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Several key themes emerged from the Dialogue discussions, in the context of understanding existing knowledge of participants, the possibility of translating knowledge from on-going sustainable agricultural systems in China to UK relevant scenarios and exploration of future opportunities to address identified knowledge gaps. Participants could see the benefit and value of adopting a circular economy in agricultural systems as it offered a means of ensuring that current and future food demands are met. This then lead to a discussion considering the risk-benefit of a circular economy. This reveal... Read moreed we need more data to comprehensively understand the risks as well as the benefits but so far research demonstrates that these practices can introduce contaminants into our agricultural systems. This presents a risk to human and ecosystem health. Of particular concern were emerging contaminants. As their name suggests these contaminants are ‘emerging’ and our understanding is only in its infancy in terms of knowledge surrounding the associated fate and risks in agro-environments. We need to continue our work characterising these chemicals in the environment by developing analytical capabilities to ensure we can detect these chemicals at low, environmentally relevant concentrations. A key message was that we need to work with a transdisciplinary focus. This is a complex topic and understanding the risks and benefits of adopting a circular economy cannot be achieved by working solely on our areas of interest and in isolation. We need to adopt a nexus approach bringing together expertise in food, energy, sanitation, environment, human health, and policy. Collaborative thinking will require funding mechanisms to be put in place support future interdisciplinary research initiatives. A key theme emerged that we need to work with a solutions focus moving forward. We have a growing body of knowledge surrounding the risks of using sustainable agricultural systems and in particular the use of organic fertiliser but the benefits of adopting these practices are significant in terms of meeting global food demands. We therefore need to work on developing mitigation options to ensure that these practices are done in a safe and sustainable manner. Participants discussed mitigation options and put forward their own work investigating mitigation options such as additional wastewater treatment and use of biochar to adsorb some of the contaminants. This is an area where future work is needed and there is the potential to build collaborations through this Dialogue to explore this further. New policy developments are underway in the UK, largely driven by the new national strategy following the recent departure from the European Union. Focus areas are carbon reduction, driving down synthetic fertiliser use and pursuit of a circular economy. These mirror the efforts currently underway in China to ensure a zero increase in chemical fertiliser use. However, on a global scale, very little policy exists in terms of regulating the release of emerging contaminants in the environment even though sustainable agricultural practices, such as the application of organic fertilisers, provides a pathway by which these chemicals can enter the agro-environment. Environmental regulators therefore need to harness the latest scientific developments to establish research informed thresholds allowing for the safe use and application of organic fertilisers. This is going to require research outputs to be disseminated to regulators and presented in an accessible format. The Dialogue built on existing relationships and most importantly facilitated new connections with stakeholders and academics in the UK and China who have an interest in the use of sustainable agricultural practices to support future agricultural development. This will allow for combined expertise to address the crucial knowledge gaps identified in our discussions. Read less

