Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

User driven innovation, underpinned by robust partnerships, delivers impacts for people, nature and climate This breakout group mainly focused on how to create a more integrated and responsive R&D system. This included a discussion on increasing public investment in R&D around proteins, as well as a reflection on the importance of farmer-focused, demand-driven innovation. First, to get the support and facilitation needed, there must be greater clarity on the cost of innovation to guide demand. Second, we must tackle subsidies and how they distort the market. Lastly, it is important to ... Read morecreate stronger ties between local grassroots projects and national data collection, so that localized action is better informed by big data and scenario planning, taking advantage of ‘composite’ technology. Participants also emphasized the need to put data directly into the hands of those who create value. Read less

Agricultural production has a positive impact on biodiversity under a changing climate The discussion focused on how to support a shift towards production systems that deliver more diversified diets (including through a change in consumer dietary habits / reduction in meat consumption) and on the adoption of organic / agroecological / environmental practices that support and protect biodiversity. Stakeholders noted the need for a shift in current dietary habits, together with the scaling up and sharing of knowledge and evidence on practices that support ecosystem services, as well as increased... Read more diversification strategies (within fields and across fields and landscapes) that support ecosystem functions and resilience. Group members flagged contributions and pledges related to building and further developing the current knowledge base by sharing lessons and examples of current practices. They also noted the need to consider and take into account the work of the private sector, as well as to support research that is inclusive, that builds on local and indigenous knowledge, and that promotes local innovation. The need to focus on current livestock practices was noted as a critical area for future knowledge development, including building on lessons in the policy arena that support a shift from livestock production, looking at how to effectively support transitions (for example through improving fertilizer efficiency), and supporting both marginal / transitional and transformational improvements. Stakeholders noted the importance of the campaign in raising issues related to institutional development and support, a repurposing of policies to support farmer-focused R&D, increased investment in capacity building, as well as in practices that support biodiversity. To get the right support and facilitation, the campaign can assist by highlighting the need to invest in and focus on this area, showing the link with agroecology approaches, and making other links across the food system – for example through a focus on influencing and changing consumer preferences, and on food loss and waste. Stakeholders also noted that it would be useful to develop a set of objectives and outcomes for practices that protect agrobiodiversity. This set of objectives would take into account and build on experience and evidence gained from existing practice, and would help inform the development of a platform / toolbox assisting farmers in the design and implementation of future programs – giving them a clear view of associated costs, benefits and risks. This platform could be developed as a public good to be further refined by practitioners, and would include a set of indicators. It would also make sure to use a broad definition of innovation – not solely focusing on technology development, but also taking consideration of practice and social engagement. Read less

Agroecological practices that deliver benefits for people, nature and climate are deployed at scale The participants in this breakout room pinpointed to several areas that need urgent action. First, there needs to be better engagement between farmers, research, and innovation development. In addition, demand-driven innovation, tailored to the needs of farmers and adapted to local challenges, must be supported. Second, we must steer public investment towards smallholder farmers and agriculture, and foster public-private partnerships to pull in private sector investment with a focus on evidence-... Read morebased approaches. Third, there is a need for developing and harmonizing outcome indicators and metrics. Lastly, mechanisms must be provided to build bridges between knowledge and investment in adaptation and resilience. In order to facilitate action for the above areas, participants identified the following supporting/ enabling mechanisms: • A scientific toolbox that could help improve farmers’ choices by sharing evidence on what creates value for them – whether it is agroecology, climate-smart agriculture, or incorporating indigenous sources of knowledge into digital-based advisory services; • Farmers’ dialogues and a systematic inclusion of farmers in the development of research and innovation as important mechanisms; • Further investment in public goods relevant to agriculture and rural livelihoods, to create an enabling environment in which farmers are empowered to make the right choices. This includes improving infrastructure, sharing knowledge through climate advisory services or advice on markets, disease and pest threats, as well as building evidence on what works. This will also incentivize and pull in private sector investment. Closing the economic development gap through health, education and other infrastructure will position smallholder farmers on a level playing field and enable them to compete; • Tailored and locally-relevant impact assessments and cost-effectiveness analyses, involving farmers as economic actors and as co-designers. There is a need for more high-quality, long-term research at scale, which is demand-led, system-based and deepens the evidence-base on what works in different localities; • Improved and harmonized outcome indicators (climate, biodiversity, nutrition, livelihoods / social inclusion, etc.), to deliver on the multiple objectives demanded in agriculture. These can provide a common framework for assessing the value of different approaches in different contexts and for different ends, and can help overcome unhelpful dichotomies between different approaches. These outcome indicators can also help reduce investor uncertainty. Finally, as mitigation and nature objectives become increasingly important, we need to bring those outcomes together with the “human face” that comes through livelihoods / income and adaptation outcomes. We need to find mechanisms to bridge the divide between adaptation and mitigation for communities and investment streams. An adaptation and mitigation commission is one option to facilitate and coordinate this. Read less

