Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

The Dialogue provided solutions to some current problems and challenges of the food supply chain and, in particular, in the agri-food sector. Currently, the agri-food sector is responsible for 28% of total GHG emissions and 80% of deforestation is a result of agricultural production. Moreover, climate change is putting a strain on natural resources: a higher volatility of crops and yields goes hand in hand with the loss of 10 million hectares of arable land every year, limiting the availability of natural resources. On the other hand, the world population is expected to grow by 25% by 2050, ma... Read moreking increasingly harder to feed a larger population with few natural resources. At present 800 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition and yet 1/3 of the food production (40%, 2.5 tons) is wasted along the supply chain every year, with an enormous effect not only on food safety and the environment, but also on the economy: wasting food means wasting money and the resources - land, labour, fertilisers, electricity, water and fuel - used to produce it. Food safety, rising food price and the need for a more sustainable lifestyle are the top concerns and priorities for consumers all around the world. Luckily, some solutions to such challenges are already at hand. Generally speaking, there is not a unique solution or only one step in the food supply chain to take, rather a systemic, holistic approach must and can be adopted all along the food supply chain, in order to involve all stakeholders in the decision-making process and in the realisation of such process. For example, companies' sustainable strategies are proven to be rewarding and profitable for the companies themselves, especially when they go hand in hand with high quality products. A value proposition based on these two pillars can be achieved by adopting a long-term vision based on solid scientific-based solutions and innovation, by "walking the talk", by rewarding farmers who adopt best practices and by creating value for the consumers. At the same time, agricultural practices pursuing a double benefit of healing the environment and people's health are on the rise. An example is regenerative organic agriculture, which has found that increasing soil health means also increasing human health, thanks to higher nutritional qualities of food. Other advantages are: healthier waterways, +40% carbon sequestration, - 40% GHG emissions, -45% energy use, from 3-6 times more profitable than compared to conventional agriculture, higher levels of animal welfare and lower healthcare costs thanks to a reduced exposure to toxic chemicals. All along the food supply chain, adopting a science-based approach is key: companies cannot follow a sustainable path and take the right decisions without the support of data and metrics. These help companies to set science-based targets, to identify hotspots, measure progress, measure their impact on the supply chain. Once all data are collected, the company's path towards sustainability can be communicated, in order to create a strong engagement from the public through storytelling. Engagement is key also in other steps of the supply chain, such as food waste, which has been identified the no.1 solution against climate change. By creating a marketplace for food surplus, where oversupply and demand meet, companies and consumers are inspired and empowered to combat food waste, with impressive results. In the five years since the creation of such a marketplace, more than 90 million meals have been saved. This shows once again that cooperation among all players in the food supply chain, from fork to farm back to fork, is the only effective solution. Read less

In general, participants to the dialogue concurred on the challenges and solutions to promoting nutrition and gender equality. However divergences of views emerged between countries and contexts given these issues are very context-specific and dependent on local/national policies and traditional/cultural practices. For instance, maternity and breastfeeding policies differ from one country to another and therefore require a different response. The same applies to local regulations and cultural practices affecting women and girls’ nutrition (e.g. child marriage, education accessible to boys on... Read morely or banned for pregnant girls, access to land policies, etc.) Read less

