poem touching on family, sharing food, and Ramadan. The initial session was broadcast on UN web TV, but for the breakout sessions the participants were split into 10 breakout rooms that employed Chatham House rules. Read less

Key themes from the dialogue Identified Problems 1. Low interest among youth in farming 2. Nutrition and unhealthy diets 3. Perspective that junk food is cheap and healthy, nutritious food is expensive 4. There is a disconnect between what is consumed and produced - long value chains 5. Exploitation of smaller producers by middlemen 6. Food waste -- both on a large scale (e.g. transportation and post-harvest losses) as well as smaller scales (individuals, households, and businesses) 7. Lack of support to smallholder farmers and the dominance of monopolies and corporations 8. Human rights – i... Read morendigenous, smallholder farmers, women, and children’s rights are not recognized enough 9. Food is not valued as filling spiritual and emotional needs; decreased communal sharing of food 10. Deforestation and land degradation caused by food production 11. Climate change – concerns of industrial pollution, unsustainable consumption of meat and dairy, transportation, and the impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable, small scale producers, and subsistence farmers 12. Lack of diversification in the food system; domination of a handful of staple goods, negative ramifications for the environment and human nutrition. 13. Limited education – both information for farmers and awareness of the food system and nutrition 14. Digital divide – unequal access to the internet and other technologies 15. Limitation of youth's voice in politics and industry What needs to be done: 1. Make farming attractive to youth – this includes changing the narrative and image of farming as well as providing access to sustainable finance, information, and proper training to make working in agriculture as attractive as traditionally white-collar jobs. More support needs to be given to empower and encourage agri-preneurs by both businesses and government policies. Incubators could also be created as hubs for young farmers to share ideas and interests. 2. Cut out the middleman – long food chains prevent farmers from connecting to consumers properly and result in lost income. Farming cooperatives and collectives should be supported to help with this. Waste management could also be improved this way. 3. Digitalisation – support to farmers in accessing technologies and enabling a sense of ownership so they are not controlled or priced out by large monopolies. Technologies are important in improving climate resilience, productivity, reducing waste, and marketing. 4. The right government subsidies a. Subsidies should facilitate and encourage more sustainable land management (e.g. forest regrowth, crop diversification, and carbon sequestration). b. Encourage growth of more sustainable food sources e.g. away from large scale meat and dairy production – food that is locally available and culturally relevant c. Stop subsidizing biofuels, as this takes land away from food d. Incentivise a more circular economy approach e. Support the growing and eating of more nutritious food rather than consuming 'junk food' – additional policies could also support this by requiring certain standards to be met and limiting the sale of empty-calorie foods. 5. Governments to deliver land reforms where necessary in line with indigenous rights, as well as stopping land grabs and giving priority to large scale corporations over smallholder farmers 6. Education a. Governments i. National or regional health campaigns to promote nutrition and healthy eating – as well as where food comes from ii. School syllabuses should include more information on the food system and encourage students to think critically about where food comes from and how it is produced b. Private sector i. Be transparent about value chains, how food is produced, and its nutritional content - better transparency should also be required by governments ii. Could run CSR activities to help broaden awareness on multiple topics c. Individuals – share and explain stories – this could tie in with any of the larger-scale initiatives as it was acknowledged that collectively lots of different individuals and actions have a substantial impact. Farmers also need better and more equitable access to information to improve sustainability and production. 7. We need to encourage youths to learn how to plant their own foods and to make them understand the importance of what they grow and what they eat – this would be a key part of reconnecting consumers and producers and building communities. 8. Home gardening and school feeding programs are effective in communities. Encourage people to grow their own vegetables, and help with the restoration of land through such means as planting fruit trees; by planting fruit trees, people are less likely to cut them down for fuel. 9. Youth inclusion – need to be more widely engaged in decision making either via youth parliaments, youth boards, or wider campaigning and advocacy. Existing youth groups could also do more to connect to those who may not have the same digital access. 10. Policies on GMOs could be developed to restrict intellectual property rights and to develop checks to stop monopolies. 11. Fortify food to improve nutrition. 12. Advertise nutritious food – there should be limits on advertisements for 'junk food' (led by governments) – but businesses should also be encouraged to do this through consumer advocacy and movements 13. We need to acknowledge the spiritual and emotional value of food more widely Read less