Current Policy Framework and Future Policy Drivers There are current policies and frameworks in place concerning a circular economy in agricultural systems, in both the UK and China, although further development is needed given the complex nature of this system. Policies are driven by the need to reduce our reliance on chemical based fertilisers, recover nutrients and the need to become carbon neutral and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Existing policy is also in place to protect the environment from the presence of contaminants although this policy area is largely fragmented. In China fa... Read morermers are given 100-500Y per tonne to use organic water-derived fertilizer though these aren’t always evenly distributed. There are also penalties in place for poultry/pork farmers who do not recycle waste and pollute water ways. The Chinese government also produces technical documents which advise farmers on how to use wastewater-derived fertilizers, i.e. how to apply and maximize benefit whilst minimizing risk. UK legalisations set environmental quality standards for contaminants and restrictions on the usages of animal manures given local climate and weather conditions. The UK plans to mitigate flooding partly though soil management policies such as reducing compaction. In the UK the drive to recover nutrients is part of the net zero by 2050 targets. In response to Brexit, new environmental and agricultural bills are in the pipeline which are in line with carbon reduction commitments and in pursuit of circular economy. UK policies include driving down synthetic fertiliser use and to making fertiliser use more efficient, e.g. full life-cycle analysis for nutrient additions. Whether existing legislations are followed is hard to judge or even control. We need to ensure guidance and regulations are clearly communicated and incentivised to ensure maximum support from farmers and land managers. In the UK water treatment companies and government are considering carbon credits to encourage better resource recovery and facilitate farmers to use organic fertilizers and increase soil carbon. Issues have been identified concerning heavy metals (Pb and Cd) and the build-up of these within soils over repeated application of fertilizer. Organic fertilisers can also introduce emerging contaminants into the environment however legislation permitting safe levels of these chemicals in the environment is largely missing. It is therefore important to consider the impacts on human and ecosystem health in development of new policies to account for this. When considering policy implementation in the context of supporting a circular economy, we need to consider nexus solutions. We need to link sectors together (waste and agricultural sector along with food, water, energy, human health and soil) to address relevant systemic issues and identify the primary drivers, concerns and points of intervention. Organic fertilizer is fundamental for improved soil health within agriculture, it also serves as a suitable waste removal technique and therefore has potential to be widely adopted in modern day agriculture over that of synthetic fertiliser. However more attention is needed in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to better control nutrient and contaminant concentrations. Ultimately, organic wastes need to be used in a safe and sustainable manner. In order to both improve global food demand and preserve/improve environmental quality we need to enforce environmental legislation. However we suggest a reduced focus on standardised guidelines, and instead increase awareness and train people to be local problem solvers. Previous experience has shown it is often the implementation of the policies which fail. We need positive incentives and support needs to be in place with a focus on education to reduce barriers to social change in practices which incorporate circularity principles which are nexus-smart. Current legislations and policies only assess the toxicology of single contaminants, more work is required to make this realistic by looking at mixtures of both inorganic and organic contaminants and the risk of antibiotic resistant genes to society. Read less

Technical Adaptations in waste recovery and use of resource? There is much potential to apply technical adaptation in waste recovery. Ultimately, we need to embrace new, more sustainable approaches to farming, rather than trying to alter a broken system. However, this will require a change of approach, focusing on the role of wastewater treatment in terms of making the waste products safe in terms of human and environmental health whilst maximising nutrient recovery to realise the benefits of this reuse. A balance needs to be met here. Current processes which are optimised for effluent waste s... Read moreafety may include significant nutrient losses (e.g. denitrification). We need to investigate how the benefits of waste reuse can be met with only minimal risks. New technologies will need to be developed to complement existing waste infrastructure to ensure we can use these waste products as a resource. When considering waste reuse a significant barrier is the location and transportation of wastes suitable for fertilizer use. This may require significant infrastructure in place to support widespread use. Concerns were raised regarding the transportation and mixing of wastes as this may result in the loss of information regarding quality of the waste and contaminants present. An overarching governance is required in order to achieve this. It is important that research and industry work together in partnership with regulators to collaborate and address these issues. This needs to be supported by appropriate funding required for a sustainable future -is this funding coming from the consumer or cross sector funding primarily supported by waste and agriculture sectors? Read less

