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Areas of Divergence: • Participants disagreed sometimes about whether the consumer should have to pay for more ethically sourced food from the oceans or not! • There was discussion on the ability to live sustainably with the ocean while extracting resources from it, especially for the local people.

Discussion Topic Outcomes: Question: “In relation to the session topic, what actions can you recommend and how best can they be supported at personal, community or government level that help both ocean biodiversity and human food supply?” Overarching themes: 1. Actions that benefit both biodiversity and food supply are possible but often, to see benefits to food supply one must look into the long-term benefits of sustainable actions 2. Biggest difference will come from governmental, top-down policies that better regulate sustainable relationships with the ocean and support sustainable prac... Read moretices whilst not leaving fishermen behind in the transition ▪ Governments should shift subsidies to more sustainable farming practices (such as The Seaweed Company) or provide alternatives for farmers to transition to sustainable practises, supporting them economically and not leaving them behind ▪ Stop blaming consumers for the broken system 3. However, the collective actions of lots of people and changing consumer behaviour through educating them on the ocean’s environmental issues and making it easier for people to live sustainably. This is important as there often exists a vast psychological distance between consumers and the sourcing, journey and impacts of their food. • Personal level: 1. Sustainable packaging, reducing plastic packaging, reuse grocery bags for routine shopping 2. Exercise purchasing power 3. Purchase in bulk 4. Reduce food waste 5. Stop storage of food in plastic for long term to avoid chemical transfer 6. Positive reinforcement for positive action in plastic reduction and plant-based diet advocacy • Community level: 1. Cleaning the rivers and water bodies that feed oceans Increase advocacy 2. Applaud plastic action in plastic cleaning and proper disposal 3. Increased Advocacy 4. Share experiences 5. Enforce by-laws 6. Educate fishermen on how to work sustainably or change their methods (e.g., to aquaculture combined with other practices) and financially incentivise them to cooperate • Government level: 1. Laws to separate organic food from non-organic using non plastic packaging 2. Regulate plastic use for single use (EU single plastic directive) 3. Regulate plastic export since it is now considered hazardous waste like in the UK 4. Incentives to plant-based advocates 5. Invest in better marketing sustainably sourced foods 6. Subsidies for plant-based agricultural production and transition away from subsidizing animal agriculture/ reduce it at least. Importantly, include animal farmers in the transition, help them move to plant-based farming through training, loaning material and supporting them economically 7. Support smallholder farmers more and less support of monopolies, decentralizing the system Read less

Main Findings: Part 1: • The ocean is under threat - discuss five drivers- heating, deoxygenation, acidification, marine plastic, and chemical pollution o Global ocean heat content change in the upper 2000m is rising - fish follow warm currents which flux around the globe with currents so these changing currents and temperatures will greatly change fish migration in an arguably unpredictable manner. And we depend too heavily on these stocks of food. o Also we mentioned deoxygenation. Can be activated by ocean warming from climate change. Heating from climate change leads to increasingly sepa... Read morerated water columns as water doesn't mix. So, the circulation of cooler oxygenated water occurs less, and less oxygen is exchanged from the atmosphere into the seas. This causes stress on marine life. Deoxygenation also occurs due to runoff from human activities like in agriculture. Excess nutrient runoff from fertilizers, untreated sewage cause eutrophication and the manifestation of dead zones in our oceans. The ocean lost 2% of its oxygen from 1960-2010. This by extension affects humans, not just aquatic life. Deoxygenation reduces biodiversity, biomass and habitat for fish, leading to reduced fish landings, lower economic profit and adversely affects smaller scale fisheries limited in technology and ability to fish elsewhere. o The rate of marine acidification is alarming. Since industrial revolution, CO2 emission have made the oceans ~30% more acidic. Although it has been as low as today before, this was 20 million years ago, and current life is not adapted to these levels and many may not adapt fast enough to endure it given the fast rate of pH decline. Shellfish and coral (contain Calcium) are weakening, making species vulnerable to predation, infection and developmental abnormalities that decrease fitness. We depend on these species directly or indirectly for food. o Marine plastic and chemical pollution: directly kill all creatures from small invertebrates to large mammals, making food chains less stable and vulnerable to collapse • Many unsustainable practices that are avoidable continue to occur (overfishing, subsidizing fuel for ships, bottom trawling, squid fishing continuously, shark finning only taking fins and dumping the body overboard, transhipments, slavery, bad practise unintentionally catching birds) • The biosphere underpins society and our economy. It is in our best interests to support a planet with strong foundations to support development and improvement of our economies. This requires us to radically change aspects of our ocean food systems to move to more sustainable livelihoods. Part 2: • CEO of The Seaweed Company which provides an ethical solution to the oceans crisis that supports a biodiverse ocean as well as human food production. • Farming greed red and brown seaweed in geographically suitable conditions for these taxonomic groups and supporting local people to set up these farms so they then buy the harvest off them. Decentralising the practice, providing income, and increasing income for smallholder farmers rather than leaving them behind in the move to more sustainable ocean farming after unsustainable practices or market competition puts smallholder farmers out of business, threatening coastal community livelihoods. It also supports ocean regeneration which benefits human health and wellbeing. Read less