All groups discussed the same topic: “What does good food mean to you?” Summaries were prepared by the group's notetaker. Group 1 There needs to be more recognition of our producers’ efforts because they are the one who feeds us, yet they are going hungry. This could include building the network of goodness to protect the sectors we are serving and advance our advocacies. Agriculture needs to be rebranded to make it more appealing to young people and land rights is also key to this engagement. Food industries and producers should use their power to shine the light to healthy diet/food. W... Read moree want adverts of junk foods stopped in the UK and around the world, so obesity can be tackled. We need to encourage youths to learn how to plant their own foods and to make them understand the importance of what they grow and what they eat – this would be a key part of reconnecting consumers and producers and building communities. Young people are experts at their own experience and should be considered as equal partners. Group 2 Food loss and waste is a major issue; need ideas for how to upcycle and prevent food loss and waste, including better storage, reduction of time travelled/better transportation options, improved seed varieties. Smallholder farmers are often not paid fairly due to a reliance on middlemen, so more investment is needed for smallholder farmers in terms of both knowledge and finance Home gardening and school feeding programs are effective in communities. Encourage people that they can grow their own vegetables and help with the restoration of land by planting fruit trees; by planting fruit trees, people are less likely to cut them down for fuel. Not all the community members are knowledgeable about home gardening and how to take the plants. So, we have to create sessions to brief people on what to plant how and how to take care of the plants especially as most of the manure used is organic People only eat certain food because of branding and marketing and social media influence. We need to hold the industry accountable and need to restructure our consumption patterns – there is equality which has been exacerbated by COVID-19. Group 3 All participants conveyed that youth are not attracted to farming, and this is a big issue nowadays. Youth have limited access to finance and the opportunity to invest in food value chains due to lack of collateral securities, limited access to technologies to ease post-harvest handling and value addition. There has also been a failure to digitize the food system. In many places, food is basically produced in rural areas where ICT service access is still a dream, and limited access to business clinics and business incubation centres to support start-ups engaged in the food value chains. Some of the solutions proposed were; having sufficient finance for people to be more enthusiastic and attracted to agriculture or farming; there also needs to be better resources including access to land; respect indigenous rights; rethink the distribution of power so that governments reflect what young people need. Through policy change, we can ensure that people representing us can translate into policy young people’s inputs. From the consumption’s point of view, we have health issues related to unhealthy food and unhealthy habits. Undernourishment is a key issue. *continued in number 2. Read less

Group 4 Farmers and rural youth, especially those typically marginalized, need to be included in global dialogues to influence more directly policy makers. Also, addressing the digital divide is key as many rural communities remain isolated and also many slums in big urban areas, for instance there are programs that also focus on reform youth in criminal activities and give back to their communities by being involved in transforming food consumption. The role of artists and youth as trend-setters and culture shifters is key. Other than promoting spaces for youth to interact, youth’s ideas an... Read mored proposals need to be considered and more opportunities for youth need to be opened. Businesses need to support agri-preneurs. Policy makers need to address healthy and unhealthy foods as well as policy to promote nutritious food. The food industry needs to take into consideration the health and nutrition of consumers. This could also include raising awareness of where food comes from. Fair wages for farmers and a reduction of “the middleman” is important to rethink agricultural value chains. Labour rights in agriculture need to be respected and decent employment needs to be promoted. Child labour must be addressed as well as a gender focus on rural interventions, recognition of indigenous rights and land tenure. Group 6 Discussed the triple burden of nutrition and that there is not enough focus on prevention of malnutrition and unhealthy consumption. There is a lack of awareness of healthy food communication is not happening and instead there is focus on packaged and marketed food. There needs to be a stronger educational element in primary and secondary school on where food comes from, how it is produced and how it can be improved for people and the planet. There is opportunity for advocacy and changing mindsets e.g. invest in responsible consumption, but this also needs be met by government action. The UK was provided as an example, referring to the sugar tax. There was support for continued fortification of food to tackle malnutrition. How we produce and transport food was also discussed as last mile delivery is large problem in the developing world – need better access to innovative technologies, digitalisation and also better information for farmers. GMO technology was also discussed as a positive option, providing there are checks to stop a monopoly and unfair access and distribution of these technologies. Governments could subsidise carbon incentives for producers to tackle climate change aspect of the food system as well as acting to shorten production value chains. Group 7 Small holder farmers usually lack access to financial credit or land rights which both significantly impede their ability to obtain food sovereignty. It’s hard to begin to build a productive farm when the land can be snatched, and it’s impossible to bring your production to market if you don’t have the right up-front credit sources. The conversation about advocacy really was rooted in awareness. It all has to start with people knowing what’s right and what’s not right for our planet and our bodies. Food should be regional, seasonal, reasonable, and spiritual and people who connect to food should think about these four qualities to analyse the damage potentially being done by their diets. Awareness then allows us to start small, and bring small incremental change that can get to systemic levels of change when enough people join in. We don’t all have to immediately be a Greta, because we know she just started with a small incremental change at her own level too. However, this individual awareness raising needs to also lead to demanding policy action for change. We need to push our governments to re-write the economic incentives to shift the entire system, so that healthy and sustainable diets are the easiest to access, the most affordable, and the most desirable. *continued in section 3 Read less