Potential risks and mitigation measures Both the UK and China have considerable expertise in understanding the risks associated with use of organic fertilisers in sustainable agricultural systems. There is a longstanding research programme in China on the risks associated with wastewater derived fertilizers, from field sites in Nanjing and Ningbo. Hazards include the introduction of inorganic contaminants (e.g. metals), organic chemicals, including emerging contaminants (e.g. pharmaceuticals and personal care products), as well the presence of pathogens (e.g. bacteria, viruses). Use of organic... Read more fertilisers can also introduce antimicrobial genes (ARGs) into the agricultural environment. ARGs can enter the food system via uptake into crops but can also damage soil structure by altering the soil microbial community and breaking the soil microaggregates held together by microbial activity. There is a need to both reduce the ARG load in fertilizer manufacturing, and to research how mitigation options can limit the risk of ARGs associated with wastewater derived fertilizers. We need to consider the legacy of existing contaminants and emerging contaminants as these both present a risk to ecosystem and human health e.g. heavy metals are often high in concentration and do not degrade whereas organic contaminants such as antibiotics are low in concentration but still remain bioactive and cause selection pressure on antibiotic resistance genes. Our research has shown that the build-up of Cd and Pb from waste products has resulted in impacts on soil health and the reduction in crop yield. It is important to consider these to achieve food goals as well as retain soil health. It is also critical to consider the effects of transformation products and not just the parent contaminants. Often these transformation products contain bioactive properties and still can influence soil health and organisms present within the environmental matrices. We also need to consider the influence of mixtures of contaminants. We know very little about how chemicals can interact, especially inorganic-organic chemical combinations. This is largely due to the difficulties in addressing mixture effects as well as detections of complex samples. We therefore need to advance our experimental and analytical capabilities to deal with this challenge. Mitigation measures exist which focus on reducing the concentration of contaminants in organic fertiliser through advanced treatment technologies such as anaerobic digestion, liquid-solid separation, and electrolysis. The extraction of struvite is the most advanced commercial operation globally. There is a need to address regional challenges when considering mitigation options as in some cases enhanced waste treatment is not an option when a country has limited sewage connectivity and sanitation options. In this case, bioremediation options may be more appropriate such as pollutant removal via wetlands or composting of faecal sludge from pit latrines. Research in China has evaluated the potential of biochar to become a suitable sustainable method in removing contaminants from environmental matrices. More research is needed to understand currently overlooked issues such as the potential for contaminants to desorb and release slowly into the environment, ecotoxicology (earthworms mortality rate with high biochar %) and the bioavailability of contaminants adsorbed to biochars. In order to overcome potential risks we need to integrate research and industry application and have integrated planning to move forwards. While we could focus on developing sustainable, low cost technology to remove contaminants from the waste stream; perhaps we should stop focusing on adding new processes and innovation to selectively capture an ever-increasing list of contaminants. Instead, focus should be on upstream causes of this contamination, ask why they are present in the waste stream and how we can rectify this. The focus should be placed on the risks of NOT making change (business as usual), rather than focusing solely on the risks of doing something ('least worst'). This allows a more balanced decision going forward. Read less

Ahead of the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit, Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted three independent Food System Dialogues to bring together voices from across and beyond the Canadian Food System. The third dialogue explored strategies to put agriculture at the heart of a green economic recovery plan. There were 5 discussion groups in this Dialogue, all of whom discussed one of these three topics: - Canadian agri-food exports being recognized internationally as being the most sustainable on the planet - The agri-food sector as an engine of green prosperity - Mor... Read moree Canadian youth are choosing agri-food as a career option and being trained in a way that meets the needs of this rapidly expanding industry Framing speakers: David McInnes, Canadian Agrifood Benchmarking Project Vimlendra Sharan, FAO Michelle Nutting, Nutrien Bill Gruel, Protein Industries Canada Read less

Clearly establish a national sustainability benchmarking process, linked to a robust data collection framework, that transparently shows how Canadian producers perform environmentally on a global stage. Preliminary data suggest that although progress is still needed, our producers are often among the most sustainable on the planet. Canada can embrace the idea that we are the world’s trusted producers of safe and sustainable food and put agriculture at the centre of a green economic recovery program. Recent announcements in the 2021 federal budget move us in this direction. A next step is to ... Read morecreate a national sustainability benchmarking program that would give Canada economic advantage in export markets, contribute to our ability to meet our Paris climate commitments and to the UNFSS Action Tracks 3 and 4. Major global trends linked with population growth, climate change, new consumer expectations and novel technologies suggest that the next 10 years may be incredibly disruptive for food systems everywhere. In Canada, we have much to celebrate: our producers are amongst the most environmentally conscious in the world, most Canadians enjoy safe, healthy, and affordable food year-round. Nevertheless, systemic problems of food insecurity and disruptions to the food system caused by the pandemic mean that we need to do better. Together, by putting environmental sustainability at the centre of the Canadian agri-food sector's identity we can ensure Canada has the tools it needs to continue having one of the greatest food systems in the world. This will not only help support domestic producers and consumers as well as allowing those parts of our food system that depend on exporting to international markets thrive and expand over the next generation. Read less

• Improve ag education, at a young age especially • Address land costs/ownership barriers • Record protocols and be more transparent about sustainability efforts and outcomes within agriculture; sharing best practice but recognising that different situations need different approaches. • Explicitly include aquaculture and water-based food production • Consider further digitization of agricultural information beyond productivity – including carbon sequestration • Benchmarking and showcasing sustainability practices and outcomes in regional and national agricultural and food systems

While there were active discussions where divergent views were shared, each group was able to come to a general consensus at the end of their breakout.