Major focus: Ocean Solutions: Regenerative farming. Exploring the current problems in our exploitation of oceans and given sustainable farming examples, suggest solutions to the crisis in our ocean. Speakers highlighted the main threats facing our oceans and provided ethical farming solutions (model being The Seaweed Company). Another focus was “In relation to the session topic, what actions can you recommend and how best can they be supported at personal, community or government level that help both ocean biodiversity and human food supply?”

The private sector actors believe that they are doing their best to contribute to research and development whilst academia and researchers believe that the private sector has a lot more role to play in food systems transformation when it comes to setting the agenda for research and in funding research. Private sector actors intimated that researcher do not know how to deal with private sector or businesses and that research cannot be funded without profit generation as the ultimate goal in the short-medium term. Therefore, researchers must know how to work closely with the private sector in or... Read moreder to attract funding. The issues of leadership in the delivery of extension services (dissemination of innovation) was also a point of divergence as stakeholders intimated that the private sector can play the leadership role as the public extension services are woefully inadequate. Read less

1. Establishment of a national research fund: We need to prioritize investment in agriculture. Government should set up a dedicated fund purposely to support research. Government should commit to make budgetary allocation to this fund. Private sector should be encouraged to invest in the research fund. 2. Need for private sector participation in collaborating and funding agricultural research. Private sector should collaborate with researchers in setting objective research agenda to drive innovation in Africa. This requires a constructive stakeholder dialogue for a clear transition path. Partn... Read moreership with private sector should be at the onset of research objectives. Research institutions should know how to relate with private sector. The research institutes should coerce the private sector to work with them and give the private sector the advantage of commercializing new products. 3. Governments should more proactively support the development and use of new technologies, including ICTs and biotechnology. There is the need to promote ICT to take advantage of the youth bulge in Africa that portends for a more technology-induced food systems transformation. There is need to develop a digital driven agricultural policy aimed at attracting the youth engagement in food systems. 4. Need to for science research journalism to communicate innovations effectively to end users. The media is too silent, not communicating science-based innovation to the populace. There is the need to train media on science-based communication. 5. Commitment to strengthening the capacities within research institutions. There is need to train more research scientist. Also, there should be more collaboration between universities and research institutions to do basic research on new innovations. Also, strengthen collaboration with advance research institutions. 6. Strengthen research extension farmer linkages. Extension agents should be aware of new innovation developed by researchers and disseminate innovations to farmers. Private extension has role to play in spearheading the transfer of information from the researcher to the farmers. 7. Prioritize food safety issues to reduce postharvest losses. 8. Need for mechanization, irrigation, improved varieties that are adapted locally. Link farmers to reliable markets 9. Improve infrastructure to make technology accessible to farmers. 10. There should be a national focus on developing value chains of key staple crops. Read less

