Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

The triple burden of malnutrition – undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight – threatens the survival, growth and development of children and young people worldwide. Well-nourished children are better able to grow, learn, participate in their communities and be resilient in the face of adversity. Having read the scientific paper for Action Track 1 and with the recent controversy around schools meals throughout Covid-19, especially - but not limited to - the UK, we decided to look deeper into how we can feed all children better. The following areas were identified by the scientific grou... Read morep for Action Track 1 in order to put children’s nutrition rights first: Empower families, children, young people and women to demand affordable nutritious food; Drive food supplies to do the right thing for children; Build healthy food environments for all children; Mobilise supportive systems to scale up nutrition results for every child; Collect, analyse and use good-quality data and evidence regularly to guide action and track progress. Through the Dialogue, we wanted to expand on these points and encourage collaboration among the different stakeholders invited as well as across sectors in different countries. Key statistics: • In the UK, 1 in 4 school pupils aged 11-15 are obese • Teenagers consume on average 8 times the recommended daily sugar allowance • Only 1 in 12 young people aged 11-18 eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day • Approximately 36,000 children and young people under 19 have diabetes in the UK • London has more overweight and obese children than any other global city • Poor children are more likely than better off children to suffer from poor health as a result of food insecurity. • Worldwide, 38.2 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight or obese in 2019 and the prevalence of over overweight among children and adolescents aged 5-19 has risen dramatically from just 4% in 1975 to just over 18% in 2016. Read less

There were some areas of divergence seen between some panelists when it comes to the area of the private sector. The notion that the private sector is good at responding to market demand and consumer preferences, i.e.. reducing salt, sugar, saturated fats when demanded by consumers was not shared by all panelists. There was also divergence in the area of education and labelling products to consumers.

Below are ten key discussion outcomes from this panel discussion: 1. The pandemic has shown us that diseases which are nutrition related have led to the biggest number of hospitalizations and deaths. There is a correlation between diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and nutrition. 2. Food shouldn’t be treated as a commodity but rather a basic human right. 3. Unhealthy food options and processed food is cheaper for the consumer due to subsidies on foods like wheat, corn and soy. There is a need to subsidize healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. This would result in lowering ... Read morethe price of healthy food for the consumer. 4. Farmers are the soul and heart of healthy food systems and we must ensure that governments support them and ensure their survival and sustainability for the generations to come. 5. In terms of universalization of some of the policies, school feeding programs could ensure that young people and children within their school are able to have the nutrition they need. 6. A need is to incentivize some of the local growers within their society. They will be working in order to provide food within the society and the communities rather than focusing on very huge business opportunities which provide food but most of the food are high in calories and sugar. 7. The government mechanisms are effective in making sure that all these are key players that are working on the creature that is enhanced and are able to do their way. 8. The pandemic underscores the importance of resilience in food systems, which we should learn from to prepare for future emergencies. 9. Subsidization almost always gets capitalized in increased costs of land, labor, and capital, therefore the price structure increases, which eventually increases the cost to consumers. 10. The private sector is well aware that bigger and bolder moves need to be made in the direction of human rights, and the private sector and farmers have an important role to play. Read less

The main findings of this discussion focused on the areas listed below: 1. For food insecurity in the past, we have mostly focused on yield, income, and very particular metrics, but we know that we also have to look at equity, health and access. 2. Youth are an important part of the conversation because they are pushing for diets to change in many ways. They are not willing to have the same sort of calorie rich but nutrient deficient diets that have been part of our global diets for so long. 3. With so many people falling ill from the COVID-19, unhealthy diets are contributing to pre-existing ... Read moreconditions that put them more at risk. 4. COVID-19 puts diets at risk through disrupted health and nutrition services, job and income losses, disruptions in local food supply chains, and as a direct result of infections among poor and vulnerable people. 5. The manner in which food systems absorb, recover, adapt and transform in response to the shock of COVID-19 will shape their level of resilience and their ability to deliver on the longer-term triple challenge. 6. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting food and nutrition security through economic and social systems shocks, food system disruptions and gaps in coverage of essential health and nutrition services. 7. Food systems in low- and middle-income countries must adapt and strengthen food and nutrition security in the wake of COVID-19. Read less