Group 8 The group’s discussion cantered primarily on accessibility issues. There was significant discussion around the importance of access to high quality, nutritious foods to improve outcomes for education. There was also significant discussion about the importance of adequately compensating farmers for the work, improving the transportation system and eliminating middlemen where possible to ensure fair payment to farmers. There was high consensus from the group that investment must be made in nutritious foods for children in order to pursue country-wide advancement. Providing young people... Read more with a healthy diet is a surer investment than pumping money into youth clubs, etc. Short term changes lead to long term consequences. Meal plans in schools must be well implemented to be effective. Work closely with food foundations or corporate social responsibility branches of corporations to implement better policies. Group 9 Youth are more attracted to white collar jobs, and there is no youth involved in food production. People with influence have gotten money through businesses that do not produce food. And youth is looking up to these influential people as models, and abandoning food production, agriculture. We need to revise and see how we can have the youth get more into food production, agriculture, food processing factories. We can benefit from empower young, smallholder farmers, especially those using sustainable practices. Grant them more spaces in the market. Need to tackle the problem of affordability – we need to urge the lowering of prices of food, healthy foods are not very affordable. The food that is affordable is not healthy, and people will only consume that because this is all they can pay for. Affordability is key for heathier lifestyles and diets. It was raised that there could be more conversations and dialogues. Discuss what it means to actually transform the food systems. The group also discussed youth leaders and people in power and developing this capacity – tackling corruption was also raised as an important step. Read less

Governments at all levels make maximum use of their leverage power to bring about sustainable food systems transformation through procurement.Issues, opportunities and action: 1. Procurement for school meals impacts on sustainable production & consumption, diets and children’s health. Why is it not happening? 2. One third of food procured goes to waste. Economic and environmental rationale for saving on food loss and waste (FLW). 3. Public procurement can send strong market signals and raise the whole market baseline towards healthier, more sustainable food and reduced FLW. ... Read more4. Incentivize growers towards more healthy foods. They won’t make the switch themselves as they lack resources. It is a long-term & high effort engagement. 5. The bottom-up approach with sub-national entities has grown (e.g. ICLEI) and can contribute to Nationally Determined Contributions. The stronger the local efforts, the more likely national governments will follow with strong commitment. 6. Procurement of eco-labelled products by government agencies can support a market for them. Increased resource efficiency will ensure that sustainably produced products are not more expensive. 7. Definitions of sustainable public procurement vary and can include health, waste, environment, human rights.  Create good procurement guidelines and improve technical competence in procurement teams.  Procurement managers need to be trained and incentivized to procure food sustainably/locally, and factor that in next to cost minimization. 8. Coherent policy, guiding structure and capacity building. 9. Just transitioning: subnational governments can revitalize rural economies by investing in local employment and creating agricultural jobs through local public procurement policies.Potential divergence: • Complexity of trade-offs: what is most important? Biodiversity, food security, healthy nutrition, forest protection or climate? Work across sectors, identify sweet-spots. • Lock-ins & vested interests: Vested interested may not want to let go of the (unsustainable) status quo. Ensure that clear win-wins are used straight away, e.g. ensure procurement of locally grown school meals which support local economies –demonstrates the possibilities at local, municipal, sub-government levels. • Current polices may incentivise deforestation. Certain products that e.g. drive deforestation, GHG emissions could be banned.Measuring success: - Assessing the policy itself, a key driver for the shift from a cost-based to a sustainability-focused approach with new KPIs. - A compelling economic case for sustainable procurement, which can be built (and monitored) through: • internalizing external costs • measurable food waste reduction • assessing proxies for success • creation of a level playing field • jobs creation and savings • sustainability issue as a national security issue • food safety as a public health issue • measure of dietary quality and its impact on public health (also economic)Contributions participants can make: - Double down on leadership and use multi-stakeholder process to tackle the balance between economic development and preserving nature. - Restate their commitment on FLW, look at other levers, collaborate with unexpected partners. - Build on eco-label and resource efficiency. - Demonstrate that different sectors and levels of government can collaborate and procure sustainable food. - Continue promoting sustainable healthy diets to prevent the burden of malnutrition and work towards a healthy planet. Read less