This dialogue formed part two of a 3-part series dialogue aimed at connecting Innovation Ideas with Food Systems. The major highlights of the key issues emerging from the breakout sessions included: 1. What is needed to catalyze public and private investment in innovation systems for R4D in the region? • Smallholder famers, who still make up the vast majority of farmers in the region, are already actively practicing nature positive agriculture and growing interest in agroecological principles • There is growing interest by private sector in fostering sustainable production models • Each ... Read morepartner comes to agriculture with different expectations, so catalysing action will require different actors to work together in partnership • There is need to understand the gaps between available technologies and the capacity or willingness of farmers to adopt • Focus on partnership also reflects well the investment environment for climate-smart and nature positive agriculture • There are more public and private actors working to find innovative ways to deliver finance resources to farmers and provide incentives for other value chain actors • There is need to improve understanding of stakeholders needs and potential adopt and/or scale up climate-smart and nature-positive innovations for agriculture. 2. How can we better realign and coordinate national international research efforts to facilitate innovation and ultimate achievement of the SDGs? • There is need for new digital technologies that collect and organize information on farm conditions and options to improve productivity, address climate variability and address potential environmental impacts • There is need for more discussion and collaboration on how to help farmers and agri-businesses build and capture consumer markets for sustainable produce • There is a need to show the impacts of improved practices - needs to be improved evidence on how changes in farmer practice can drive improvements in sustainability. This is going to be a crucial for building sustainable markets for nature-positive agriculture. • There should be more attention on the knowledge and needs of farmers and consumers in developing climate-smart and nature positive agriculture products and markets. 3. Which innovations are ready for scale up and what is needed to take these to scale? • There are already be a number of technologies and approaches that we could taking off the shelf - agroecology for example. Such technologies to address interrelated climate and water management risks such as irrigation are perhaps not ground breaking, but will be essential • It was noted that in the past these have been public investment • Some specific on-farm technologies included: o New varieties and the use of underutilized species: farmer-led varietal selection o Agroforestry • There are a number of digital technologies and platforms that are being scaled, for an example how social media and digital platforms have been used in some countries to help link farmers to markets following the impact of COVID-19. In addition to how farmers are increasingly using platforms like YouTube on how to learn about new innovations Innovations are not necessarily something totally new. Innovation is equally about how local, old and new knowledge and technologies can be applied in new contexts or scaled-up. With this basis understanding there are a wide range of innovations ready for scale. Achieving scale may be about aligning interests - takes us back to partnership and respect. Read less

Protecting natural systems from new conversions for food production Key issues: • Public sector’s role on enabling policy environment is very crucial • Leveraging some public funds to scale up innovations such as the livelihood programs for communities in the forest as well as social forestry • Projects that can be funded for scaling up should be localized problems and the solutions are driven by the farmers themselves • One such innovation that also promotes biodiversity conservation is the nursery agri-business. Maybe the government can invest in the multiplication of plant varieti... Read morees that are resistant to climate change and local varieties, particularly in seed development. • Thailand has been promoting as ASEAN seed hub so maybe this can be linked to projects of the government • Thailand is also promoting this plant-based food hub. This plant-based food hub can be a solution to recover from the pandemic. • The innovation on seaweed as feed to reduce methane gas emission can address concerns for food security as well as climate change. • Involve the academe as they have an important role in empowering and educating the farmers • Philippines has good innovative projects that can be scaled-up e.g., rice network • Private and public sector should work together/collaborate • The public sector referred here may include research organizations, the academe, and civil society organizations • Promote 5P’s and not just the 3P’s: private, public, producer, people partnership • Decision making tools are very important for policy recommendations: forecasting tools; yield forecasting, big data, drones and other tools important for policies or decision making • Role of youth in agriculture should be further explored • Jackfruit can be a replacement for meat. This is an innovation that Thailand would like to promote in ASEAN plant-based food hub. • There should be a way on how society can pay back the farmers as payment for ecosystem services. Read less

