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Innovation has been identified as a cross cutting lever of change for the Food Systems Summit. Communities of interest were grouped around the following during the dialogue: • Carbon pricing & measuring • Precision agriculture • Renewables • Food loss and waste • Oceans/Horticulture/Livestock/Agroforestry/Crops • Nutrition • Access to Market, especially for SMEs • Innovative food product development Some challenges explored include: • Scaling the technology adoption curve especially on last mile delivery for farmers and consumers, to positively impact food systems. • Bu... Read moreilding innovation ecosystems to incentivize, adapt and scale opportunities to enable food systems transformation, bring about systemic unlocks and mitigate against unintended consequences. • Supporting the growth of business innovation to meet the needs of different types of stakeholders and lead to food systems transformation The key issues which kept resurfacing were: • Data sharing and transparency: In order to avoid duplication of systems and data, data-sharing should be encouraged. Systems should also be transparent so as to build trust especially among farmer communities. Data interoperability is imperative. • Infrastructure: More investment in communication infrastructure is needed so no one is left behind. • Innovation hubs: Public and private sectors need to create an enabling ecosystem for innovation to thrive. • Policies: Governments and regional organisations need to set up innovation policies which will serve as catalysts and frameworks for innovative technology • Collaboration: Innovators must work with the players on the ground who would use the technology, such as farmers or consumers, during the innovation process. This will help innovations meet real needs as well as guide innovators on how to make it user-friendly. Read less

Breakout Room 1: There were no substantial differences in participants’ perspectives on the provided solutions. However, each participant provided his/her insight from his/her background. Participants working in academic institutions provided research-based solutions, while the approach by private sector participants sought to contribute to water security via encouraging sustainable development projects. Participants working in agriculture related institutions felt that the role of NGOs and private sector companies should be more dynamic as they have different exposure and approaches than th... Read moree government, thus increasing the potential for outreach of these projects. Breakout Room 2: While there was overall agreement on the potential of institutional coordination and policy coherence to jointly improve water and food security; there was a small debate on the sidelines regarding the possibility to use economic instruments, such as informal or formal trading of water use rights in Egypt, and on the possibility of paying farmers for using less water; with the idea possibly related to trading savings, i.e. water allocated but not needed within a season or sub-season, within a permit. There were also questions regarding the water-intensive crops that are currently irrigated in Egypt, including rice in the Delta and sugarcane. Should these crops be continued, noting an entire industry is connected to that? Can agronomic practices and yet more advanced seed technologies reduce water use of these crops? Or should they be stopped to push back against growing water scarcity and accelerate a stronger nutrition focus of national crop production? Breakout Room 3: Participants felt that considering social aspects of water solutions would make them more effective than solutions that only consider technological solutions. This would involve improving social cohesion and recognizing the importance of community and cross-sectoral participation in policymaking and decision-making processes. Some participants also highlighted the importance of actions at the farmer-level and case-specific solutions in addition to technological innovations to create small-scale successful cases that can then be streamlined. All participants recognized the inequity in access to information and finance at the farm level. Some participants also argued that rural communities are already very cohesive and make decisions collectively, with capacity building enhancing better collaboration. The majority of the participants agreed that both an enhanced connection between government bodies and decision-makers as well as joint ventures could contribute to better land management and by extension, water security and productivity. This could also decrease food waste along the crop production system. A slight area of divergence was also apparent among participants in identifying challenges to implementing solutions, with some of the opinion that funding is the main challenges while others – particularly the private sector – highlighted farmers’ lack of land ownership guarantees as a key challenge to advancement. Breakout Room 4: Climate-smart interventions are a broad topic and not much divergence was observed among participants. In general, the participants supported resilient farming solutions and discussed water productivity issues exacerbated by subsidies and divergence from the real cost to farmers under climate change. Participants also agreed that technology is not always the ultimate solution, with transformation of cultivation practices and organic agriculture also being important. While different solutions exist for similar challenges, a sole focus on technologies may cause problems in other areas. Incorporating agroecological zoning in resource planning for suitable cropping specific to soil and climate in the agricultural land was also put forward as important to incorporate. Breakout Room 5: Participants generally agreed on the following: • The need for capacity building in digital agriculture literacy amongst users of digital solutions. • Identifying end-users’ needs and the necessary data to improve their practices and decision-making support. Breakout Room 6: There was a discussion between participants about changing crop pattern regarding switching from water intensive crops like Sugarcane to others less intensive like Horticulture. Participant noted that a large industry (more than 20 firms) was connected to sugarcane production, suggesting the crop has a high economic value even though it uses a lot of water. Replacing sugarcane would require further studying and detailed analysis of its social and economic impacts. Read less