Interlinkages and trade-offs between policy areas (e.g. agriculture, environment, health, nutrition, etc.) are actively managed through holistic and coherent food systems policies that catalyze joint actionPriority actions: • Break silos between different institutions, administrations and stakeholders. First step: involve in the conversation those stakeholders that have been left aside. • The UN through the FSS could provide guidelines and incentives to reorganize their administration so that transformation and policy coherence are achievable. • A systemic approach requires ra... Read moredical changes within institutions and people’s mindsets. Research must build on available information that can inform and transform policy and develop methods and expertise to support institutional change. Research must provide a frame for the change. • We have evidence on what to do to make food production sustainable, e.g. agroecology. We need to use the evidence to implement necessary actions through holistic approaches. All stakeholders need to invest. • Closing gaps between producers and consumers means knowledge and information democratization to facilitate informed decision-making. Who must take the lead? A disruptive answer was new institutions co-created by existing institutions that are flexible and prospective enough to deal with today’s and future challenges, learning from the past.Areas of divergence: 1) Inclusiveness: • One participant mentioned some NGOs civil society feel relegated and concerned about private sector involvement in the FSS process. How can inclusiveness be promoted, so that the interest of the people is properly represented, not only the private sector? • Good mix between science and policy would benefit inclusiveness. Silos are not only between governments and departments, but also between stakeholders. 2) Role of trade and markets • We need to localize food systems and deal with inequity, allowing people to produce what they need and not depend on cheaper food produced overseas. Shipping food is one of the problems in the food system. Global and local food systems are needed to feed the world. Policy makers should remove these blockages. • Trade-off between consumers' access (price) and producers' income (price).Measuring success: • Set milestones for monitoring the transformation. The SDGs are a good frame to do it, but need to be contextualized at national and subnational scales. There are different trade-offs at different levels. • Promote a systemic and holistic approach across scales. • Challenges lie in collecting, analysing and accessing data for these indicators, to inform decision-making in different contexts and scales. • In the short term, monitor policy shifts in countries to learn from them and act accordingly. • Look at the different interlinkages, associated trade-offs and synergies. We need in country level actions and try to break those silos.Participants’ contributions: • Help people, cities, regions and countries build up policy with systemic approach. • Global research alliance for nutrition and Hopkins University are working to get information at subnational level on SDG indicators, to support local decision-making. • The Millennium institute is working with UNDP to develop locally adapted models to see how SDG targets can be met based on local conditions. • The Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica contributes with research and awareness raising of future professionals, and extension and discussion fora, for example in the Food Loss and Waste Initiative in Latin America. Read less

There we difficult trade-offs:1) The place of animal source foods in diets. Some highlighted how debates about meat eating becomes a “turf war” in food system conversations. One group recommended to focus on how these systems should be improved. Another highlighted the need to have a shared understanding of what a planetary-bounded healthy diet is and how we can achieve it with minimal levels of global trade-offs. 2) The question of which investments and “perverse” subsidies should be discontinued. Some participants were in favour of getting rid of those that cause damage – e.g... Read more. by leading to deforestation, waters, soils, fertilisers, desertification, etc. Some participants suggested that certain products that drive deforestation and Greenhouse gas emissions, for example, could be banned. But there are trade-offs, e.g. potential loss of employment in certain sectors and economic losses. 3) The tension between the efficiency of highly industrial food systems focused on a limited set of value chains (e.g. monoculture) vs. the multiple benefits (health, environmental…) of diversification. 4) Conflicting policies, and the fact that subsidies and investments might not reach the final-level target, such as farmers. 5) The trade-offs in terms of what is most important: Biodiversity, forests and climate, or food security, or healthy nutrition? Participants highlighted the need to work across sectors and identify “sweet-spots”. 6) The controversies in the role of trade and markets, including: the trade-offs between consumers’ access (buying price) and producers’ income (selling price); competition of cheap imports with local production vs. the need to ensure an efficient distribution of food; etc. 7) The tensions between local and global levels, with some feeling the current system blocks local action and calling for decision-making to move from the global to the local level.No clear solutions for addressing these challenges were identified but there was consensus on the fact that controversies and “elephants in the room” must be surfaced if we want to really tackle these issues. Participants agreed that Dialogues and the Food Systems Summit provide a good opportunity to do so. Read less