Sustainably manage existing food production systems. Key issues: • Investment in irrigation systems and water harvesting technologies, so as to help local farmers adapt to the situation of water scarcity or depletion due to long drought, which is brought about by climate change. • Building water storage and rainwater harvesting systems/capacity of farmers R&D is important to enhance the resiliency of the farmers on the ground • There is need for policies and strategies to manage land-uses and how to mitigate land conversion • There was also a sharing on strong state regulation and ... Read moremanagement • There is need to look at innovative financial systems • Transdisciplinary action is of utmost importance • There is a gap between technology, the situation and the farmers - innovations should be patent-free and easy access to the farmers • The interlinkages and connections that exist within the global food systems should be leveraged to ensure social protection and inclusivity and environmental and economic sustainability for the entire society. • Investment in state-of-the-art data science methodologies and collection systems. • We must make use of knowledge sharing platforms for inter-sectoral and multi-institutional approaches and inclusive multistakeholder engagement processes should be a priority • I also think that we need strong state regulations to ensure that conservation and management as much as production are taken into account Lessons from COVID has brought elements on technology investment, which is critical such as digital platforms and online platforms The farmer should be enabled and empowered • Farmer end-to-end supply value chain – engagement at policy level and mapping out the value chain We should always have the farmer in the middle and always focus the famer to the private sector and investment and R4D, government. • reduce the distance between Lab to field for the maximum benefit Invest on platforms that promote development of tech and sharing of knowledge and encourage lessons sharing – stimulate the role of development agencies to promote these initiatives Read less

Restoring and rehabilitating degraded systems for sustainable food production and ecosystem services. Key issues: • Adoption of digital technology is common now, but there is a strong need to ensure that digital technology links the value chains more closely. It helps farmers and consumers and production to consumers in terms of using resources and in allocating resources. • Aside from the classic digital technology and softwares, there are also suggestions of using virtual innovation platforms which is a bit more friendly in areas or in countries where communication infrastructure is not ... Read morereally that good like in the Philippines. • Adopting a type of circular economy and the example provided was the use of bio-waste turning it into fertilizer, etc. This is more sustainable in terms of being able to use resources that are already at hand. • In relation to rehabilitating degraded systems, there was a concern about being able to invest, particularly in social forestry. But at the same time, there are issues in going into this type of big projects, which really needs big investments. So, policy will be very important because public investments will be needed especially for long-term projects and for wide-ranging type of social forestry projects. • Solution to support smallholders who produce sustainable products. • There is need to scale up the amount of information so that we are able to inform everyone that there is a market, that there is a demand for sustainable products. • Farm to table concepts to support smallholders - some supermarkets and small shops are already moving towards sustainable products, but this is not yet enough to support the smallholder farmers at this time. Read less

Not many areas of divergence were brought up due to time constraints.

On the 15th of March 2021, the ASEAN-Climate Resilience Network (ASEAN-CRN), in partnership with the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA) and UN FAO Regional Asia Pacific Office (FAO RAP), convened the first series of a three-part Independent Summit Dialogue under the UN Food Systems Summit dialogue process. Meeting brought together over 150 participants to generate innovation ideas to support nature positive sustainable food systems. Building on the innovation ideas gathered, ASEAN-CRN in partnership with GACSA and FAO RAP, convened the second series of the three-part Indepen... Read moredent Summit Dialogue series to give stakeholders from the ASEAN region an opportunity to deepen and connect the innovation ideas to strengthen food systems in the region. The second dialogue builds on key outcomes of the first dialogue in this series and takes a deep dive to connect the “innovation idea generation to support nature positive sustainable food systems.” The dialogue was aligned to Action Track 3: Boost nature-positive production. This dialogue sought to answer the following key questions: 1. What is needed to catalyze public and private investment in innovation systems for R4D in the region? 2. How can we better realign and coordinate national international research efforts to facilitate innovation and ultimate achievement of the SDGs? 3. Which innovations are ready for scale up and what is needed to take these to scale? 4. How can we strengthen dialogue platforms to promote innovation and idea sharing? To facilitate engagement guided by the values of sustainable development and informed by both science and experience, participants explored opportunities to scale up nature positive sustainable food systems under three main pillars: 1. Protect natural systems from new conversions for food production 2. Sustainably manage existing food production systems 3. Restore and rehabilitate degraded systems for sustainable food production and ecosystem services Read less