Recommendations: 1 Women and the 1,000 days window Educating women and youth on micro-enterprise opportunities in the food systems, technology and access to microfinance with educative resources Establishing climate-smart agro hubs that assist women smallholder farmers and women/youth food system entrepreneurs to produce high-quality foods for their local community ; and increase their own incomes and agency Enhancing nutrition education for women, including on the 1,000 days window, regardless of their level of education, as a way to sustain nutrition gains and supporting them to address the ... Read morechallenges they may face during this crucial time Promoting and providing breastfeeding support Strengthening collaboration between health systems and social protection interventions; and aligning nutrition health and social protection policies with food systems transformation to promote adequate nutrition Maintaining a balance between information from public health and commercial channels by involving women in the development of public health interventions at the community level Foreign aid and donors should always ensure that their interventions have the best possible understanding of the needs and cultural contexts of communities they work with Engaging men and boys in conversations addressing social and cultural norms preventing women to achieve a good nutrition status, and in the co-design of programs Learn from successful behaviour change campaigns to effectively address perceptions, and invest in formative research 2 Human right and accountability Government’s food system policies should make nutritious food more affordable and available to everyone instead of focusing only on ending hunger Governments should ensure that nutrition education is implemented at a national level Adolescent girls’ access to key nutrition information and services should be considered in the UNFSS The rights of land owners should be addressed as part of the Summit’s game changing solutions Commitments at the UNFSS should come with an accountability mechanism allowing civil societies to track progress made by governments, especially on human rights The private sector should respect the right to adequate food, by providing more transparent information on the content of their products More precise international legal instruments should be established to ensure that countries understand hunger and malnutrition, and what policy and interventions are needed to tackle them Existing accountability mechanisms, such as the Universal Periodic Review, should be adapted to country level and should ensure that countries are held accountable to report progress against fundamental rights in food systems 3 Women as economic actors Create a safe and meaningful space for women and girls to engage in policy discussions and demand their rights through platforms at national and decentralised levels, including in governments and parliaments Protect children from entering the workforce. Most child labor happens in the agriculture sector so it is vital that children, particulalry girls, are protected from exploitative labor practices and incentivised to go to school Create viable career opportunities for young people, especially girls, including in the agriculture sector, to ensure sustainable food systems offer fair living incomes Raise awareness among men and boys for them to challenge social norms and champion gender justice Back gender-transformative awareness raising activities with accurate scientific research and data Promote traditional agricultural practices, with women at the heart of decision making, in the face of undue influence from large agricultural companies selling seeds and GMOs at competitive prices to the detriment of traditional agro-ecological practices Put the policy and legal systems in place to enable women farmers to access land, to safely sell their products, to access capital for investment in agriculture, and to challenge cultural norms. This would in turn encourage sustainable investments benefiting the economy at large. Provide a meaningful space for civil society to represent the voices of the most vulnerable groups Read less

Overall, speakers and participants agreed to the need for elevating the role of nutrition and gender equality as key levers in the food systems transformation equation across the UNFSS agenda. Good nutrition requires a healthy and diverse diet that derives from healthy soils and biodiverse terrestrial and ocean ecosystems. Gender equality requires transformation in the power imbalances affecting women and girls, equitable service provision (food, health, education, etc.), and an end to harmful traditional and cultural practices, coupled with an enabling policy and legal environment where women... Read more and girls have agency of their choices and a space to exercise their rights. Orienting our food systems towards delivering good nutrition, and changing our mindsets in favour of women and girls, is thus healthier, more equitable and more sustainable for both people and the planet: a clear win-win across all agendas and a must-do to put all countries back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. More specifically, breakout group discussions unearthed specific challenges and recommendations as summarised below: ​​1- Women and the 1,000 days window: The first breakout room discussed the importance of the 1,000 days window for women’s nutrition. They agreed on the health benefits of breastfeeding for women and children, and on the need to empower women, by making accessible all the information and scientific knowledge they need to make the best-informed decisions for themselves and their families, according to their own circumstances. The group also discussed social norms and behaviour change, and the common challenges, including the lack of accessibility of information at the community level, lack of translation, misinformation spread across social media and marketing that contradicts the value of breastfeeding in the 1,000-day window. The group specifically recommends governments to promote enabling environments for allowing women to make the best-informed decisions for their own health and for their families. 2- Human right and accountability: The second breakout group discussed the need for an effective accountability mechanism to track countries’ progress in the realisation of human rights, as part of their commitments to enhance food systems. It has been agreed that many countries have unfortunately not sufficiently promoted, fulfilled and realised the right to adequate food, and that nutrition interventions are often confused with tackling hunger. Malnutrition and hunger affect countries in many different ways: the groups discussed how overnutrition, undernutrition and anaemia affect populations differently. The group agreed that the existing accountability mechanisms, such as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), are not sufficiently used to track progress on the right to adequate food, and are not adapted for being used at a country level. The lack of integration of human rights in the agenda of the UN Food System Summit was often mentioned. The group agreed that the affordability and availability of nutritious food, as well as the social and economic underlying causes of malnutrition and hunger, are the main issues to be solved, to achieve the realisation of the right to adequate food. The violation of farmers’ land rights and the issues of commercialisation and profits of nutritious food, which are not being shared appropriately with farmers and producers, have been raised as fundamental concerns that governments and the UN Food System Summit should address. 3 - Women as economic actors: The third breakout group discussed the barriers and solutions to women’s agency over their economic choices and perspectives, and the impact on nutrition. Participants covered issues faced by women when it comes to providing nutritious foods for their community and family, exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19. Women compose the majority of smallholder farmers and remain the most malnourished, which in turn affects their economic activity. In some contexts, women are not empowered or given the right to access income-generating activities or to manage household budgets. Cultural practices were also largely discussed as preventing women and girls playing a key role in decisions and productive assets. The other common challenge mentioned is the unequal access to education, disproportionately affecting girls who are still largely responsible for household chores and victims of harmful traditional practices such as child marriage. Lastly the lack of spaces for women to participate in decision-making processes at any level was also seen as a major barrier. The group agreed on common solutions and recommendations, to be tailored according to context. These can be found in section C. Read less