- We need to redesign our food systems to achieve the SDGs. Science based research driven actions are needed to transform the food system. - There is the need to increase investment in research and development for the transformation of food systems in Africa. - Urgent need to establishment of a national research fund. - Need for private sector participation in collaborating and funding agricultural research. - Governments should more proactively support the development and use of new technologies, including ICTs and biotechnology. - Commitment to strengthening the capacities within research in... Read morestitutions. - Incentivize innovations and investments that help lower agriculture’s vulnerability to climatic/environmental impacts and lead to more affordable healthy food consumption. - Reduce interest rates for the benefit of smallholder farmers and also encourage savings among smallholder producers. - Develop a digital driven agricultural policy aimed at attracting the youth engagement in food systems. - Need for effective public-private-partnership. - There should be a national focus on developing value chains of key staple crops. - More collaboration between universities and research institutions to do basic research on new innovations. - Need to for science research journalism to communicate innovations effectively to end users. - Strengthen research-extension-farmer linkages. - Need for mechanization, irrigation, improved varieties that are adapted locally. - Need for standardized markets for agricultural commodities. - Link farmers to reliable markets. - There is the need to diversity crops being cultivated including indigenous crops and develop value chains for indigenous crops. - Develop efficient monitoring systems to be able to track progress and identify gaps to be addressed. - Place more emphasis on post-harvest technologies, especially in food processing. - There is the need to emphasis on efficient fertilizer and water utilization for sustainable productivity and environment. - Establish innovation platforms for interaction among actors in the commodity value chains. - Prioritize food safety issues to reduce postharvest losses. - Improve infrastructure to make technology accessible to farmers. - Sustainable funding sources for dynamic policy development. - Make government policies for food systems more inclusive. - Need to actively involve the youth in agriculture. - Focus on climate smart agriculture. Read less

A) Major Focus The dialogue focused on three areas; (i) Innovation for the food system transformation, (ii) Interventions for the food system transformation, (iii) Policies for food system transformation. Innovation for the food system transformation This session focused on research and development projects that are required for the transformation of the food systems. It discussed the problems, challenges and requirements necessary for countries to establish institutions that will accelerate the development of ground-breaking innovations for food systems transformation. The discussion covered ... Read morethe following topics: - Structure and Governance of Research Systems - Sustainable funding for research systems - Support for accelerated innovations development - Key sectors that require accelerated innovations development - Platforms for Innovations and Knowledge Management - Public – Private Sector Relationships for Innovations Interventions for food system transformation This session focused on identification of key interventions needed for food systems transformation. The discuss covered the following: - Bottlenecks in the Food Systems across Africa (using country specific case studies) - Structural changes for Food Systems transformation - Key interventions for sustainable funding of agribusinesses - Transformation of Extension – Research – Farmer Linkages for increased productivity - Support for accelerated innovations development - Key sectors that require actions for transformation - Public – Private Sector Relationships for Agricultural Transformation Policies for food systems transformation This session identified policies that will be transformational and impactful in the food systems development. The dialogues will covered the following: - Policy gaps in Food Systems across Africa (using country specific case studies) - Changes in Policy Formulation Processes for Food Systems transformation - Sustainable Funding for Dynamic Policy Development - Governmental Policies for Food Systems Transformation - Policies for Innovations and Technology Integration into Food Systems - Policies for Effective Public – Private Sector Initiatives for Agricultural Transformation Read less

While lack of access to capital to purchase or use mechanized technologies was identified as the biggest challenge, others believed it was the general lack of awareness about tools and equipment and their costs, a lack of knowledge and skills on how to use tools and equipment and many women being intimidated by tools, technologies and equipment that are largely used by men that hinders women from using mechanization services.