Co-organized by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food Tank, and Global Alliance for the Future of Food, and in partnership with the UN Food System Summit (UNFSS) Champions Network, presented seven-panel discussions (running one event each month from January to June 2021) focusing on how to transform the world’s food systems. Each virtual series explored one of the Global Alliance’s seven Calls to Action and brought together more than 25+ UNFSS Champion speakers worldwide, including world-renowned activists, journalists, business leaders, farmers, policy and technical... Read more experts, and many others. Each conversation will help set the stage and identify critical pathways to create a better future of food and strengthen our global food systems for the upcoming UNFSS in September 2021. This final discussion highlighted the Global Alliance’s Call to Action: Promote nutrient-dense, whole food diets underpinned by diversified food production adapted to different microclimates and socio-cultural contexts. Moderators Danielle Nierenberg of Food Tank and Ruth Richardson of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food opened the discussion by contextualizing it within the inequities and weak points of food systems highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Richardson stated that a shift towards resilience is required to prevent further such shocks to food systems. This panel discussion fhad key focus on Action Track 5, which aims to work to ensure the continued functionality of sustainable food systems in areas that are prone to conflict or natural disasters. The Action Track will also promote global action to protect food supplies from the impacts of pandemics. Panelists echoed these calls for change but presented differing ideas of what kinds of change are needed. Dorit Adler of the Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition identified the western diet as a causal factor in the prominence of diseases including hypertension, diabetes, and COVID-19 as well as the environmental destruction of industrial agriculture and advocated for the subsidization of nutritious staples of the Mediterranean diet instead. Rick White of the Canadian Canola Growers Association pointed out the need to ensure that farmers continue to be economically viable and stressed the importance of government support for agriculture and nutritional education. Mike Nkhombo Khunga of the SUN Civil Society Network explained the need to make agriculture more accessible to youth, who are motivated to create sustainable food systems but encounter barriers to getting involved. The discussion presented connections between food systems, diet, the pandemic, and national security, among other concerns, indicating a need for a systems perspective when creating solutions. Panelists explained the need to incorporate gender and local culture in decision making and to seek opportunities for collaboration between the public and private sectors. Most importantly, all three panelists agreed that food is a human right and that it needs to be made affordable, accessible, and appropriate to local cultural and environmental context. Read less

All panelists agreed that it is important to support women, smallholder farmers, youth, and Indigenous peoples in agroecology. Some participants argued that consumer demand promotes the uptake of regenerative farming while others emphasized that there is generally a limited understanding of the topic amongst consumers. However, all agreed that more education is needed to help the public understand the impacts of their purchasing decisions.

Discussion Topics: Investment in ways that consumers receive information that helps them with their choices and helps them understand the way healthy diets and sustainability can be built. The panelists argue that education at all levels is key. Panelists emphasized the importance of knowledge that is held by and shared within Indigenous communities, recommending that a focus is put on intergenerational knowledge and the knowledge transfer that needs to occur from the elders to the youth. A next step identified would be investment in ways that consumers receive information that helps them with... Read more their choices and helps them understand the way healthy diets and sustainability can be built. Technology can be used to create awareness and sustainability and healthy diets. E-commerce provides greater reach to and for the consumer. Read less

Key Findings: Panellists believed that knowledge bases on agroecology must be shared with policymakers, who can support and help scale up agroecology and regenerative approaches. They discussed the need for strong connections between various generations, countries and sectors in order to scale-up agroecological practices. Some panellists found that government financing and investments from philanthropists can aid in the transformation. For better transformation, it was found that healing frameworks should be used and implementation of intergenerational knowledge and knowledge transfer. Consume... Read morer advocacy groups have reached out to sustainable farmers in their respective countries and formed connections. Some consumer advocacy groups started to bring consumers into asking about where their food comes from, how their food is made, and where we are looking at substitutes for meat. Overall, agroecology as a science and a movement is a transformative way to break out of many current crises afflicting the planet. One of the reasons that agroecology is so transformational is that it provides us multiple benefits from restoring ecosystems to building climate resilience, from ensuring food security and nutrition to promoting sustainable livelihoods, from protecting biodiversity to upholding human rights. Read less