The discussions were animated and rich. Participants appreciated the fact they were interacting with individuals and institutions they did not know. Some appreciated the possibility to address difficult questions and “elephants in the room”.Connections in the groups generated enthusiasm and strengthened the urgency to act. Significant energy emerged as groups shared highlights of their exchanges in plenary. One group even called to bring the power of love in decision-making, reminding all that food is also “feeling, culture and emotion”.The following themes emerged across the ... Read moregroups, demonstrating the inter-relations between topics:Strengthening the agency of small and medium food producers and suppliers Many emphasized the importance of strengthening the agency of those who are at the forefront of providing food. The support needed includes access to: training and higher level education; finance and insurance; markets, retailers and marketing strategies; technology and digital tools; capacities for reducing Food Loss and Waste (FLW) and sustainable intensification; and capacity to use evidence-based approaches. Investments in the post-COVID recovery provide an opportunity to support smallholders and SMEs, contributing to a “just transition”.Empowering consumers to be drivers of change Consumers need to be empowered with better information such as through food labels and eco-labels. We can build on successful campaigns (e.g. FLW reduction) and develop new tools for behaviour change.Addressing economic and social inequities Participants urged to address economic and social inequalities that poor producers and consumers face, stating that unless we do so “our solutions will only be band-aids”. Some asked “how can we structure the economic system into a more circular and less extractive system?”Investing in the “just transition” Several groups emphasized the importance of aligning public and private investments. Tools to measure externalities (positive and negative) should inform investments, and new financial tools adapted to smallholders, “agro-preneurs”, and SMEs should be developed – e.g. making smaller amounts of capital accessible locally. Investors and donors working in different sectors should come together. Repurposing subsidies and tackling agricultural reform was also highlighted.Public procurement can incentivize sustainable production and consumption, e.g. through sustainable school meals, which can address all SDGs. Participant discussed why public procurement is not used more and called for harmonizing definitions of sustainable public procurement and providing more guidance, including on reducing FLW. The leveraging power of sub-national governments in local economies was emphasized.Local action supported by national leadership Several groups recognized the struggle to reconcile global challenges and goals with the local reality. Subnational governments are key, in particular for revitalizing rural economies by investing in local employment, including in agriculture. Linkages between producers, retailers, consumers, researchers and cross-sectoral collaboration can be most effectively fostered at local level. Strong national leadership and coherent national policies also play a crucial role.Action guided by science and evidence All groups agreed science, data and evidence are key to guide and monitor action. Participants called for science to: be done and communicated in ways that are more usable for policy makers; bridge fields and address trade-offs and lock-ins; to democratize knowledge. The value of lived experience and traditional knowledge was also acknowledged. Some advocated for describing change in a way that connects to people’s emotions and incorporate emotion with data for decision-making.Dialogue and bringing people together as fundamental The importance of bringing stakeholders around the same table was part of all groups’ recommendations, e.g. through value chain roundtables (c.f. in Canada) and food councils . The term “trickle-down dialogues” was coined to get this conversation going from global to local level. Working with youth and bringing in under-represented groups is key. Some called for ensuring there is a direct line to concrete action and accountability.SDGs as the compass for measuring success, with a focus on the local level Many groups referred to the SDGs for assessing success. They emphasized the importance of focusing on the local level, both in terms of data collection and assessments of success, and of refining indicators (e.g. to include investment-related components).Participants saw the Food Systems Summit as a unique opportunity to catalyze collective action, innovation and leadership in all the areas described above. Read less

Farmers and food producers lead the way to sustainable and equitable food systems by participating in the formulation of policies that impact them; they are supported and celebrated.The group identified the following action areas as essential to achieve impact: • Incentives: in order to create transformative change, farmers need to have the ability to get out of that which is locking them in (policy arrangements, financing, standards, market pressures). New incentives need to be created to reward farmers for producing health and sustainable food. • Support Smallholders: smallholder ... Read morefarmers and family farmers, in developing countries especially, must be supported in the areas of insurance policy and certification of their farm products. • Just transitions and farmer agency: In any transition there will be winners and losers. Just transition policies need to be put in place so that farmers are not unduly harmed. As farmers will bear the costs, farmers need to be given much more more voice and agency in the transition process. Creative strategies must be developed to align agriculture with investors’ and food companies’ net zero commitments. • Market access: Farmers should be supported in connecting to markets, through digitization and other strategies. • Youth: incentives should be developed to encourage youth to farm. • Improve livestock: We need to focus on how to make companies involved in this sector move forward significantly in terms of climate impact, antibiotic use, etc. • Pre-competitive co-operation: between companies to figure out how to lessen their impact and to find models to implement with farmers. • More dialogue between industry and farmers is key to move sustainability goals forward and meet targets. The group raised the questions: how can industry help to deal with farmer locks ins and incentives? How can industry help to educate consumers and create links between farmers and consumers?Divergence: • Livestock: Debates about meat eating become a “turf war” in food system