Breakout Room 5: Digital Solutions for Agri-Food Transformation in Egypt What actions in next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion Topic? • There is a strong potential for digital solutions due to government digitization efforts and the provision of more services in a digital form, especially as COVID-19 pushed everyone, even farmers, to change toward digitalization. • When we are speaking of digital agriculture and including farmers in value chains, efforts towards digital agriculture literacy need to be applied at both ends of the value chain. • Enhancing internet covera... Read morege and providing affordable smartphones are essential for digital inclusion amongst rural communities and farmers. • Work more closely with financial institutions for a closer link between various financial structures and agriculture. • Avoiding working in silos and creating synergies between and across the many initiatives already underway by various organizations, and across disciplines and platforms while maintaining individuality and personality. Tools and applications for agriculture are available, many with similar targets. • Fill the data gap between research and technology. • Distributing the benefits of new technologies across to smallholder farmers in Egypt. Much like in India, there is land fragmentation and small land holding sizes in Egypt. This affects farmers who may not have enough capital to invest in their farms and use new technologies. • Empower farmers, as the end-users, and provide them with the knowledge for making their own decisions. What contributions will you or your organisation make and why does this matter? • Developing agricultural applications for extension services linkages to provide online marketing facilities and business matchmaking. • Working on developing tools and applications, as a one-stop shop for farmers and companies to access more information and build trust, and willingness to work together. • Land fragmentation and small land-holding size make it difficult to use optical satellite images with coarse grid resolution for crop mapping, using machine learning algorithms. Instead, crop type mapping using SAR radar technology will be a game changer in identifying cropping areas and non-cropping areas. • Developing an innovation platform related to water and food ecosystems, which offers a two-way medium of communication between farmers and scientists. Read less

Breakout Room 6: Food Systems Changes for Improved Water Security What actions in next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion Topic? • Water conservation and reduced water use in agriculture will be essential while minimizing water waste via flood irrigation methods. • Adopting modern irrigation techniques such as drip or sprinkler irrigation. • Measuring soil moisture levels to maintain healthy crops without excess irrigation will increase productivity. • Phasing out of water intensive crops (like sugarcane) and switch to horticultural agriculture • Developing farmer ca... Read morepacity to use improved irrigation systems, mobile applications and digitizing of the sector. • Providing incentives for farmers and Water Users Associations to conserve water. • Improving extension services in both water and agricultural sector. • Increasing involvement of the private sector in the agricultural system. • Empowering women in the agricultural system. • Crop changes with economic water productivity in mind especially for farmers. • Planting large agricultural lands with the same crop to conserve agricultural inputs What contributions will you or your organisation make and why does this matter? • Inserting sensors in the soil to monitor crop health and soil moisture and provide irrigation scheduling to reduce irrigation water. • Gated irrigation as a replacement for drip irrigation, which may be too expensive for small farmers, assist them to switch from sugarcane to horticultural crops (herbs and spices). • Developing an action plan from the Arab Water Strategy promoting IWRM and water governance. • Capacity building of farmers and water professionals • Investing in post harvesting infrastructure- multi-system water (fishing – agriculture). • Promoting water energy food nexus integration through pilot projects. • Assessing how water security and food self-sufficiency are connected. • Irrigation, by farmers, at night to reduce evaporation losses. • Promoting and supporting water-energy-food nexus innovators by scaling up and out their solutions to produce more food with less water and energy through the MENA Regional Innovation Hub. • Promoting and introducing irrigation technologies to farmers to achieving water saving and account for that through water accounting and governance. Read less

Water scarcity remains a key challenge for agricultural development in the MENA region, including Egypt. Scarcity is rapidly growing as a result of climate change and rapid increases in water demand for non-irrigation other uses. Considering that Egypt’s agri-food system provided critical cushioning for economic growth, jobs, and household income negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is paramount that more consideration is given to the important role of water security for Egypt’s food systems. With agriculture utilizing over 80% of Egypt’s water resources, meeting these challe... Read morenges will require bold actions and new mindsets directed at water and food systems transformations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Independent Dialogue was convened in partnership between the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to discuss the role of Water Security for Food Systems Transformation in Egypt. Insights emerging from this multi-stakeholder dialogue will be presented to contribute to the United Nations Food System Summit (UNFSS) in September 2021. Transforming #foodsystems is among the most powerful ways to make progress towards all 17 #SDGS. The dialogue discussed the importance of water security for all aspects of Egypt’s food systems, with a focus on equity, inclusion, capacity, innovation and sustainability, including insights on how food systems need to change to improve water security (SDG 6), help eliminate hunger (SGD2), support energy security (SDG 7), improve climate adaptation and mitigation (SDG 13) and help retain all Life on land (SDG 15). This pre-UNFSS2021 session therefore sought to unpack the question: What is the role of water in transforming Egypt’s food systems for improved water and food security and environmental sustainability? Speakers and panelists from Egypt and beyond engaged in interactive group discussions, collective brainstorming, and agenda-setting. As Egypt and the MENA region map out the road to UNFSS 2021, the dialogue discussed key messages that need to be heard at UNFSS 2021. Read less