Co-organized by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food Tank, and Global Alliance for the Future of Food, and in partnership with the UN Food System Summit (UNFSS) Champions Network, presented seven-panel discussions (running one event each month from January to June 2021) focusing on how to transform the world’s food systems. Each virtual series explored one of the Global Alliance’s seven Calls to Action and brought together more than 25+ UNFSS Champion speakers worldwide, including world-renowned activists, journalists, business leaders, farmers, policy and technical... Read more experts, and many others. Each conversation will help set the stage and identify critical pathways to create a better future of food and strengthen our global food systems for the upcoming UNFSS in September 2021. The sixth event highlighted the Global Alliance's call to action: creating enabling environments for agroecology and regenerative approaches where investments can flourish and benefit all. This overlaps with action track #3, as it connects to nature-positive production. The discussion focused on ways to enable these practices through investment, education, advocacy, and government. Each participant brought a unique perspective to this challenge. This discussion aims to understand the ways that enabling environments can be created, the actions to be taken, what are the obstacles in the way, what are the dominant narratives that influence decision making, what are the knowledge gaps that need to be filled and how do we create the political will where agroecological innovation can flourish. The event is part of a series of panels with themes inspired by Global Alliance’s Seven Calls to Action to transform the food system. Moderated by Ruth Richardson, Executive Director of the Global Alliance and Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, each conversation features members of the United Nations Food Systems Champions Network. Helena Leurent of Consumers International explained that greater awareness among consumers can change dietary preferences in favour of sustainable agriculture. Vijay Kumar of RySS, India, described the pivotal roles of both government investment and grassroots, women-led collectives in increasing access to sustainable agriculture practices. Denisa Livingston of the Diné Community Advocacy Alliance and Slow Food International provided a reminder of the importance of Indigenous peoples and their traditional knowledge in creating more sustainable food systems. Lana Weidgenant of Zero Hour International highlighted the importance of young people to the future of both climate activism and agriculture, and argued that agroecology has promise to improve youth participation in agriculture. Finally, Emile Frison of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) presented some of the most challenging obstacles to creating policies which favour agroecology and sustainable food production, including poor awareness among policy makers and the profit-driven nature of the agricultural sector, and stressed the need for a paradigm shift in our thinking about food systems. Read less

In this discussion the panelists seemed to hold supporting views and there weren’t any clear areas of divergence. The panelists agreed that the UNFSS will serve as a catalyst for change, but the challenge will be to translate these dialogues into national policies and implementation.

Discussion Topics: The first prominent issue the panel identified was the fragmentation and fracture of the sector, investors, there is a need for a greater understanding of different institutions and opportunities. The second major issue that was discussed in the panel was it is important to not assume that investment opportunities and finance are connected, or lead to one another. These investment opportunities need to be designed, prepared for and tended to. Another issue is private capital is moving away from this kind of investment, which is a big problem as we continue to look to invest ... Read morein these solutions and put food systems at the center of the solutions set for many of the issues we are facing. Many funders focus almost exclusively on short-term horizons, and there is a need to focus on long-term horizons. Another prominent problem identified was risk, and the multiple dimensions of risk. The last issue identified was power differentials, there is a need to understand that they are very prominent within the financing world in particular. Power differentials are present in terms of who has a seat at the table, who is a part of the decision-making process, and solutions need to address how to balance representation at said table. Solutions Discussed by the Panel To address the fragmentation and fractured landscape as there is a need to be more interconnected and need to create an ecosystem landscape. There is a need to understand how private and public come together particularly for the repurposing of public support and how those financial offerings come together and are mutually supportive of one another. It is imperative to strengthen know-how, in particular, knowledge, and understanding of the system and opportunities within the system. Another solution suggested was co-designing with actors at the table. This goes back to power differentials, markets designed must be connected to and in service of, smallholder farmers by including all actors, especially those on the ground. Measurement and evaluation is a key solution in ensuring that things are visible, and progress is noticed. Values are important in measurement and evaluation because it helps determine what needs to be measured. It is important to ensure that intergenerational equity, youth, justice and fairness, equity, gender, resilience, and diversity are values at the center of conversations as they are important for funding flows to support deeper values. Read less

● Panelists believe that finance itself does not unlock investment opportunities, and thus good investment opportunities must have not only funding, but be well designed, prepared and de-risked. ● Panelists noted that investment opportunities must be demand driven and serve the interests of small-holder farmers. ● Some panelists argued that a next step which should be taken is for funders to actively track the number of local organizations that are getting financing, ensuring that local community actors are sufficiently funded and able to act sustainably. ● Panelists argued that stakeh... Read moreolders must break down silos and promote greater collaboration, between all sectors on the local, state and federal levels. ● Panelists believe there can be a mutually beneficial relationship between the public and private sector if collaboration is effective. Read less