The UN Food System pre-Summit in July and Summit in September are key pledging moments along the N4G Year of Action and offer timely opportunities for Member States and other duty-bearers to announce new financial and policy commitments to help close the $8.7 billion annual gap that remains to drive progress against the 2025 World Health Assembly targets. The tragic consequences of malnutrition in women and girls are entirely preventable, and we have the evidence and tools to advance good health and nutrition in women and girls, and empower communities to prosper. The emerging solution proposa... Read morels coming out of the UN FSS action tracks 1 and 2 that support ending anaemia, breastfeeding support, and promoting women’s leadership in food systems must be coordinated through both health and food systems to deliver effective impact for women and girls who are the most at risk of being malnourished. The UN Food Systems pre-Summit represented a key milestone in generating momentum towards the upcoming major pledge-making moments. Yet, while civil society recognises the efforts made in bringing gender and nutrition on the agenda, the opportunity to reinforce the linkages between the two issues and how to effectively address them through integrated health and food systems, was greatly missing. This needs to be addressed at the UNFSS itself, with major commitments stemming from the discussions, and proper alignment to the Nutrition Accountability Framework and commitment mobilisation towards N4G. For that purpose, the International Coalition for Advocacy on Nutrition (ICAN) and the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Network (SUN CSN) convened a multi-stakeholder dialogue welcoming duty-bearers and key stakeholders across health and food sectors representing governments, civil society, and donors to this UN FSS Independent Dialogue who presented the multi-sectoral and double-duty nutrition actions to support SMART commitments towards the 2021 Nutrition Year of Action. The event convened a panel of a range of experts, advocates, and commitment-makers to discuss the coordinated solutions for delivering better nutrition and health for women and girls to realize the human right to good health and nutrition. Each breakout room examined the relevant Action Tracks of the Summit and links between the levers of change. The discussions in breakout rooms specifically focused on the following points: 1- Women and the 1,000 days window, The role of good nutrition for women Building better political and social environments to support good nutrition Opportunity to link in game changing solutions around breastfeeding and anaemia 2- Human Rights accountability, Reporting and accountability frameworks Outcomes of UNFSS and delivering on commitments Links with right holders - e.g. Educating smallholder farmers on their rights 3- Women as economic actors. Good nutrition and empowering women Education/health outcomes of women and girls Opportunity to link game changing solution around women’s leadership in food systems Women smallholders - prioritising their nutritional needs, support them in growing, selling nutritious foods, and their agency Investing in women-run SMEs/cooperatives in the food systems Read less

The Global Dialogue on resilience demonstrated a high level of convergence and agreement among panelists and participants. There were no areas of divergences.

Breakout Group 6 Good practices: - Grassroots-level involvements with farmers are integrated in project delivery - Women’s network provides awareness and education on climate change and climate smart agriculture that can mitigate damage caused by climate extreme events. - Screening of local varieties and best performing seeds with local farmers and scientist together - Social/environmental/climate strategies integrate multiple risk management approaches across sectors - Ecosystem based adaptation as part of the broader set of Nature-based Solutions are critical multi-risk management tools or... Read more interventions Challenges: - Risk from chemical agriculture and GMO seeds and food safety with contamination of nutritious food along the value chain. - Issues on transhumance are not considered properly in the agri-food systems resilience - Farm-level adaptation practices have the potential to negatively impact the ecosystems - Centralisation of national meteorological agencies makes it a challenge to reach smallholder farmers on a sub-national level - Farmers are risk averse, the fear of failure is increased during current crisis and hindering opportunities for innovation. How to find ways to cushion and encourage the innovation process Opportunities: - Farmer organisations should communicate directly with other food value chain actors in order to allow local production to reach local markets - Improving access to technology - Ensuring that adaptation is always beneficial to the ecosystem - Improve access to climate finance, especially for those most at risk and vulnerable - Developing multi-stakeholder partnerships towards comprehensive risk management - Rise in legislative measures that promote both human rights and environmental due diligence. This is an opportunity to work with private sector to tackle risks from sourcing and productivity cycles Read less