Egypt is a perfect case for the interconnectedness of water and food systems, not only because the country has one of the world’s oldest civilizations built on irrigation, but also because water and food security are the largest development challenges the country is facing. Moreover, Egypt has multiple good practices, success stories and bright spots of using water for food system transformations. At the same time, Egypt is directly affected by climate change with hotter temperatures, and increased crop water demand, as well as heat stress affecting farmers, agricultural workers as well as l... Read moreivestock. One of the largest challenges that the participants noted is that while both water and food security are on top of Egypt’s agenda water security and food security are two sectors in silos. A key recommendation noted by participants is to bring the two sectors together and to put farmers and their communities at the heart of any reform. Several private-sector firms are engaged in optimizing Egypt’s irrigation water use; this includes irrigation in the New Lands that use high-end center-pivot systems. Given growing water shortages in the country—using water more sustainably and further optimizing irrigation water use were recommendations that permeated all breakout room sessions. While the private sector is active in Egypt’s water and food sectors, it was noted that regulations and incentive structures affecting the private sector would benefit from further review. Given Egypt’s diverse agricultural ecologies, including the Nile Delta, the New Lands, the old lands, upstream and downstream areas, more targeted agricultural water use investments were recommended. Based on more targeted interventions, these can be scaled up and further promoted, such as the value chain approach used in Nubaria’s new lands which has been sustained for more than 10 year. The participants agreed that more effort is needed to invest in water-saving technologies and support farmers in the application of such technologies. The example of farmers in Indonesia shifting from flood to drip irrigation was mentioned. Use of digital tools—to improve irrigation scheduling—and support to extension services by connecting them to the research community to ensure a more steady flow of innovation from research to farmers and from farmers to researchers was also recommended. It was noted that additional incentives might be required, including smart subsidies, to support farmers in adopting new technologies that would support both water and food security outcomes. The potential of land consolidation, of running canals like utilities, and of paying farmers for using less irrigation water were all discussed and it was agreed that more studies and pilots are needed in this area. In addition to the suggestion to investing in improved seeds, there were also discussions if Egypt should possibly reduce production of rice and sugarcane, which are both water intensive. Finally, there is a need for improved policy coherence and institutional decentralization in addition to making more services available to farmers in terms of finance, digital tools, direct support to farmers. Other issues that need to be considered for achieving increased water security while transforming food systems include improved access to energy for food processing and storage. This can also improve nutritional outcomes. Participants suggested that reducing both water and food losses for key food value chains could save one third of total resources currently used to produce food commodities and could thus strengthen food and security in Egypt. This would require innovation in access to finance and insurance for farmers with only small plots of land or those who do not own any land, as well as access to technology and investment in bringing the technology to farmers. Finally, participants also noted that consumers need to understand the value of water and how climate change may jeopardize water security. Raising awareness of consumers of the water embedded in the food they consume may encourage shifts in consumer behavior and mentality toward more sustainable food consumption patterns. Policy makers should highlight and incorporate the importance of this issue across the educational system to encourage all age-groups and generations to consider the role of food consumption for water security. Read less

Breakout Room 1: Food and Water Systems in a Changing Climate What actions in the next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion Topic? • Consumer Behavior: Consumers need to understand the value of water and how climate change may jeopardize water security. Raising awareness may encourage shifts in consumer behavior and mentality toward more sustainable food consumption patterns. Policy makers should highlight and incorporate this issue across the educational system to encourage all age-groups and generations to consider food consumption’s role for water security. • Diversifyi... Read moreng Water Sources: Egypt should proactively diversify its sources of irrigation water (e.g. wastewater and desert aquifers) while shifting to smart water-use solutions. • Evidence-Based Decision-Making: Better linking decision makers and academic efforts to encourage strategic changes towards more sustainability-minded initiatives and innovative technologies (e.g. neo-greenhouses incorporating aquaculture and integrated farming). • Water markets may incentivize lower water use amongst users and distinguish between water prices for irrigation use versus household use. Employing incentive mechanisms embedded in water markets can encourage sustainable investor and consumer behavior leading to reallocation of water sources across different sectors (e.g. agriculture, manufacturing, and public water supply). Also, strengthening regulations to reduce wasteful water use and to boost water-saving technologies. • Irrigation patterns play a crucial role, with some crops requiring more water like rice, mangoes and avocadoes. Changing the existing crop mix could lower water-use. • Trade of Agricultural Products: Importing water intensive products and exporting less water intensive commodities could be one solution to reduce local water use. What contributions will you or your organization make and why does this matter? • Academic Institutions may introduce curriculum modules focusing on sustainable development, organic agriculture, water-use efficiency and sustainability in engineering and social sciences as well as methodologies and case studies more relevant to Egypt with suitable practices and technologies. • Private Companies may focus on knowledge and technology transfer where currently inaccessible. Encouraging corporate social responsibility departments to direct projects towards sustainable development (e.g. greenhouses’ potential to save 70%-90% of water consumption), and relaying the potential for the projects to them, may contribute to this effort. • Education and raising awareness on the individual and community levels and mainstreaming elements to be applied on a day to day basis. For example, introducing urban gardening through hydroponic rooftop kits. • Promoting funding for climate and environmentally friendly projects and proposing such projects to ministries and governments to start applying these interventions. • Agriculture institutions working on soil and water management can promote farmers’ adoption of new technological methodologies (e.g. use of saline water and recycling wastewater for irrigation) to avoid soil erosion and reduce freshwater consumption. This can be accelerated through using extension systems via NGOs and the private sector. • Each individual is also responsible to change their own behavior to avoid food waste, because consumption patterns at the individual level affect the aggregate level. • Water saving interventions are needed to help promote social norms around water conservation at both the household and public levels. Read less