On 27 April 2021, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food Tank, and Global Alliance for the Future of Food, in partnership with the UN Food System Summit (UN FSS) Champions Network, presented the fifth of seven-panel discussions focusing on how to transform the world’s food systems. Each virtual series explored one of the Global Alliance’s seven Calls to Action and brought together more than 25+ UN FSS Champion speakers worldwide, including world-renowned activists, journalists, business leaders, farmers, policy and technical experts, and many others. This fifth ev... Read moreent in the virtual series highlighted the Global Alliance's call to action:  Unlock private philanthropic and multilateral investment opportunities, and sustainable food systems, and better align those opportunities amongst actors for greater impact. The panel brought together an international array of food systems leaders to issue calls for action on global food systems, elevate public discourse about reforming our food systems, and develop principles to guide stakeholders in leveraging food systems to support the SDGs. Ruth Richardson,  Chair of UN FSS Champions Network and Executive Director of Global Alliance for the Future of Food, set the stage for the discussion by distinguishing the difference between public and private capital flows and the capacity of interconnectedness between them. On behalf of Global Alliance, she proposed questions to guide the discussion that highlighted topics such as agroecology and regenerative practices, encouraging more ambitious funding targets, and acknowledging organizations that use grants to promote positive change in our global food systems. Bettina Prato, Senior Coordinator for the Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network (SAFIN), opened the discussion by framing private finance issues in our global food systems' and the deeper complexities surrounding our current financial architecture. Prato stressed two inherent weaknesses in our current financial architecture on global and country levels. Firstly, finance in itself does not unlock investment opportunities, and the need to build up those opportunities is now required. We must design, prepare and de-risk those investment opportunities that are a weak area in the current financial architecture. The second identified was the need for fragmentation in our current landscape and recognizing the significant gaps in the types of capital being offered and the need to support the transition into more adapted and riskier agricultural practices. Prato stressed the need for riskier business models and investors to support investable opportunities that are really transformative and align with our agenda towards sustainable food systems. Andrew Mushita, Director of the Community Technology Development Trust, emphasized the role that debt plays with smallholder farmers stating that it makes them more risk-averse. He stressed that investments should be demand-driven and ensure that smallholder farmers are being reached. There must be adequate infrastructure and technologies to ensure that the pricing system is fair for farmers to return investments in their economy and the agricultural development sector. Geeta Sethi, World Bank, echoed Ruth’s initial point on the importance for public and private sectors to work together to define the price of carbon, soil as an asset and provide a policy framework that allows innovation to move forward, and compensating farmers for their role.  Co-moderator Dani Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, reemphasized the need to transform our food systems by actively engaging and recognizing smallholder farmers as critical stakeholders and mitigating the many power differentials commonly seen in the financial sector. Ndidi Nwuneli, Sahel Consulting/Nourishing Africa, stressed the importance of equitable funding and used Africa as an example of funding being received by the many start-ups driven by Americans and Europeans residing in Africa. She also emphasized the role gender plays in funding, stating that women farmers typically receive less funding. Read less

No particular areas of divergence emerged during the Dialogue. Indeed, participants converged on the vast majority of the issues discussed.