conversations. Perhaps it is more generative to focus on how these systems should be improved.The group felt we could tell whether the actions listed above would be successful in the following ways: • By working directly with farmers on indicators around climate change, biodiversity; • If farmers continue to farm (rather than leaving the sector). • If governments come together at the Food Systems Summit to make sure farmers are incentivized through the correct policies and commitments. • If farmers are rewarded for enhancing ecosystem services (and other goals). • If farmers have agency to get out of lock-downs they are facing.The participants in the group were ready to contribute to this progress in the following ways: • By developing a tool to evaluate how individual companies are contributing to food system transformation and create accountability for companies that are lagging behind. • By having more difficult conversations, especially with regard to “elephants in the room.” Read less

Small and medium enterprises thrive as drivers of sustainable local food systems - innovating, creating employment, partnering, and providing healthy and nutritious foods to local consumersRecommended priority actions: • Bring companies into the nutrition space - Healthy food should not come at a premium. Pricing needs to reflect externalities. Companies can play include nutritional values of foods, from soil to plate. More local food chains and improved circularity are needed. • Address economic and social inequalities - Need more attention to power and agency in the FS Summit age... Read morenda. Without addressing economic and social inequalities that poor producers and consumers face, solutions will only be band-aids. More attention to legal and policy frameworks on investment, trade and market power from the national to the global level (e.g. WTO) is needed. • Leverage the COVID crisis to enable SMEs to build back better – COVID will lead to more deaths from economic decline than the virus. The World Bank looks at the barriers SMEs face, e.g. finance, transport, policy. SMEs need better support to feed their products into the supply chain and be at the core of building back better. • Provide tools to support behaviour change (BC) - “You can’t change what you can’t measure”. Technology can support BC. Common responses for why food companies aren’t accelerating sustainability practices is that consumers are not ready. Evocco wants to use data about consumers to compile market reports for food industry players. • Make data driven approaches affordable for SMEs - SMEs do not have budgets for data and often lack an evidence-based approach. They need an innovation budget. • Financial tools - Governments and large companies need to think about blended financial tools and subsidies. Money needs to be on the table for SMEs to make necessary changes.We will know if we are successful: • By identifying healthy food indicators – e.g. ‘A food that is good for us and good for the planet’ – how can we engage people in the ‘power of love’. We want leading, positive reinforcement. • Through focus on evidence and measurement - The Ceres2030 project, shows the importance of reviewing the evidence and quantifying how much and where spending is needed. The FS Summit should champion the call for better assessments of food systems problems and quantify the costs of solving them. Difficulty comes when moving from concrete to less tangible measurements. New technologies need to be leveraged to support evidence building.Areas of divergence: • Local v Global difference needs to be addressed. Evidence and analysis are required to address trade-offs and enable change. Decision-making needs to move from the global to local level. The current system blocks local action. Use the ‘power of love’ – change needs to be described in a way that connects to people’s emotions. Incorporate emotion with data for decision making. Some ideas about what is least environmentally impactful are not correct.Participants’ contributions: • Share templates, tools and prototypes for strategies • Come up with a unified tagline for sustainable and healthy food systems. It is difficult to align people behind a system, rather than an output • Increase marketing budgets for SMEs to provide healthy, sustainable foods to consumers • Continue to develop measurement and evidence • Build tools for consumer behaviour change • Work with governments to get the policy right • Carry out more R&D on health, healthy foods and BC, to move sustainable food systems up governments’ priorities list Read less

Agriculture and land use strategies drive the promotion of agro-biodiversity and stimulate local food production, in a way that provides sustainable livelihoods and healthy diets for all.We need “game changing action” to implement a global movement for more biodiverse crops from production to consumption. Agrobiodiversity could be a game changer to scale up nature-positive production and support people with healthy, nutritious food.Recommendations: • The consumer needs better information, e.g. through labels which provide information about the environmental impact of food (wa... Read moreter footprint, carbon footprint, biodiversity food print). Consumer demand is an important driver for change. The group discussed who provides information to consumers and agreed science should help improve consumer information.• Producers need to learn about “forgotten” seeds. Farmers need access to more trainings, better seeds (e.g. through seedbanks, seed quality, seed systems), and improved crop storage. Family farmers and small-holders need support in: farmer organization, improved market access and links with retailers; access to digital tools; access to higher education levels; capacities in processing and packaging to reduce post-harvest losses. Their ability to speak at policy level should be strengthened. Farmers also need support to do more with less (sustainable intensification). Policies need to address challenges associated with water usage in agriculture.