This Dialogue sought to lay the ground for contributions and pledges and to put agricultural innovation in the spotlight in the lead up to COP26 later this year. Additionally, questions were raised regarding how we can get there and the support and facilitation that stakeholders need. Breakout rooms produced fruitful discussions on the critical gaps and priorities, and paved the way for future contributions and pledges. The following points were recurring themes in multiple breakout rooms and send a clear message to stakeholders – including civil society organizations, policy makers, and far... Read moremer organizations – regarding the opportunities, priorities, and areas to focus on: • Firstly, participants emphasized the need for farmer-driven and farmer-centric approaches. While recognizing the importance of top-down methods in policy-making, the different groups highlighted the key role of bottom-up approaches in ensuring research and innovation are tailored to the needs of farmers and offer practical and context-specific solutions. Participants agreed that farmers’ perspectives should serve as a foundation for innovation – particularly when it comes to financial assistance and access, as well as cross-government coordination. The dissemination of knowledge through simple processes and technologies is needed to place research directly into farmers’ hands. The focus must shift to creating action on the ground that adapts to every farmer, as well as to every consumer. Overall, participants agreed that it is key to address the concerns of all actors in the value-chain – including consumers, for whom accessibility and affordability are essential drivers of behavior change. • Secondly, in relation to the above point, there are challenges in the adoption of innovation among farmers. This is why providing farmers with clear information on risks and opportunities associated with innovation is important to allow farmers to make informed decisions. Beyond enabling greater access to information, it is also key to keep innovations within farmers’ reach and to ensure equal access to innovations, making them both physically and financially accessible. Focusing on local, context-specific innovation approaches tailored to the needs of farmers is indeed essential to achieving global goals, hence showing the need for more context-specific conversations. • Third, metrics were identified as a key success factor for innovation. Examples include soil sampling, adaptation measuring, as well as indicators for projects, programs and policies. Improving indicators allows for further clarity on the targets and what to achieve. In addition to clearly measuring outcomes, commitments themselves must also be clearly set out. Beyond identifying targets and improving indicators, successful innovation indeed requires engaging with a range of stakeholders to come up with a clear and tangible solution. However, for the market to move towards these targets, a strong enabling environment is needed. • Fourth, there is a strong call for new forms of finance, new partnerships, and new business models. Some of these have already been initiated: for example, new forms of finance have been developed to support food systems in rapidly emerging economies, and new partnerships are emerging between the public and private sectors. At the same time, the private sector is increasingly looking at how to best serve farmers. As a summary of this discussion, the closing speaker reminded the need to support civil society organizations and farmers – who are key stakeholders driving change – as well as the need to unlock capacity and finance to scale up new innovation business models. In conclusion, this Dialogue and the broader campaign on agricultural innovation provided further evidence of the need to scale up agricultural innovation to enable food system transformation, and helped build momentum around the innovation agenda in the lead up to the UN Food Systems Summit and COP26. Read less