There was a call for a fundamental change in how ‘value’ is perceived by companies and at the broader society as present systems undervalue women’s contributions, especially in the area of unpaid care work. It was agreed that developing gender responsive systems will require making fundamental changes to meeting women’s needs. Rather than trying to make women fit into current systems or practices, new systems that are women friendly need to be devised to include alternative collateral systems, gender responsive procurement to ensure women can engage in value chains. Participants attrib... Read moreuted limited business growth among the majority of women owned agro-enterprises in Africa to poor access to finance, market information, technologies and women’s limited technical and business capacities and knowledge. The absence of post-training support and follow-up also contribute to low business growth. They identified fostering a growth-oriented mindset among women entrepreneurs through training and mentoring as a potential solution. It was observed that women entrepreneurs tend to be concentrated in specific value chain areas partly because most women go into agribusiness out of economic necessity to provide for their families as opposed to pursuing an opportunity. It is thus necessary to provide open-source business and market information and step by step business guidance through channels and format that are easily accessible and attractive to women. It was underscored that the existence of well-established networks including VALUE4HER, AWAN-Afrika, Nourishing Africa among others, that provide platforms for women in agribusiness to raise their voices at local and continental level. Better connectivity has helped to strengthen women’s networks but opportunities for improvement in this area still exist. Participants pointed out that women members of cooperatives and producer associations (estimated at 30%) tend to be older and noted that the poorest and least educated women tend not to join these groups or choose people to represent them who do not have their best interest at heart. It was emphasized that it is important for women not to just belong to collectives, but to take ownership of these groups to make their demands heard. Most African women agri-preneurs, particularly in rural areas, have limited access to information and business networks. It was noted that the switch to virtual communication, e-opportunities and on-line platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased women’s marginalization. It was voiced that improving women’s access to information and business networks is critical for moving women agri-preneurs away from production related activities to more profitable processing and value addition enterprises. Participants broadly agreed that the key factors that impede women agri-preneurs’ access to finance and capital are lack of collateral, high interest rates and poor collaboration between stakeholders. They suggested developing diverse financial schemes for different agricultural products like different schemes for seasonal crops, annual, and perennial crops, providing interest free loans and grants to micro and small enterprises Women agri-preneurs’ low use of digital technologies holds them back in several areas, notably, accessing digital financial services, markets and information and prevents them from taking full advantage of social media and digital agribusiness platforms such as VALUE4HER to grow their agri-enterprise. It was emphasized that publicizing information on agriculture related tools and equipment particularly through information channels used by women producers, explore innovative ways to improve women’s digital education and use of digital technologies and spaces by, for example, organizing women agri-preneurs into collectives headed by a tech-savvy leader. Read less

Our key finding are outline below: It was clear that in many African countries gender favourable policies have been put in place however they have not been operationalised, therefore there is need for operationalization of gender policies. The dialogue findings affirmed the need for addressing legal dualism by formulating policies that address cultural interference in policy implementation. Capacity limitation for women entrepreneurs emerged as the key constraint hindering their equal participation in food systems, therefore a recommendation was made to develop the capacity of women entreprene... Read moreurs in technical, business and soft skills. Given the emerging digital economy amplified by COVID-19 pandemic coupled by Africa's wide digital gender gap, the need to promote interventions that increase women’s access to digital technologies and strengthen digital literacy proved to be imperative. It was observed that the current extension and advisory services are not gender responsive hence the need to design and support gender responsive extension and advisory services to reach women agri-preneurs more effectively. It was broadly agreed that the key factors that impede women agri-preneurs’ access to finance and capital are lack of collateral, high interest rates and poor collaboration between stakeholders, therefore developing gender responsive financial and business support services coupled with diverse financial schemes, interest free loans and grant to small enterprises, incentives to financial institutions to accept alternative forms of forms of collateral. Finally, it was concluded that there is need to support innovation and research addressing gender and business success. Read less

Dialogue main theme: Catalysing women's agri-entrepreneurship and food trade in Africa to advance equitable livelihoods. Dialogue specific themes: Evolve a collective understanding of the issues, challenges, and opportunities prevalent in the 11 countries where the mini Dialogues have been held Share on headlines, solutions that are emerging from country consultations through selected country memorandums Bolster African women’s voice in the UN food systems Dialogue and strengthening the continental platform for women in agri-food entrepreneurs Inform and influence continental partners, polic... Read morey and regulatory actors on the needs and aspirations of women in agri-food enterprises Refine and or contribute to game-changing solutions on women in agri-food enterprises, for the United Nations Food Systems Summit Breakout themes: • Gender responsive business environment • Business growth and formalization • Women’s business segment • Business leadership • Women’s associations in agripreneurship • Women’s access to information and business networks • Women’s access to affordable and innovative finance and capital • Women’s access to mechanization and digital technologies • Women’s access to high-value markets • Women’s involvement in cross border and food trade Read less