“CAPACITY BUILDING, EDUCATION, TRADITIONAL AND SCIENCE-BASED KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION PROMOTE AFFORDABLE, SAFE AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA” Sustainable Intensification has different dimensions, one of these concerns the socio-economic and human aspects. Which is the role that capacity building and education can play in promoting Sustainable Intensification for food security in Sub-Saharan Africa? Some issues to take into consideration are: 1) Access to education for farmers in remote areas. We can speak of formal and informal education. Formal education is institutionalized, int... Read moreentional and planned through public organizations and recognized private bodies of a country. In some contexts, informal education and innovative ways of raising awareness among farmers towards innovation can be more important and effective than formal education. Some examples of informal education: • Extension services: decentralization policies and focus on infrastructure are undermining the governmental extensions services that lack resources in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other actors such as NGOs or non-academic research centers are playing an important role for fostering informal education. • Promoting “modern farm models” as platforms where other farmers can learn how to implement technologies and where they can cooperate to share inputs to implement solutions. • New ways of promoting capacity building and awareness are based on the co-construction of knowledge and dialogue and communication among different categories of stakeholders through a multi actor approach. An example of this kind of practices is the case of the “Theatre Forum” on climate change adaptation strategies (see https://futureclimateafrica.org/coproduction-manual/). 2) Capacity building related to Sustainable Intensification and food security addressed to small scale farmers should consider: • Training farmers on how to innovate and be competitive on the market. • Training on how to link agricultural production to food and nutritional requirements. • Capacity building and sensitization must be socially and culturally sensitive and shall take into consideration language and ethnicity barriers. In this respect, the active engagement of leaders in the rural communities is crucial. • Not only capacity building and training should focus on new technologies for Sustainable Intensification but also on traditional and local knowledge (e.g. Traditional crops vs GMO; certification of local seeds, allowing and promoting locally-adapted, cheap and good quality seeds). 3) From the side of research and academia, it is important that research questions are co-developed with local communities since the early beginning of project cycles, so that results are appropriate and useful for farmers and they can continue beyond single interventions/projects. This will also reduce farmers' resistance to implement and use technologies or new ways of working. • In promoting Sustainable Agricultural Intensification practices and technologies, it is important to understand the different value systems of stakeholders and take into consideration the drivers behind agricultural choices that are not only related to cash or yield but they are also social and cultural (ex. pearl millet is also used for buildings and not only for food). • All capacity building and education interventions should be accountable towards local communities and Donors. 4) When we talk about education and food security, gender issues cannot be ignored. Some insights concerned: • Access of women to education. • Considering the importance of enhancing and valorizing gender crops (such as Fonio) in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification strategies in order to ensure women's social and economic empowerment. Finally, we cannot ignore some areas of Sub Saharan Africa where conflicts and political instability worsen food insecurity and contribute to high rates of malnutrition. In these areas capacity building is important but conflict and the fragility and disruption of the social networks lead to difficult implementation of sustainable and long-term interventions. Read less

“FOOD SECURITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IS ACHIEVED THROUGH ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGIES ALONG THE WHOLE FOOD CHAIN” Participants started by developing their idea on how the Food System will change over the next 10 years: • Improved selection and crop variety for farmers is essential for adapting to climate change and rainfall variability in the coming years. • On one side it will be pivotal to select a wide variety of crops, whereas on the other side it is crucial to use native species whenever trying to apply Sustainable Agricultural Intensification to avoid invas... Read moreive species. • Decentralized method and a multi-actor strategy need to be applied to make sure a wide variety of crops is established respecting the goal of sustainability. • Valorization of traditional knowledge by discovering local and ecological resources, thus reducing the use of harmful chemical products or pesticides, is important. • Management of natural vegetation (buffer strips, hedgerows) is also considered important to encourage presence of wild pollinator populations. • New ways to deliver production data from local crops and to improve crop protection knowledge will be found by improving the use of ICTs and mobile-linked tools. Specific environmentally sustainable practices and technologies can be applied and in the local food chain: • Intercropping – many options are to be explored, also by mixing cropping and intercropping to deal with climate stress and pest and diseases. One clear option is to work on what it is known to be already successful and very effective. One example is the push-and-pull technology, that is known to be successful and effective. • Use of local, accessible and already existing materials to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, to increase nutrient cycling at farm and household level and recycling of crop residues. One example is to employ domestic and animal west. Among the challenges to applicability of these practices, participants agreed on the following: • ICTs (as implemented in the EWA-BELT Horizon2020 Project), especially mobile technology, could improve and overcome the constraints related to training and extending services. Technologies are available, but they do not reach those interested. A great effort must be demanded for these technologies to reach those that are most interested and in need. ICTs are helpful in teaching farmers on reproduction and preservation of seeds, also in order to increase entitlement of practices and seeds. People on the field and experts alike are also essential to educate farmers to new technologies in order to boost their productivity. Training on traditional knowledge is crucial, feasible and applicable, favouring low-cost technologies and strategies. It is also adaptable to local farmers who do not have many practical tools. • Covid-19 was also seen as a constraint in terms of people going back to farming without being given proper training on sustainability. • Improving seed variety is feasible, and has been made, but needs adequate investment in research and development for plant genetics improvements. • Give farmers access to financial institutions. Micro-credit and insurance increase farmers’ capacity to be part of the value chain. One of the ideas proposed is to work for reducing land tenure and increasing possession of land over the years, as farmers often do not think in a long-term perspective. • Social networks, corporative societies and communities are encouraged as they provides farmers with great opportunities even when accessing commodity markets. • Language barriers are considered a major constraint, especially in terms of education and knowledge-sharing. Efforts to overcome such extending limit are now due. Farmers need to understand what they are been taught, with respect to agricultural practices and the given technological tools. Translation to local languages could be a valuable solution. • Improvement of infrastructures and means of transportation. Seeds and fertilizers will reach farmers on time and the crops can reach the market faster. Read less