Breakout Group 5 Good practices: Multiple examples confirm that a variety of good practices for food system resilience exist at local and national level. These include: - Using science, research and development to provide evidence-backed solutions to the needs of farmers - fostering public-private partnerships to build community resilience through: extension services, digital information solutions, business development, trainings and risk management interventions Challenges: - Environmental and climate considerations are often not incorporated in development projects and interventions - Farmer... Read mores should be seen as economic agents, with sound risk-coping strategies and ecosystem services form part of the essential solutions - Disaster response is prioritised over risk reduction Opportunities: Opportunities to build food systems resilience should focus on addressing the root causes of vulnerability, including: - Supporting women as key but vulnerable actors and exposed to different risks in agri-food production - Supporting peacebuilding as an essential component of resilience building - Moving from policy to implementation of comprehensive risk management actions - Bridging funding gaps and boosting absorptive capacities for comprehensive climate and disaster risk management projects/programmes Read less

Breakout Group 4 Challenges: - Emphasis on disaster risk management in a multi-risk context: coping with compound disasters and complex emergencies - Using comprehensive risk management to also tackle slow-onset disasters, such as desertification, sea-level rise, drought, etc. - Lack of DRR technical capacities of farmers and communities. - Lack of forums or platforms for discussions and exchanges of good/best practices - Lack of resilient varieties for crop production - Risk management practices do not cover the entire value chain, which poses limitations to farmers when dealing with risk and... Read more disaster impact - Poor land management practices pose a challenge in many Sub-Saharan African countries Opportunities: - COP26 presents a key opportunity for discussion around comprehensive risk management for resilient food systems; farmers need to have a seat at the table during climate discussions - Micro-insurance offers a viable solution for farmers; financial and micro-credit institutions need to be involved in discussions about dealing with risk for building resilient agri-food systems. Read less

Breakout Group 3 Good practices: There is a solid foundation of good practices for agricultural risk reduction and food systems resilience, that can be scaled-up and built on. These include: - Timely and reliable Early Warning Systems and dissemination of weather information to farmers - Holistic community-centred approaches that build resilience in a multi-disciplinary way through integrated technical, financial and social interventions - Risk-transfer mechanisms such as crop weather insurance - Multi-actor partnerships for agricultural risk management Challenges: The most notable challenges ... Read morefor building food systems resilience are centred around data, capacity, policy and fragility contexts. Most notably: - Insurance schemes need reliable, granular and timely data on loss and damage at household level, which is not readily available; gender-disaggregated data and geographical coverage present a particular challenge - Farmers lack capacity and need further support to implement disaster and climate risk management practices, environmental conservation, natural resource management techniques, etc. - Fragile contexts with chronic instability are particularly challenging and require tailored approaches for food security and safeguarding agri-food production. Opportunities: - Agroecology and approaches that value natural resources and local knowledge are key opportunities to scale-up food systems resilience - It is important to tackle the root causes of vulnerability to climate and disasters, which are often anthropogenic - Building partnerships and mainstreaming comprehensive climate and disaster risk management into all planning and policy processes, development interventions, NDC and SDG implementation, etc. - Having feedback mechanisms and impact assessments that involve farmers and other supply chain actors and allow for iterative improvements and adjustments of risk management measures. Read less

Breakout Group 2 Good practices: Multiple projects and initiatives exist that are already boosting food systems resilience: - Agronomic practices such as greening, crop rotation, agroforestry, etc. - COVID-19 response programmes that target and deliver information to farmers - Communication and awareness campaigns on disaster and climate risk management - Public-private tools such as crop insurance, market observatories, etc. - Integrating risk management in agricultural business planning Challenges: Some of the challenges that cripple risk management for food systems resilience include: - Lac... Read morek of coordination and inclusivity among farmers - Lack of adequate technology, training and financing for risk management - Costs of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction can be too high for farmers, especially for young farmers; - Shift of mindset to see prevention as an investment not a cost Opportunities: - Investing in knowledge and skills to grow farmers’ policy leverage at national level - Using the potential of the digital and online age to not leave anyone behind - Leveraging on the youth dividend for DRR solutions - Employing risk management practices to improve market stability - Acknowledging farmers’ central and active role in co-building resilient and sustainable food value chains Read less

Breakout Group 1 Good practices: There is a wealth of risk management, prevention, mitigation and reduction practices employed at farm, food value chain, local, country or regional level. Some examples are: - providing fortification of seed varieties - promoting diversification of livelihoods, agroforestry and value addition for better returns on investment - promoting consumer awareness for sustainable and climate-neutral production - targeting rural women - promoting natural infrastructure that conserves and enhances ecosystem functions Challenges: Food systems resilience is challenged by mu... Read moreltiple factors: - resource constraints for targeted action - lack of dedicated policies - an overall gap in the understanding of risk along the food value chains and entire food system. - lack of functional safety nets or dedicated schemes such as climate insurance, land management practices or risk proofing of infrastructure - farmers’ risk-aversion Opportunities: There is a unique opportunity for the Food Systems Summit outcomes to be translated into practical actions. What is needed to strengthen food systems resilience is a package of actions that include: - scaling-up insurance, mentorship and longer-term engagement with farmers - promoting consumer awareness on safe, fair, climate friendly, nature positive and healthy food - risk-proofing of agricultural production and value chains - policy is paramount: need to improve local-level policy making and integrate it at the national, regional and global level - legislative measures are needed to promote human rights and environmental due diligence - engaging with the private sector to tackle risks in food systems - using climate funding to build a comprehensive risk management approach Read less