• Science: Knowledge and information is key, for producers and consumers, hence science has a critical role. More research on agrobiodiversity is required, together with better cooperation between science and multi-stakeholder innovation. Sound monitoring is needed to make actions successful, to trace crops from gene banks back to the ground, and to monitor diversity from production to consumption. Science needs to be transformed into applications, linked to farmers, e.g. : living labs, connecting researchers with various stakeholders (consumer organizations, farmer organizations, etc.), to co-create solutions and encourage local innovation.• Policy: Subsidies need to be repurposed to support smallholders and family farmers in a transformation towards more (agro)biodiversity, and to increase the use of underutilized crops. Agrobiodiversity is being integrated in the post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (ref: SDG 2.5 and Aichi target 13).• Private sector: Resilient landscape approaches need to be strengthened, including with cooperation of private sector, e.g. by supporting the production of more biodiverse crops. Business models that benefit agro-biodiversity are needed. Example: Costa Rica’s Sustainable Gastronomy initiative, which is a huge opportunity for the tourism sector. There is space to test and pilot new innovations through collaborative business models.Key overarching topics for the Food System Summit: • Better connections between science, policies and innovation • Strengthening connections between farmers, consumers and all stakeholders to co-create solutions • Bringing together different policy areas (climate change. Biodiversity, desertification). The agricultural sector could be at the center of this convergence through the food systems lens. • Access to finance • Knowledge sharing (esp. with farmers) • How to structure the economic system into a more circular and less extractive system, and the need to shift incentives. • The linkages between culture, tourism and biodiversity Read less

Consumers worldwide have shifted to more conscious and sustainable consumption patterns, within planetary boundaries, in line with nutritional recommendations. Recommended Actions: • The continuation and spread of Food Loss and Waste (FLW) consumer campaigns in different countries, drawing on expertise such as the World Resource Institute’s and examples in countries (UK & South Africa) where there are great success stories. A key component of this success also involves dialogues like these. • Actions taken up by national leadership – these will have the greatest impact ... Read moreon consumer diet shifts, e.g. China’s recent carbon neutral pledge, which will need to consider healthier consumption alongside environmental strategies. • Redesigning inclusive solutions that change diets, beyond awareness building campaigns. Consumers don’t change the way they eat because a panel of experts say so. Food is feeling, culture and emotion. In the next three years we need to look past ideology, reconcile definitions and design inclusive solutions. • The group saw an opportunity in the fact that social movements are “trending”. Despite the effortless look and feel of citizens taking the streets, there is a lot of work and effort that goes into these, and we can potentially use this as a way to make change. Requires a closer look at highlighting the nexus of climate, food and people.Controversies and Divergences: • Debate on animal products in diets. We need a shared understanding around what a planetary bounded healthy diet is, and how we can achieve it with the minimal level of global trade offs. • Need to move beyond dialogues and ensure there is concrete action. We can make small steps in the right direction and hold each other accountable.Measuring success: • Using standard templates for reporting and measuring success, such as in the case of FLW. Countries can measure baseline numbers around FLW and compare afterwards. • For carbon pledges, there needs to be similar research, monitoring and evaluation to ensure that progress is taking place, using scientific methods. The key will be to look beyond national figures and dive deeper into the socio-economic, local and regional nuances that collectively make a systemic shift. This could also entail national food policies, that transcend an agricultural ministry, but involve budget and strategy across ministries. • Ensuring an inclusive process for the redesign of the food system. This is happening now, with the Summit process underway, and the dialogues as a piece of that. However, for true success, we need to make sure new and diverse actors are participating, specifically from civil society and those who are struggling from the compounded challenge of a health pandemic, economic crisis and food insecurity. This includes SMEs, local retailers, and restaurants, as well as manufacturers. • Financial and behavioural nudges are important. Like all actions they must be applied differently in different contexts. The food environment is critical to people making the right demands.Participants’ contributions: • Advance the work of collective action groups that include retailers, manufacturers, and CEOs, and create standard messaging. • Enhance and spread the word on science-based game changers. Support research that will build the evidence around consumer influence in shifting food systems. • Continue to work with countries on ways to implement FLW Campaigns in a tailored, fit for purpose, approach. • Tackle reforms around agricultural subsidies that negatively impact consumers on nutrition. Read less