Breakout Room 2: Policy Coherence and Institutional Coordination Across Water and Food Security in Egypt What actions in next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion Topic? Discussants came up with various solutions and strategies to support water security in Egypt over the next three years. It was suggested that better coordination within and increased authority of existing inter-ministerial committees would be more efficient than building new structures from scratch. A discussant mentioned that in some cases committees had a very well-established development plan that was affecte... Read mored by the lack of coordination between ministries and agencies. More financial autonomy and stronger empowerment of these committees would help strengthen joint progress of water security and food systems transformation. Decentralization of natural resources would stimulate the engagement of the private sector which would eventually contribute to constructing a more sustainable development path hand-in-hand with government. Strengthened bottom-up planning can also support existing top-down planning efforts. Participants also noted that there were strong mutual linkages between water and food security goals in joint projects on the ground, but that these joint goals could not be maintained at higher levels of authority. Discussants also shared some pilot ideas such as 1) managing canal systems as public utilities, 2) supporting land consolidation for increased resource use efficiencies; and 3) awareness raising on growing water scarcities; 4) better targeting of water (and food security) interventions based on agro-ecological conditions (i.e. agroecological zoning); 5) communication of success stories on water and food security in Egypt—given that Egypt has achieved the highest crop yields across all African countries. Such success stories could help guide and inspire other countries in the region. Moreover, most of the discussants agreed on the following: • Institutions need a more efficient coordination to optimize water and food security goals. • Farmers need to be better engaged in any development plan through stronger communication with water and agricultural agencies regarding the challenges that they face and the untapped opportunities that governments should seek to help improve farmers’ welfare. • Capacity building for ministerial committees is an essential aspect that was highlighted by discussants from various backgrounds. What contributions will you or your organisation make and why does this matter? • Collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and the Ministry of Agriculture on joint dialogues, building technical capacity and negotiation skills for engineers in these agencies. Improved communication and negotiation skills are considered critical for improved water and food security. • Collecting more data that describe how water and food security interact at farm level in Egypt • A participating journal editor suggested further publishing Egypt’s success stories and welcomes submissions. • International Financial Institutions offered to provide significant support to generate evidence on successful water sector reforms in Egypt. • PhD students participating in the session noted the importance and willingness to develop more actionable science on joint water and food security. Read less

Breakout Room 3: Equity Consideration in Access to Affordable Water and Food What actions in next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion Topic? • More focus should be given to social and economic actions as compared to a technical action-focus. Participants noted that it was important for decisionmakers to work more closely with society to feed into decisions, recognizing social actors’ voices and participation in solution design and decision-making. • Encouraging cross-sectorial policy and decision-making processes that involve the water-food nexus approach. • Targeting r... Read moreesearch to understand the needs of the community and collect data on the most important actions and interventions including co-designed-and informed decision tools. • Employing a water systems approaches for food transformation including water governance analysis to support demand management. • Defining vulnerable groups, including women, through vulnerability assessments and offering financial support and access to investment as well as information. • Developing case-specific solutions and incentives for farmers to encourage implementation of climate-oriented action. • Gather on-the-ground data and information related to water scarcity and develop relevant tools. • Increasing community awareness about the impact of climate change and their contribution to mitigation. • Implementing small scale projects on-the-ground to represent success stories which can be mainstreamed on a larger scale. • Applying cost-benefit analysis and feasibility studies to ensure profitability for stakeholders that are directly affiliated with the projects to be implemented. • Increasing water availability through decreasing waste along the process of the crop production. • Increasing research on crops that require less water or that are heat tolerant. • Encouraging collective operation of fragmented lands through farmer joint ventures for sustainable use of available resources. • Building the capacity of farmers in the old lands for crop selection, utilization of user-friendly technologies and land management. • Raising farmers’ awareness of the effect of their water consumption on neighboring farms. • Connecting communities with decision makers to ensure their involvement in the policy making processes. • Considering altering policies to guarantee and protect land ownership for farmers What contributions will you or your organisation make and why does this matter? • Raising awareness of rural communities on the impact of the climate change. Applying financing solutions such as 50/50 loans. • Raising awareness of farmers on the effect of water consumption on their neighboring land. • Involving the community in all sustainability projects implemented on-the-ground to guarantee that their input will be taken into consideration and raise their own awareness on climate change impacts • Creating new food safety agency with a new food safety index for Africa • Raising awareness of the famers on water saving technologies and using ICT solutions on-farm, such as the IRWI application which informs farmers how much water is needed and when based on crop, soil and irrigation types, water pumping, energy, planting time, etc. • Scaling up innovation for Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) through the MENA Regional Innovation Hub to produce more nutritious food with less water and energy • Building and strengthening the capacity of governmental and non-governmental organisations on water governance in the MENA region, including Egypt. Read less