Ahead of the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit, Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted three independent Food System Dialogues to bring together voices from across and beyond the Canadian Food System. The second dialogue explored the root causes of food insecurity. There were 5 discussion groups in this Dialogue, all of whom discussed one of these three topics: • Reducing poverty in Canada by 50% by 2030, with an equal reduction in food insecurity • The disproportionate impact of food insecurity on BIPOC populations, and meaningful progress towards BIPOC populat... Read moreions’ food sovereignty, reflecting cultural, ecological and economic interests • A Canadian universal school nutrition program that also promotes food literacy Framing speakers: Suzanne Barr Chef and Food Activist Paul Taylor, Executive Director, Food Share Toronto Evan Fraser, AFI Director Read less

Canada should commit to reducing food insecurity in our country by 50% by 2030. To measure progress towards this target, we must create a national framework to measure food insecurity. Food justice is a poverty issue with links to health, education, and community building. Further, food insecurity finds it roots in structural racism and colonialism. Initiatives to address this include school nutrition programs, income floors and other forms of social protection that guarantee every Canadian has a basic standard of living. While funding for these programs can emerge from federal investments, th... Read moree specifics of any program need to be tailored to community-specific solutions. This links to UNFSS Action Tracks 1 and 2. Major global trends linked with population growth, climate change, new consumer expectations and novel technologies suggest that the next 10 years may be incredibly disruptive for food systems everywhere. In Canada, we have much to celebrate: our producers are amongst the most environmentally conscious in the world, most Canadians enjoy safe, healthy, and affordable food year-round. Nevertheless, systemic problems of food insecurity and disruptions to the food system caused by the pandemic mean that we need to do better. Together, by working to empower communities to develop locally-relevant programs to address the root causes of food insecurity we can ensure Canada has the tools it needs to continue having one of the greatest food systems in the world. This will not only help support domestic producers and consumers as well as allowing those parts of our food system that depend on exporting to international markets thrive and expand over the next generation. Read less

• Food insecurity is a poverty issue • Structural racism exists within food access • Different communities need different things • Food banks need support and are only helping those who are severely food insecure – not a long-term solution • Labour rights/workers rights must be considered, not just welfare or charity approach • Data, properly disaggregated, to benchmark and measure impact is crucial • School nutrition (education and food supply) is a vital part of this

While there were active discussions where divergent views were shared, each group was able to come to a general consensus at the end of their breakout.