"INNOVATIVE AND ACCESSIBLE PRE- AND POST-HARVEST TECHNOLOGIES ALLOW FOR HIGHER CROP YIELDS, AFFORDABLE, SAFE AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA" 1) Participants started the discussion focusing on which innovative pre- and post-harvest technologies and practices should be applied over the next years to increase crop yields while offering safe and nutritious food, and divided them in sectors of application: • SOIL MANAGEMENT: Precision farming. • WATER MANAGEMENT: Solar energy, drip irrigation. • AGRICULTURE LIVESTOCK INTEGRATION: Agro-ecology. • CROP MANAGEMENT: Neglected and Und... Read moreerutilized Crop Species. • POST-HARVEST: Drying solar systems and special bags that farmers can use for storing solar energy and avoiding contamination in food. • PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT: Push-and-pull technology; “Aflasafe”, natural product for minimizing aflatoxin limiting contamination from reaching dangerous level. It is used in Sub-Saharan Africa for augmenting the quality of products and quantity. • ICT TOOLS: Sensors for monitoring the conditions of grains during the storage. 2) Subsequently, participants identified indicators and best practices that could effectively measure the successfulness of these technologies and practices: • Time, in addition to quality and quantity, could be an indicator to measure technologies successfulness. Example: It is important to respect yields rotation/irrigation time and technologies could help in simplifying this process. • In general, when we assess successfulness of technologies and practices, endogenous aspects, including geographic position, quality of soil, presence of water, general region characteristics should be considered too. 3) Thirdly, participants discussed whether these technologies and practices can be easily accessible for small holder farmers, as well as the main constraints and possible solutions. The main issues raised were: • Economic constraints: - Land tenure systems limits farmer’s long term investments. - Cost of seeds and irrigation and expensiveness of some relevant tools, such as photovoltaic panels and auto-machine, are a limit to accessibility for small farmers. To overcome this obstacle, farmers can create stakeholder groups or cooperatives for gaining access to those technologies. • Digital literacy gap. In particular, a gap exists in countries such as Kenya, where young people create or invent new technologies for e-agriculture, but smallholder farmers are not informed about that and it is difficult to distribute these technologies. There are also structural gender inequalities and discriminations that need to be tackled. • Difficulties in reaching farmers with technologies and limited know-how. To overcome this obstacle, sharing knowledge among farmers and within farmers groups on how to use technologies is important. It is also important to work on a bottom-up process that takes into consideration farmers’ needs, a process that involves all steps of the food chain, from the preparation of seeds and soil to the distribution of products to their disposal and recycling. - Research and development, in particular on Sustainable Intensification technologies should identify which technologies could be implemented in a more efficient way, by performing a constraint analysis when projecting research. Working on adaptating technologies to the specific characteristics of the agro-geographic area is also necessary. - Involving farmers in the development, testing and adoption of technologies and practices and promoting capacity building, training and sharing of good practices i salso important. A key role in this sense will be performed by the Farmers Field Research Units within the EWA-BELT Horizon2020 Project. - A pivotal role has to be played by governments and institutions for providing affordability and distribution of technologies, technical assistance, research, development of new practices, dissemination of results, contribution to capacity building and training of farmers. Read less