Breakout Room 4: Climate Smart Interventions for Agri-food Transformation in Egypt What actions in next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion Topic? It is evident that climate smart interventions in Egypt will set a benchmark, regionally, for achieving climate smartness in water productivity within the agriculture sector. It was unanimously accepted that the changing climate has drastically perturbed the sustainability of Egypt’s agricultural production capacities through unsustainable water use and offshoot problems such as land degradation and salinity. Mentioned key priority... Read more actions for achieving water security and agri-food transformations in the next three years included: • Promoting organic practices as sustainable food production practices and a route to reduced land degradation, and climate resilience. • Shifting consumer preferences towards climate-smart foods and transforming crop cultivating ways (e.g. creating awareness about climate smartness to end-users thereby creating an economic context for farmers to produce climate smart crops/livestock). • Using low-cost technologies in climate smart irrigation and on-farm water management practices. • Reducing dependence on high water consuming crops systems like rice, potato, sugarcane, etc. and transforming the cropping system according to local conditions. • Engaging communities and civil society in implementing climate smart interventions at all scales (farmstead to policy development). • Inclusion of agroecological zoning in large scale projects and masterplans of water and land use structures to identify location specific package of practices and suitable cropping patterns. • Use of climate smart crops (heat, water and salinity tolerant crop varieties) and scaling up using an efficient seed system. While extension services in Egypt are not very powerful, digital extension services should be promoted to help farmers in systems transformation. Farmers have benefited from longstanding energy and fertilizer subsidies for production making transformation a challenge for farmers. Digital tools, civil society involvement, new policies on infrastructure and capacity development could be impactful in Egypt in the next few years. What contributions will you or your organisation make and why does this matter? Organizations are mainly working towards agri-food system sustainability through: • Implementing large location-specific climate smart infrastructure development projects with an agroecological zoning perspective. • Enhancing climate resilience for small farmers through distribution of drought tolerant seeds and crop varieties. • Counselling and creating awareness on transforming diesel related energy sources into solar energy technologies. • Investing in precise estimations of crop evapotranspiration and developing algorithms to recommend regional irrigation needs. • Providing agroecological zoning for suitable cropping system water-land use resource plans • Working on land reclamation projects through organic farming • Use of agronomic technologies like mechanized seeds and Climate Smart-Solar technologies are key interventions, which should be considered in future. Read less

Southern Africa faces an uphill battle to achieve food and water security. Research shows that roughly 43% of the region is either arid or semiarid and that 70% of its people rely on rain-fed agriculture. These circumstances have been worsened by unusual times – bringing age-old questions back to the fore – such as can Southern Africa feed itself and does the region have enough water to do so? The United Nations Food Systems (UNFSS) Southern Africa dialogue attempted to answer these questions and provide some solutions. The dialogue unpacked the way food systems can be localized and transf... Read moreormed in a water-constrained region in such a way that acknowledges WEF nexus linkages, promotes regional trade and enhances equity and inclusion. The UNFSS Southern Africa dialogue highlighted six key thematic areas on which participants were required to engage in an interactive manner that allowed for small group discussion, collective brainstorming, and agenda-setting. The thematic areas covered by breakout groups were: 1). Moving towards low carbon energy for food production; 2). Climate change impacts on water and food security; 3). Policy coherence and institutional coordination in water, food, energy and climate change that operationalize the WEF nexus; 4). Advancing technical WEF models, tools and frameworks for decision making at multiple scales; 5). Putting nature back in the WEF nexus: towards resilient food landscapes; and 6). Community approaches to operationalize the WEF nexus. Each group was required to discuss a series of prompt questions, with an overarching key question in each of the breakout discussions. The questions were: 1. How can we sustainably produce more food in the region using low greenhouse gas energy sources? 2. How can we sustainably enhance food security without compromising water security in the context of climate change? 3. What practical steps can/should be taken to ensure policy coherence and institutional coordination to improve water, energy and food security in the region? 4. How can WEF nexus models/tools facilitate new understanding of interdependencies and trade-offs in the WEF nexus, as well as foster data sharing and enhanced decision-making in the region? 5. How do we build more resilient food and livelihood systems while protecting critical water sources, biodiversity, and other ecosystem services? 6. How can we promote equity and inclusion in WEF nexus governance to create opportunities for transformation towards more just food, water and energy systems? Using interactive virtual facilitation tools such as jamboards, mentimeter, and mural, with collective brainstorming approaches such as the 3-Horizon approach, facilitators guided breakout discussion participants in identifying actions in the next 3 years that will have the greatest impact on the discussion topic, determinants of success of those actions, and partnership arrangements that need to be prioritized etc. Read less

Through the discussions, priorities for action within the context of current realities were identified. The first priority identified was the need for more dialogues that promote integrated approaches linking water and energy with food. Other outcomes from the discussions included the need for data sharing across sectors and across countries; integrated scaling pathways and even the pull through of WEF nexus tools and products to scaling. The need for financing models to enable the exchange was also emphasized as well as the need for policy implementation that concretize these priorities. Othe... Read morer outcomes included the need for institutional coordination, specifically reconciling donor interests with nation state and regional/local institutional interests. Participants also agreed that there was a need for sizable projects to realize true systems transformation and WEF nexus operationalization. In essence, while many different views and objectives were expressed on how to achieve food systems transformation in the region, the role of water was critical in all of them. It was further emphasized that we have to move beyond the sectoral coordination approach, although this is very key – to examine the political transformations that are important in realizing more just systems transformation. Finally, the degree to which Africa and southern Africa voices/inputs on water are incorporated into the UNFSS Action Tracks (recognizing that this is still lacking in many respects) and the role of regionally focused dialogues in helping to achieve that was another major outcome from the discussions. Read less