This Independent Food Systems Summit Dialogue (FSSD) aimed to enrich the canvas of perspectives on how food systems can be transformed for a climate-smart future. It opened up space for dialogue on a new Action Agenda for Change developed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and gave stakeholders the opportunity to pledge their support to a global campaign on agricultural innovation, co-chaired by CCAFS and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The dialogue explored opportunities for stakeholders to become an integral par... Read moret of this campaign, which will see significant announcements and initiatives at both the UN Food Systems Summit and COP26. In addition, the dialogue pinpointed ways in which both summits can align in their objectives to support the kind of transformation we seek, and how we — as a global community — can act to support this alignment. Read less

Theme-3: Environment, disasters, climate change, shocks, compensation mechanism: • Raise embankment level and construction planned-wise • Permanent embankment • Proper maintenance of sluice gates, inlet and outlet structures to keep those functional • Community participation for proper O&M • Close coordination of different govt. agencies at Upazila level like central or district level • River de-siltation • Excavation or Re-excavation of silted up canal, pond and other water bodies • Rain water harvesting • Dug well • Increasing facility of early warning system regardin... Read moreg cyclone storm and tidal bore • Watch tower in haor • Thundering tower • Cyclone shelter • Crop diversification • Short duration, draught tolerant and saline tolerant crop cultivation (Tree plantation (plum, Hijol) • Subsidy to agri. machinery (irrigation, ploughing, harvesting etc.) • Liming to reclaim soil acidity (Northern areas) • Community awareness build up and capacity strengthening to cope with disasters • Sorjon system cultivation • Increase organic fertilizer use • Need assistance in vermi-compost use • Increasing seed storage facility • Market management development • Control in fishing, awareness • Increase awareness to cultivate rabi vegetables • Scope for duckling • Increasing of mechanization/harvesting tools • Sustainable crop management • Gher-based crop cultivation promote (Southern belt) • Wide pond banked crop cultivation practice (Southern belt) • Infrastructure & transportation support (horse card, cow card in northern belt) • Introducing cold storage facility Read less

Theme-2: Markets, equitable livelihood opportunity, scale-up farming/entrepreneurship: • The public institution Local Supply depot (LSD) under Ministry of Food offer the rice price for farmers is less than open market in country so farmers are less interested to sell their rice to LSD. Government need to rethink for the rice price review. • Weak road communication in southern part in Bangladesh and lack of available transport so that farmers face the commodities transporting in distance market. The parliamentary member under government can improve the situation. • Farmers cannot access d... Read moreirect to big districts markets like Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattagram markets, so they sell their product in local intermediaries and get low price • Most of the areas in Bangladesh, market intermediaries take 45-50kg weight per mond (1 mond=40Kg) for different commodities instead of standard 40 Kg for selling their products so that farmers loss 5-10Kg product in the market. The government market monitor can stickle monitor to address the issue. • In Bangladesh, there is not cold storage except potato so that different perishable commodes like tomato, carrot and green chili sell very minimum price in peak harvesting time. In this case, government can arrange the cold storage in bigger district level so that farmers will get benefit. • Farmers cannot access to low interested loan (2-6% interest, special loan) which are offered by the different Bank due to Bank needs different mortgage if any farmer want to take loan. Farmers cannot manage the mortgage so that they cannot get the loan for quality produce production for marketing. The government can advise to Bank to flexible the issue. • Lack of training for quality produce for marketing and marketing knowledge in farmers level. • Farmers sometime cannot access to private processing or exporting company due to farmers have lack of knowledge so that they do not meet the buyer demand. Farmers shared the Mung bean as an example. DAM, DAE or any NGO can facilitate the issue shared in group recommendation through forming Farmers field School (FFS) or promote any other initiative. • Commodities drying is an issue specially for rainy season, farmers cannot arrange drying facility so that farmers sell their produce in low price with high moisture content. Rice, maize, mung bean, sunflower seed are an example. • Farmers face the postharvest loss issue, establish cold storage in local level, demand based production and training on postharvest loss can reduce the loss • Farmers especially women farmers engage food processing for tomato, green mango, olive, chalta (elephant apple), Ambra etc. but they cannot get market and cannot continue their business. Different company produce the similar type of food processing so that farmers cannot compete with of those companies due they have different promotional activities in the market. Farmers said, government or any other organization could provide the training on food processing, packaging, levelling and give them some equipment for quality food processing and marketing and ensure low interest loan. • One-market personnel can hire under the Upazila Agriculture Office for providing the marketing supporting for the farmers. In current, stuffing structure under Upazila Agriculture Office, they work mostly on production side. • Farmers do not get market information from big market like Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna so they cannot bargain with traders to set their product price consequently they do not get good price. • Price volatility high in the market and if supply is more in the market then quickly go down the market price. Storage system in market can reduce the problem. Read less