Participants overall converged on the following points: • Training and capacity building are seen as core elements to the overall success of improved Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Capacity building related to Sustainable Intensification and food security addressed to small scale farmers should consider training farmers on how to innovate and be competitive on the market and on how to link agricultural production to food and nutritional requirements. Capacity building and sensitization must be socially and culturally sensitive and shall take into consideration language and ethnicity bar... Read moreriers. Moreover, not only capacity building and training should focus on new technologies for Sustainable Intensification but also on traditional and local knowledge, favouring low-cost technologies and strategies, and adaptability to local farmers who do not have many practical tools. In this respect, access to formal and informal education for farmers in remote areas needs to be enhanced. In some contexts, informal education and innovative ways of raising awareness among farmers towards innovation can be more important and effective than formal education. In addition, improving access of women to education must be taken into consideration, also in light of the importance of enhancing and valorising gender crops (such as Fonio) in Sustainable Intensification strategies in order to ensure women's social and economic empowerment. All capacity building and education interventions should be accountable towards local communities and Donors. • Digital literacy and accessibility could make a difference. ICTs, especially mobile technology, could improve and overcome the constraints related to training and extending services. Technologies are available, but they do not reach those interested. A great effort must be demanded for these technologies to reach those that are most interested and in need. ICTs are helpful in teaching farmers on reproduction and preservation of seeds. People on the field and experts alike are also essential to educate farmers to new technologies in order to boost their productivity. • Cost of seeds and irrigation, and expensiveness of some relevant tools, such as photovoltaic panels and auto-machine, are a limit to accessibility for small farmers. To overcome this obstacle, farmers can create stakeholder groups or cooperatives for gaining access to those technologies. In this context, social networks, cooperatives and communities are encouraged to provide farmers with great opportunities even when accessing commodity markets. Moreover, access to micro-credit and insurance increases farmers’ capacity to be part of the value chain. Improving land tenure systems and ensuring the possession of land over the years for small holder farmers to stimulate long-term investments and perspective is also important. • It is necessary to work on a bottom-up process that takes into consideration farmers’ needs, involving all steps of the food chain, from the preparation of seeds and soil to the distribution of products to their disposal and recycling. This way also the quality of food and distribution between people will increase. On one side it will be pivotal to select a wide variety of crops, whereas on the other side it is crucial to use native species whenever trying to apply Sustainable Agricultural Intensification to avoid invasive species. Improved selection and crop variety for farmers is essential for climate change adaptation and rainfall variability in the coming years. A decentralized method and a multi-actor strategy need to be applied to make sure a wide variety of crops is established respecting the goal of sustainability. The valorisation of traditional knowledge by discovering local and ecological resources, and the use of local, accessible and already existing materials to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, to increase nutrient cycling at farm and household level and recycling of crop residues, are important. Improvement of infrastructures and means of transportation is essential to allow for seeds and fertilizers to reach farmers on time as well as for the crops reach markets faster. Best practices such as the control of toxic fungi population, for avoiding food losses during post-harvesting; and solar drying for avoiding contamination in food are considered of great help. When discussing strategies to be implemented, also endogenous factors including geographic position, quality of soil, presence of water, general region characteristics should be considered. • A pivotal role has to be played by governments and institutions for providing affordability, distribution of technologies, and technical assistance, promote research and development of new practices, dissemination of results, contribution to capacity building and training of farmers. From the side of research and academia, it is important that research questions are co-developed with local communities since the early beginning of project cycles so that the results are appropriate and useful for farmers and they can continue beyond single interventions/projects. This will also reduce farmers' resistance to implement and use technologies or new ways of working. Finally, we cannot ignore some areas of Sub Saharan Africa where conflicts and political instability worsen food insecurity and contribute to high rates of malnutrition. In these areas capacity building is important but conflict and the fragility and disruption of the social networks lead to difficult implementation of sustainable and long-term interventions. Read less