How can we sustainably produce more food in the region using low greenhouse gas energy sources? The group noted that the food system is responsible for around 30% of global GHGs equating to 16 Gigatonnes per year. In developing countries over 50% of GHG are from on-farm production and bad land use. As countries develop more GHGs come from energy, industrial activities and waste management rather than land use. Methane from food waste, animals and rice production produce 35% of total GHGs emitted. It seems “Food miles” where local rail and road transport are main transport GHG emitters are ... Read moreless important than packaging to address. Refrigeration is main emitter in the retail post farm system and 5% of total GHGs for the food system. While 1990-2015 saw a 40% increase in production there was only 12% increase in GHGs due to and energy transition to renewables and better systems. Reducing wastage in the system is the low hanging fruit that needs to be focused on. The new AU trade agreement could help unlock regional markets and production of renewable energy technologies. Innovations that could reduce energy use in food production/value chains over the next decade include: - Agroecology and better farming practices - Using balanced feeds in livestock rearing - Low pack/no pack solutions : shops using no packaging and customers using own recycled materials when shopping in stores. - Irrigation using gravity feed systems. - Using wastewater for energy: methane could be used to produce gas for other things such as cooking and heating. - Solar PV for pumping water - Intensive farming rather than extensive - Internet purchasing: small scale farmers chain to market is long, therefore using online shopping small scale famers can shorten this and improve their on farm economics Some reason why these innovations have not taken off include: - The cost of technology and limited capital to invest in it especially at microscale where farmers have no financing. - There is a lack of trust in new technology - we do not have enough examples (e.g biogas) of such technology working well. Therefore, the needs to be more demonstrations to show people the technology works that would ensure more buy-in and less sceptism amongst policy makers. - In South Africa regulations are no longer the problem, now the issue is about building project that are at a larger scale, however it is difficult to raise finances for that. Most investors are willing to put in like $ 10 000 instead of like $100 000 which could benefit more farmers and people. - In low-income countries people are not able to afford energy innovations, there should be some subsidies that push people to invest in those innovations. - When approaching small-scale farmers with new technology we also should give them access to services to maintain them. How can we reduce water use while introducing new energy options? - Cheap energy could lead to pumping too much water. Water use needs to be automatically recorded and used for monitoring. - Utilizing wastewater for biogas rather than fresh water. - More use of efficient systems such as irrigation technologies that time irrigations flows based on what is needed and when. - There is a need for more wholesome energy that uses available waste and other resources linked to the food system. Read less

Climate change impacts on water and food security Southern Africa is experiencing a challenging climate (dry season, floods), nine months or more of dry season even before climate change, how to ensure we do not rely on the 3-4 months of the wet season and making the most during dry season (manage the dry seasons very well). There is potential on some crops that can strive (Irish potatoes) in dry season. Linking farmers to high value markets- identify areas on where to sell excess produce, formulate value addition policies and plans (improve quality). Scientific evidence or information should ... Read morebe made available to decision makers. Partner with colleagues from water and other sectors (different domains) to brainstorming strategies and Programmes at regional levels. Markets, policies, value addition and Partnership will help to promote food security approach and improved technology National policies mechanisms and investment policies become relevant for resilience, water availability, how much investment can government make for irrigation technology; to relieve or improve stressed food systems, energy systems Regional organisations become important players in coordinating regional priorities and also sharing needed knowledge on food security, resilience etc Promoting efficient use of water in agricultural system through improved technology such as hybrid crops (water resistant crops, drought resistant crops etc) Proper governance of water; recognise water for different uses; allocation of water (need water for irrigation, energy, agricultural production). -Poor resource farmers have to benefit from innovation of water efficient technology such as drip irrigation through engaging with them. Avoid mismatch or competing policies on climate changes. For example, when drafting NDCs and National overarching adaptation plan. How will it be possible to tell if these actions are being successful? Food systems, smallholder farmers should be resilient Policy mechanisms- are important more especially in addressing conflicting interests. How much investment should be channelled to agriculture, & climate smart practices Water transboundary- providing support and coordination across countries Right policies- what investment we need to establish Recognising water for different uses- changing the way water is allocated to improve efficiency Politics and meaning of land is very important - take the land discussions out of politics What contributions will our organisations make? Supporting countries to develop national adaptation plan which is sector specific, how do you bring climate change adaptation and water security Technologies – improving irrigation technologies, water efficiency technologies Recognising water security in building climate change resilience. Improving trade policies to promote food securities in the region Improve regional coordination through partnership -Information dissemination through organisational platforms -Engaging with farmers including poor resource farmers to benefit from the joint discussions and innovation Promote grassroots policy engagement with relevant stakeholders Read less