Theme-1: Food safety, food security, nutrition-sensitive and nature-positive production: Increasing farm mechanization and engage youth, Engaging women labour especially in harvesting and vegetable production, Adapting bio technology, Increasing awareness on safe, nourished and healthy food, Promoting bio safety technology with government subsidy, Expansion of appropriate agricultural mechanization for small and marginal farmers , Introduce collective farming , Social safety net program of the government, Investment in agriculture through distributing seeds and fertilizers among smallholders, ... Read moreFinancial support to farmers from Upazila Parishad and different NGOs, Distribution of vegetable seeds with appropriate technology at farmer level, Ensuring marketing the extra produce at reasonable price, Initiating maximum utilization of land for farming following the directives of Hon'ble Prime Minister. Read less

Theme-1: Food safety, food security, nutrition-sensitive and nature-positive production: Labour shortage, High rate of wages, Over use of pesticides , lack of awareness on healthy food among farmers and consumer level, Not available bio safety technology in remote area (Cox’s Bazar). Bio safety technology is business viable as cost is high, Due to the small size of the land, smallholders don’t get benefit from agricultural machinery. Safe and nutritious food for all is a challenge in Bangladesh considering context, production system, awareness, poverty and financial capability, Farmers’ ... Read morerepresentatives opined that they managed daily full 03 meals for their household members, but they have not enough aware about safe and nutritious food, a significant smallholder struggle to manage daily full 03 meals in between two harvest. Theme-2: Markets, equitable livelihood opportunity, scale-up farming/entrepreneurship • The price offered by the Local Supply Depot (LSD) of the Ministry of Food is less than open market which discourages farmers to sell to LSD. • Poor communication (road) network in southern part in Bangladesh impose difficulties in transporting agriculture produce for marketing. • Challenges in accessing large markets (Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattagram) by farmers. • Absence of monitoring agricultural prices results in exploitation of farmers by market intermediaries (charge 45-50kg weight per mond for different commodities) • Lack of cold storage facilities for different crops pose challenges to handle vegetable for marketing. • Difficult in accessing agriculture credit due to collaterals need. • Lack of training for quality produce for marketing and marketing knowledge in farmers level. • Absence or limited access to processing, packaging and labelling facilities for different commodities to extend their shelf life and access export market. • Need for marketing facilitation at Upazilla level was highly recommended • High price volatility Theme-3: Environment, disasters, climate change, shocks, compensation mechanism • Loss in production, • Soil fertility reducing due to soil degradation • Reducing crop land • Flood due to overflow of river for rapid siltation • Transportation problem due to damage of road during flood • Infrastructure damage due to flood • Soil acidity increasing (Northern part) • Canal and other water bodies silted up • Death increasing due thundering especially haor belt • Damage of crop due to early or flash food in haor belt • Lack of irrigation water • Increasing irrigation cost • Arsenic contamination increasing • Sanitation problem (Char areas) • Increasing fallow land during rabi season due salinity and lack of fresh water (Coastal belt specially) • Damage of infrastructures, crop field, houses and lives (human. Livestock) due to Cyclone, storm and high tidal bore • Water pollution • Soil degradation • Open water fish production decreasing • Decreasing soil fertility due maize cultivation Read less