Policies, actions, and investments in sustainable food systems are informed by science that promotes a systems approach, appreciates impacts beyond individual sectors, and builds on traditional knowledge –The group identified 3 areas requiring attention: 1. The science / policy interface: • Focus on ensuring science is usable in policy making. • Address gaps in existing regulations and the lack of scientists involved in policy making • Bring scientists from different fields together for coherent policies. More generalists are needed to bridge sectors. • Science should fin... Read mored adequate processes to address trade-offs and facilitate dialogue between different sectors. • Inclusivity: Key actors are often missing in discussions (e.g. technical hurdles excluding people). Science on the ground provides the opportunity to connect with stakeholders. • Addressing asymmetries to ensure everybody has a voice in policy processes.2. Issues around data: • Data availability: find efficient and inclusive ways to gather missing data (e.g data gap on “traditional markets” in the global south). • Equity issues: we need to think about who is generating data, who holds it and who can access it (i.e paywalls). Revise who is heard when collecting data and addressing existing power relations. • Platforms to make alternative knowledge / lived experiences visible need to be created • Make lived experiences and traditional knowledge count as valid knowledge in science. • A platform should be created for different kinds of knowledge to come together and find a common ground.3. Research and dissemination of knowledge: • Think about different ways to do science, e.g. with new tools and ways of sharing knowledge. • Overcome the established notion of who is relevant in science, whom do we listen to, and bring in more young people and underrepresented voices. • Access to knowledge should be democratized. • Ask the question of relevance when doing research: whom are we working with, whom is it relevant for? • Dealing with the difficulties of this era of disinformation: focus not only on people who “believe in science” but bring everybody in. • Use interdisciplinary approaches to embrace the complexity of food systems and interrelated issues. • Multidisciplinary/ transboundary research: need for a better toolbox for communication when engaging with diverse actors. • Optimizing at local level: find innovation that is suitable for local contexts. • Improve the contextualization of scientific findings. • Communication work is needed, especially showcasing local knowledge • Dissemination of results and funding: when asking for funding for research, communication and outreach after the study should be an integral part of the project. • Finding ways to break lock-ins: for example, we can put our existing narratives aside and find new narratives that are co-created in a dialogue.The group recommended the following for using science in the Food Systems Summit Dialogues: • Bring in new science and ways of knowing, not only already established knowledge. • Bring new people and underrepresented voices from the science community into the Food Systems Summit Dialogues (e.g young people, indigenous peoples, farmers) • Connect data from different disciplines and sectors and make it available to foster dialogue among sectors • Value different kinds of data and host “wisdom exchanges” to democratize knowledge production. • Enable the art form of translating science and data into policy. What are new systems approaches and platforms that we can use to do this? Read less

Innovative governance and incentives at all levels foster cross-sectoral collaboration across policy areas (e.g. biodiversity, climate change, health, trade, etc.).The group identified the following action areas as priorities to foster cross-sectoral collaboration: • Working on sustainable school meals: Every child goes to school in most of the world – school meals can be linked to smallholders, culture, organic agriculture, healthy environment. At the UNFSS, this can break silos. It is also politically easy because you can address all the SDGs through school meals. They can create l... Read moreinks from local to national scales. Who to involve? Governments, farmers, food suppliers, procurers, etc. National and local levels should work together. What’s the push to make this on a large scale? It’s a triple win: through school meals you can achieve healthy food, healthy people, and healthy environment while addressing social aspects (small-holders livelihoods). It also helps build the resilience of cities and regions. What stopped people to date and what can help? Sometimes the procurement legislation is not supportive, or farmers are in remote areas, are not well connected or are difficult to reach; it is also about political decision making, and the fact that this is not seen as a low hanging fruit. • Set up food or value chain roundtables/councils where several parts of the food chain are represented and learn to know each other: Value chain roundtables have existed in Canada for almost 2 decades and proved very useful to respond to the COVID-19 food system crisis. These existing systems allowed a rapid response. Councils look at key value chains, and how we integrate the perspectives of actors to build resilience and plan for the long term. • Combining innovation with classical approaches: We can use the many innovations in the corporate sector, technology, and social organization and make sure they are coherent with the UNFSS objectives. Yet, more classical approaches such as social protection programmes for example have been gaining success in the past months because they target and help to the most fragile people. Also, value chain actors have to sit together to solve these issues. • Having a coherent food policy and national round tables that connect and inclusive value chains discussions. • Setting up departmental agencies to allow cross-sectoral collaboration: example of Canada. • Programmes that address the triple burden of malnutrition (overnutrition, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies). • Foster open innovation: facilitate sharing information which then allows innovation to come from broader set of actors, and support collaboration. • Multi-sectoral food policies: food policies need to link agriculture, health, trade and environment across multiple parts of government. This is not easy and requires hard work and a matrix approach in organization. • Country-appropriate approaches: the Goal for the summit is that countries explore all and actually set up these approaches as appropriate to their country. • “Embracing opposites” in how we work across silosThe group determined that an indicator of success in fostering cross-sectoral collaboration will be the permanency and institutionalization of these processes. It proposed as a target that through the UNFSS, X number of countries should learn about these value chains roundtables and food policies. Read less