Key challenges: Participants highlighted the silo approach as an important challenge. These exist not only across ministries and regions, where competing priorities exist, but also within organizations, where deeply embedded silos lead to inertia and contradicting priorities. This can exacerbate a lack of coherence between government institutions, regions, and when applying for funding from donors and development banks. Water, energy, and food security is necessarily cross-cutting, and requires an integrated, systems approach to navigate through trade-offs and competing industries that exist, ... Read moreand to leverage positive interlinkages and ways to make the WEF nexus more functional. Still, this may not be sufficient to overcome supra-institutional issues, such as budget allocations, which are typically allocated by departmental needs and priorities, and not shared strategic visions. This can slow effective cooperation. A lack of political will and direction is also seen as a large coordination issue. The WEF nexus requires institutional buy in that requires ministries to work together, and often requires direction from the highest level of government. This is especially important when dealing with different spheres of governance, but also on trans-boundary issues. Although political commitment exists, the focus has typically been on the policy, governance, and academic aspects, with little attention paid to the transition to demonstration projects, related monitoring and evaluation, participation of communities, and how to effectively scale successful demonstration projects. A loss of momentum was highlighted as a challenge. Good policies and strategies tend to only last as long as they are interesting, and resilient to new priorities. Results often take longer than five years to emerge, and it is thus important to be flexible, reassess new challenges, and changes that respond to them. Political stability, and the institutionalization of the WEF nexus, are necessary to remain sustainable and endure political terms of office. Other challenges highlighted included the need for information and data sharing. Opportunities: Participants noted that there are opportunities for clear policy guidelines, allowing for regional protocols to find meaning in national policy and strategy. Also, through the SADC nexus framework, broad political commitment can be secured. Information sharing was highlighted as a strong entry point for improved coordination, especially to address conflicts of priority. A common problem is that the policy environment is not well understood by all stakeholders. Thus, at implementation, opportunities to collaborate and improve program design are missed. The SADC regional knowledge hub presents an opportunity to overcome this, by providing a platform to highlight and map different policies, which sectors they impact, and where opportunities for collaboration exist. Regional coordination, alongside the systems approach, can help avoid issues of inward looking policies that may be detrimental to a country in the long-run. During crises, countries tend to close up, and focus on energy and food self-sufficiency. Due to a lack of endowments in water and resources, and without innovative strategies to overcome these constraints, countries might not be able to sustain visions of self-sufficiency. Financiers are an important enabling stakeholder. They can play a role in sharing lessons learned, coordinate and share information across a range of institutions, and help facilitate discussions around joint investments. Read less

Advancing technical WEF models, tools and frameworks for decision making at multiple scales: What actions in next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion topic? Deliberate efforts at the national scale are needed e.g. through joint sector planning initiatives that break down siloes and optimize resource allocation. Developing policy and institutional supporting arrangements that can connect different scale models to achieve impact. This could be a step towards bridging the science policy gap Sensitising model development to local needs through the intentional development of useful ... Read moremodels. Among the variety of models with wide ranging applications in the WEF nexus, local level models with short time scale/horizons have exhibited some success e.g. climate forecasting for local small scale farmers linked to smartphone applications and improved agricultural productivity. Similarly, drought forecasting models at national scale have also achieved some level of practical impact. Of importance is to ensure that models highlight the economic benefit and practical usefulness both for local communities and national planning. Linking funding models to WEF nexus model development in response to where there is greatest need and best business case e.g. waste to energy scenarios Integrating a diversity of disciplines on the WEF nexus would enrich models in developing appropriate scenarios that affect specific users. How will it be possible to tell if these actions are being successful? 1. When models are applied and yield practical impact for specific users e.g. farmers, policy makers through a needs based, negotiated, context specific and consultative process. What contributions will our organizations make? 1. Applied research that supports the development of models and tools which can respond to local needs and broader national policies Read less

Putting nature back in the WEF nexus: towards resilient food landscapes What actions in next 3 years will have greatest impact on the Discussion topic? The starting point to this conversation is to first acknowledge that the WEF nexus is reliant on nature in almost all aspects and an overarching theme is to increase the protection of nature not just for the sake of nature but also for the sake of people and industries. Therefore, it is suggested that in the next few years a starting point for enhancing the living systems that support our societies and economies can be the restoration, protecti... Read moreon, and prioritization of ecosystems and their services, such as the conservation of major water resource areas. The benefits of protecting nature are tangible to people through improved water, energy and food security. In addition to this starting point, it was noted that nature can teach us a lot. Especially when it comes to food production and consumption systems, we can learn a lot from nature in terms of circular economies, reducing waste, and increasing nutritional value. A short-term action would therefore be to implement integrated WEF systems that mirror the efficiency and circularity of nature’s systems. Another important aspect that was identified to be key to conserving nature in the WEF nexus is behaviour change. Behaviour change is needed on two fronts, i.e. both the behaviour of producers and that of consumers should be considered, scrutinised, and changed to enhance the protection of nature in WEF systems. Achieving such changes usually requires incentives for actors to implement change, especially financial incentives. Understanding incentive structures and cross-scale impacts requires further investigation. In addition, governance and policies are important tools that can be utilised to change behaviour and put nature into the WEF nexus. Key areas for action and research over the coming years are therefore incentives and policies that target behaviour change. However, it is also important to think through potential trade-offs. Balancing food production and nature conservation may result in trade-offs, and these could occur at different scales. On the other hand, we need to move beyond the false dichotomy of either prioritizing conservation OR food production – we can and should do both. The planetary boundaries can be used to guide us in more effective use of land and water in food production, which should not immediately be associated with higher levels of industrialisation. Therefore, a short-term goal should be to explore alternative effective/more optimal uses of water and land than just agricultural intensification. How will it be possible to tell if these actions are being successful? The planetary boundaries can be used as a measure to determine the effectiveness of implementation plans. Behaviour of consumers and producers can indicate the effectiveness of strategies and policies. Another measure could be the change in policies in various countries and industries, such as changes in the food consumption industry influencing and driving change in the food production industry. What contributions will our organisations make? A point was raised that conservation organizations need to do a better job of clarifying and promoting the fundamental importance of nature in WEF systems. Often the focus is on climate change and similar (more technical) issues, so the message that we are wholly dependent on our natural systems can get lost. It is important to promote the idea of interconnected and complex WEF systems. Read less