Theme-1: Food safety, food security, nutrition-sensitive and nature-positive production: The group identified agriculture as the single largest sector of the economy in Bangladesh, and associated it to the employment generation, poverty alleviation, human resources development, and food security. It was discussed that in Bangladesh, high rates of population growth place increasingly more pressure on scarce land resources for food production. Cultivable land is declining due to urbanization and water erosion, but the total cropped area is increasing as a result of changing land utilization patt... Read moreerns (i.e., double and triple cropping). Despite many positive policy initiatives, Bangladesh’s agriculture sector still faces challenges, such as rapid shrinkage of agricultural land, inadequate supply of agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds, climate change and variations, inadequate value addition, and lagging technology adoption. To maintain food self-sufficiency and food security, the government of Bangladesh has employed strategies to increases productivity and reduce yield gaps, foster access to inputs and technological improvement. Theme-2: Markets, equitable livelihood opportunity, scale-up farming/entrepreneurship Market challenges, opportunity and way forward against the challenges, food processing for building entrepreneurship and problems for market access to public institution and private sector company for getting affordable price. Theme-3: Environment, disasters, climate change, shocks, compensation mechanism The group identified major types of natural disasters faced by farmers, its impacts and means to manage the disasters. Types of climate changes related natural disasters: • Dry wind • Flood (all over Bangladesh) • Early Flood/Flash flood (Haor belt) • Salinity intrusion (both soil and water in coastal areas) • Lack of safe drinking water (most south and southern part) • River Erosion (all over the country) • Land inundation due to sea level rise • Soil degradation (due to top soil selling to brick field) • Raising temperature • Over or no rainfall • Long time draught • Water logging (temporary and permanent in southern part) • Cyclone • High quantity of river siltation (Northern part and south western part most, overall whole country river system) • Storm • Thundering (more in Haor belt) • Ground water level depletion (all over the country, Northern part most) Human induced disaster: • Excessive use of herbicide • Excess pesticide use • Excess chemical fertilizer use • Poisoning in open water bodies • Catching fingerling and Dimowala fish • Selling top soil to brick field • Excess maize cultivation (Northern part) • Unplanned dam construction • Unplanned shrimp and white fish cultivation (southern part) Read less

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

Managing risk and security at all levels – individual, community, government, and systems Climate Adaptation and Mitigation in Atoll countries Challenges in atoll countries; - Poor soil conditions - Climate change - Cost of farm inputs - Water availability Integrated methods – - bucket drip irrigation in conjunction with targeted compost productions – areas where high tide is below 30-50cm depth - Wicking system – used in low lying areas where high tides rise to the soil surface - Training for youth and women groups - Development of the RMI sector plan – to address challenging issues... Read more of food security Examples: SUPA project – adapted and established 30 wicking systems targeting patients with - Promote gardening - Health and resilience against NCDs Way forward - Investing in efficient water use mechanisms will improve soil nutrient management and enhance food productivity in atoll islands - Islanders must identify local knowledge and methods that can be upskilled or enhanced to combat the impacts of climate change, food security, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Read less

Strengthening capacities and resources of farmers, indigenous groups, women, youth, and micro-small, medium enterprises (MSMEs) to effectively engage along with the agri-food production systems Main points: 1. Youth, women, children, and other marginalized groups are key stakeholders for addressing food security 2. Strengthen National councils within countries to support and promote youth at work 3. Mainstream and include young people in all decision makings platforms right from the community level to the national and regional levels. Way forward Develop aging advisory services to educate and ... Read morepromote innovative methods in rural communities to adapt to Climate change; Create associations for young people to take up agribusiness to understand and be competitive with outside markets; Government to provide and strengthen youth mechanisms that will continue the ongoing participation of youth in addressing key Pacific issues; National councils – need to be strengthened to promote and support youth at work. Read less