The dialogue on forgotten foods as a respite to sustainable food and nutritional security was organized to with the intention to foster a paradigm change in the production and consumption pattern for in Africa. The subject natter have strong bearing to the five action track of the food systems summit. The Human Development Index is premised on the balanced attention to issues that drive individual as well as societal wellbeing. The issues of food and nutritional security are central in this goal and they require more inclusive perspectives than the conventional. The webinar takes a deeper pers... Read morepective at the complete chain of issues and factors from production, through processing, marketing, distribution, quality control and safety, consumption patterns, food waste management, to recycling of nutrients and other elements of environmental sustainability. The action track 1 looks into ensuring access to safe and nutritious food; the documented evidence of the nutritious nature of the forgotten and underutilized foods warrants the crave to bring back this food into the food systems. Secondly that action track two on shifting to a sustainable consumption pattern, is consistent with the need for Africa to eat what it can produce to reduce the economic burden of food importation, Africa currently expend US$53 billion on food import per annual. Africa countries may also benefit economically from producing commodities that are well adapted to its natural resource base. This will reduce the cost of production owing to use of external inputs. The cultivation of well adapted food commodities will contribute to action track three on boosting the nature’s positive production at sufficient scale. Africa countries are struggling with huge yield gap on most of the food commodities, largely because of poor comparative advantage on climate, soils and other natural resources issues. It is speculated that with advancing the production and consumption of the indigenous commodities; the agrarian livelihood that engages more than 60% of the labor force in Africa will improve, this is consistent with action track four on advancing equitable livelihoods and value distribution. The indigenous commodities will foster resilience and reduce vulnerability, apparently, the commodity that sustains the populations are often the forgotten foods which are largely ignored in terms of research and development investment. It is crucial for Africa to revisit its neglected and underutilized species within the context of food system. The term forgotten food refers to crop and livestock commodities that have been neglected or underutilized as they have been displaced by increasingly uniform diets fueled by mass-produced processed ingredients from the ‘BIG FOUR’ of wheat, maize, rice and soybean. These four accounts for about two-thirds of the world’s food supply. The dialogue thus, identified the pathway to bring to the fore the subject of forgotten food and ensure its prominence in the continental food system. The need for awareness about the commodities and their nutritional advantages was identifies as the first action followed by the need to develop a new research and innovation system to ensure knowledge and technology development along the different commodities. It was opined that the research system will need to prioritize germplasm collection and conservation. It should also give attention to breeding and improvement. The issues of developing new food commodities that meets the need of the growing elites is important. The engagement of the policy makers for consistent action is vital. The stakeholders opined that active engagement of the private sector all along the development process is vital. Incentives should be created for agribusiness development around the various underutilized foods. Towing the pathways of sustainable intensification will be vital as the various endeavors develops and trigger the desired change. Efforts should be channeled to engage the growing youth population actively along the entire value chain to foster job creation and strong economic benefits from the upsurge in the production and use of the underutilized commodities. Read less

The dialogue came up with five main key finding/recommendations that need to be implemented to enhance the Africa food system. These five elements should form the pillars for the Africa manifesto. (1). Establish a dedicated and functional research system for holistic development of forgotten foods. (2). Incrementally build an appropriate innovation capacity (infrastructure, equipment and expertise) at local level to enable African research and education institutions develop solutions for increased productivity, resilience to shocks, value-added production and quality assurance for forgotten fo... Read moreods. (3). Establish partnerships and strategic alliances to foster engagement of youth and women for rapid integration of forgotten foods into the national food system and engagement for policy development. (4). Facilitate the engagement of private sector for investment into production, processing and marketing of forgotten foods and (5). Create a regional pool of financial resources to support research and coherent development efforts on forgotten foods. Such funds should be accessible by institutions and governments which have research topics aligned to regional priorities on forgotten foods. In other to mitigate the danger of food shortage and nutritional insecurity that was orchestrated by various constraints and lately aggravated by climate change, COVID-19, increased desertification, etc. There is the need to invest in life-saving crops that are resilient and in wide diversity from a wider range of crops and cropping systems. This will require a major modification in the agricultural research and innovation approaches towards identified underutilized species in each region of Africa. These logical modifications include: i. Adoption of new metrics and indicators to show the value of forgotten foods. ii. Concerted efforts in participatory plant breeding to improve the adaptation of forgotten foods and forgotten foods to social, economic and ecological conditions, and nutritional value. iii. Granting required respect of rights of farmers through allowing them to locally use, save, exchange and sell their Forgotten Foods. iv. Development of sustainable seed systems, facilitating conservation, access, availability, use and exchange of high-quality seeds of forgotten foods by farmers. v. Introduction of the development of forgotten foods into education programs. vi. More advocacy and evidence-based policy change. vii. Better access to markets, support to short supply chains and alternative retail structures. viii. Enhance capacity development of NARES etc. ix. Novel research development and networking (e.g. molecular genetics, nutritional profiling, agronomic interventions, digital technologies and applications). x. Enhance awareness raising to ensure that the values of Forgotten Foods are recognized by all in society, including researchers and technical agents as well as urban communities and consumers, for their nutritional, cultural and environmental benefits. Read less