Community approaches to operationalise the WEF nexus: What’s already happening (see jambord: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1hUQQ1OXh5smd3d_7rhCx-rgWPA1AXY8soERaWyp6Uqg/viewer?f=5) Some rescue projects and plans already incorporate activities that have elements of conservation within communities (Livelihood recovery program in East Africa). Use of gravity in irrigation spaces among smallholder farmers (e.g in Zambia) Interconnected water projects with fish ponds in Kenya Exchange visits- learning exchanges More youth voices taking up spaces to address environmental challenges A number of smal... Read morelholder irrigation examples across the SADC and South Africa. Proper research on community dynamics and suitable technologies appropriate for particular communities and not just responding to crises- building resilience & capacities Water harvesting methods used Integrated cases of water projects and food systems Enhancement of data and information collection, development, management and sharing. Strengthening institutional operations and empowerment of decision-makers. Promoting regional and cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation Multiple water use projects How will it be possible to tell if these actions are being successful? Bottom-up; - Sustainability Centered; - Inclusive(Gender, minority groups, indigenous communities) Probably the policy environment developed to enable everyone to participate! It means everyone participates in the WEF dialogue Women, youth , vulnerable and marginalized members of the society are included in planning phase More adoption of renewable energy systems Different GESI groups having equitable access to resources Created common understanding of WEF if possible! Inclusivity with specific focus to people with disabilities when it comes to resource use and benefitting. What contributions will our organisations make? Ensure community members participate in decisions of managing and utilizing WEF nexus resources Co-produce knowledge- science, ILK and practical related to WEF and shared across communities Work with communities at their level, listen and understand their priorities Build trust in communities and have honest engagement. Systems-based approach linked to livelihoods & holistic response options Read less

Areas of divergence emerged in most of the breakout discussions. Climate change discussion: Competing priorities- breaking down the silo mentality through partnership Lots of overlapping and competing policies and strategies, lack of balance on the different policies What does it mean to make Southern Africa climate resilient? Lack of coordination at regional level that need proper communication channels Lack of donor funding or financing-driving to more relevant actions that will promote funding Lack of political will and interest at national and regional level Competing and Mismatch of polic... Read moreies that can be addressed through synergies. WEF models discussion: Not all models are scalable to different scale and contexts and may only be useful in a single context. This is an important factor to consider in the discussion of applicability of WEF models and tools. Putting nature back in the nexus: Consumers as the main driver of agriculture production can be seen as a divergence, since the consumer can dictate the abilities of a food producer to be able to move to more sustainable practices. This insight comes from an example of the agroecology industry, where we often hear calls to reduce chemical inputs. However, the reduction of chemical inputs often results in an increase in labour costs. If consumers are not willing to absorb the increase in costs, it restricts the producers’ ability to reduce reliance on chemicals. The complexity of consumer choice also brought the group to think about the plausibility and justice implications of the consumers driving change. For instance, paying higher prices for sustainably produced food might be more possible in developed countries, where consumers may have better access to information and are more likely to be able to absorb the price differences. But in response, it was raised that it is even more important that consumers drive change in developing regions such as southern Africa, where the loss of diversity and nutrition in diets is leading to poorer health and well-being outcomes, especially amongst the poor. Putting nature back in the WEF nexus therefore has the potential to improve not just people’s well-being, but also address socio-economic inequalities. Change is therefore essential, and both consumers and producers face some responsibility in building more nature-based food systems. Community approaches discussion: Domestication of WEF frameworks due to lack of local interpretation of what WEF means Resource scarcities, infrastructure, inequality, spatial planning laws, physical barriers, economic barriers. Inappropriate technologies that end up disadvantaging some groups that are meant to benefit from the interventions Many SADC countries have historical imbalances that have kept communities separated Resource gap, Finance for WEF development, Market for potential investment, Universal Political Commitment, Climate Uncertainties Land tenure systems in less favour of women who are most involved in farming processes. The challenge of financial access to food, energy and water that ultimately affects the successful working of the Nexus. The varying costs of the 3 affects each component of the Nexus. Communities are unable to navigate and prioritise each facet within the Nexus thanks to the conflicting needs, especially each being a basic need. Marginalized voices of smallholder farmers Climate change related disasters such as drought have heavily impacted agro-based systems, perpetuating poverty. COVID-19 has also impacted the systems heavily. Read less

The main area of divergence was related to how to understand the role of women in food systems. Some people posed a traditional role for women, for example: educating women so that they feed other people well. That is, planning a nutritional education so that women make good decisions, taking 100% responsibility for their reality and the reality of their family, when the conditions in which they daily live do not allow them. On the other hand, some people brought a more transformative view of the role of women in food systems.