By 2050, the world’s population could grow to 9.7 billion, food demand is expected to increase by 50% and global demand for grains such as maize, rice and wheat could increase by 70%. In Africa, food insecurity is one of the major problems and the continent is not on track to eliminate hunger by 2030. On the one hand, the population is growing rapidly and needs an abundant supply of affordable and nutritious food, while on the other, especially small-scale farmers do not have easy access to agricultural inputs and financial resources to raise crop productivity. At the same time, agriculture ... Read moreis a major contributor to the balance of payments for African economies, and needs to meet domestic demand as well as maintain its place in international trade. African Regions are suffering food insecurity at different extents with Eastern, Middle and Southern Regions suffering the most. One of the main reasons for food insecurity in Africa is related to the huge yield gap of the major food crops that in turn depends on a complex and interdependent variety of factors. How can we meet the food and nutrition demand of a rising population without negative environmental and social consequences? Sustainable Intensification is an approach that uses innovations to increase productivity on existing agricultural land with positive (or at least not detrimental) environmental and social impact. Both words, “Sustainable” and “Intensification,” carry equal weight. The ambition for Sustainable Agricultural Intensification (SAI) can be reflected also in the Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, SDG 15 - Life on Land, which aims to sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and review land degradation and halt biodiversity loss; and SDG2 - Zero Hunger, which seeks to ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, help maintain ecosystems, strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, progressively improve land and soil quality and maintain genetic diversity. If this ambition is to be realised, the efficiency with which existing resources are used will have to be enhanced to ensure that ecosystems services are maintained. Sustainability also requires ensuring social equity in the productive and environmental benefits from SAI, otherwise the poorer sections of the farming population and women farmers risk being left behind by the promotion of intensification. Despite the promises of SAI practices to ensure food security, a big scientific debate around the effectiveness of Sustainable Intensification strategies developed over the last decade. In particular, a number of NGOs worried about whether it might be used to justify intensification per se and the accelerated adoption of particular forms of high-input or hi-tech agriculture in vulnerable and poor areas at a smallholders scale. Sustainable Intensification can be achieved with a range of approaches at different scales (from plot to landscape). Different domains (productivity, environmental, socio-economic, human, social) can be considered to monitor and assess whether Sustainable Intensification has been achieved or not. Scientific evidences on the role of SAI practices adopted in African countries are still under development and somehow controversial depending on the scale of adoption, the site-specific conditions and the assessment indicators used. It is thus clear that no fixed SAI strategy is possible everywhere and the best trade-offs among different outcomes are to be searched for. The Dialogue discussed with representatives of Research and Academia, Civil Society and Farmers from Europe and Sub-Saharan African Countries, the challenges and the ways in which Sub-Saharan African farming systems can increase production of crops per unit of land, conserve or enhance important ecosystem services, improve resilience to shocks and stresses, while improving livelihoods, equity and social capital to ensure a food security system for all. Read less

Building on experiences shared by representatives of agencies leading the programs, stakeholders from government, private sector and civil society reflected on challenges and opportunities in moving towards the multiple objectives of ensuring resilient and environmentally sustainable food production, while also addressing livelihoods, food security, and health and nutrition goals. Defining the key criteria and parameters of a sustainable food system was highlighted as an important but largely under the radar issue. The dialogue consistently highlighted several issues that are key to advancing ... Read moreintegrated solutions and serve as enabling conditions for transforming food systems. They include the following: • Platforms for stakeholder engagement and as “space” or “hubs” to influence change, foster collaborative action, and deploy knowledge resources and tools for supporting transformative action. This is key to fostering engagement between line ministries (e.g. agriculture, forestry, environment, and water resources) and between government agencies, businesses, and financial institutions. The challenge is ensuring the long-term efficiency of such platforms, which requires time for building trust with professional facilitation. • Effective partnership and dialogue between all relevant actors involved in food production and supply / value chain, including government ministries and departments, private sector and investors, and technical organizations and practitioners. Such engagement is critical for influencing supportive policies, mobilizing financing, and establishing institutional frameworks as levers to drive transformational change in the food sector. • Investing in smallholder producers to empower them and create opportunities for them to access to benefits and incentives. Frequently, the results of economic policies or subsidies in the food sector do not reach small holder farmers, who are often in need of dependable streams of finance/investment as well as technical support. Women and youth should be a major priority for such investments given their critical role in food systems globally. • Knowledge sharing and learning particularly amongst farmers, fishers, and smallholders at the base of the food production system. It was stressed, however, that while new experience and knowledge is an important ingredient to achieving sustainable food systems, what is being learned and transferred must also be relevant to the context within which producers are operating. • Investing in sustainable resource management and regenerative production practices that deliver benefits for people and the environment. These include agroforesty and agroecology for crop and livestock production, as well as protecting key ecosystems such as watersheds or coral reefs and mangroves. Local and indigenous knowledge can be as an important source of know-how for resilient food production practices. The Dialogue concluded with a call for integrated solutions and “radical cooperation” as key to harnessing limited GEF resources to support food systems transformation. This should be an important aspect for consideration by the Food System Summit Action Tracks as well as the cross-cutting levers. Read less