Overarching key messages of the Dialogue: 1. There is a widely-recognised need to better understand multi-hazard, complex and cascading risks in agri-food systems and adopt integrated and multidisciplinary approaches centered on the shift from crisis and disaster management to risk management for resilience. 2. We need to recognise risk prevention as an investment, not a cost. 3. A multi-hazard, comprehensive risk management approach is essential to tackle the mutually reinforcing impact of climate change and disasters on agricultural production and food value chains 4. Today, a suite of farme... Read morer-driven good practices and tools are available for comprehensive risk management in agri-food systems. Actors committed to building resilient agri-food systems need a shared narrative on resilience building in order to connect these risk management measures and build on synergies and complementarity by forging partnerships and collaborations on for example: risk monitoring and actionable early warnings, risk governance and capacity building, risk transfer (insurance and social protection), nature-based solutions, risk proofing of infrastructure, emergency preparedness, anticipatory action and response, etc . Specific messages from opening panelists: Sandrine Dixson-Declève - Co-Chair UN Food System Summit Resilience Action Track 5 and Co-President Club of Rome: Interconnected global crises are unfolding and we need to craft the mechanisms that need to be in place to deal with all these different emergencies. These are planetary emergencies and need to be addressed through risk management lens for resilience building, in line with the Paris Agreement, the Convention on biodiversity, the Sendai Framework, integrating all elements of the agriculture food value chain, from producers to consumers and for the overall achievement of the 2030 agenda. Mami Mizutori - Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNDRR A thorough understanding of the contemporary risk landscape is key. Risks are interconnected, cascading, not linear and long lasting. We therefore need to transition from siloed approaches to risk management towards new, innovative multi-hazard, multi-disciplinary and multi-sector innovative risk management interventions. We need a paradigm shift, from managing disasters to managing disaster risk, through comprehensive risk management. Building resilience is also about identifying the most vulnerable, giving them a voice in the making and implementing of strategies for DRR. Communities need to be given a central role, through a whole-of-society approach. Arianna Giuliodori - Secretary General, World Farmers’ Organisation Farmers are resilient by nature. Their risk-coping strategies, ecosystem services and economic agency must be seen as part of the solution. In order to boost farmers’ pivotal economic, environmental and social role, partnerships are a game-changer. Rein Paulsen – Director, Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO The latest analyses from FAO and others signal a deeply concerning global rise in acute and chronic hunger and malnutrition. The convergence in our messages here today illustrate that this is an urgent issue which needs a transition from responding to crisis to managing risk, from crisis response to multiple risk management. We urgently need a shared understanding of the risk around us. We also need to recognise there is no magic bullet, but the need to bring together preventive, anticipatory action; we need to be able to absorb and adapt, as well as to transform agriculture and food systems, all essential for resilience building. Romina Cavatassi – Lead Economist and Head of Impact Assessment, IFAD Finance can be mobilized to support transformation by redirecting capital into a circular economy, moving beyond agriculture into a system approach that can include the whole food system and invest in environmentally sustainable models of agriculture and food systems. Integrating risks and building resilient food systems implies (i) coordination, (ii) innovation in blended finance and private sector involvement, (iii) include and expand CSO to guarantee ownership and sustainability over time; and (iv) incentives such as paying ecosystem services, loans with environmental conditions, insurance connected to environmental management. Vulnerabilities are higher for people that are often marginalised; therefore, transformation should ensure inclusion, putting nutrition at the center of transformation pathways. Terry Otieno – Youth Secretary, Kenya Red Cross Society and Global Focal Point, UN Major Group for Children and Youth 16-18% of the population of the world is youth and holds a unique potential to boost food systems transformation. An empowered youth can support resilient agri-food systems. The youth holds the key to transformative innovations for food systems resilience, including technological, policy, and cultural innovations. Breakout Groups: Six breakout groups discussed and shared their views around three same questions around main actions needed to build food system resilience. Acknowledging that we are not starting from scratch, the groups took stock of existing good practices as well as the challenges and opportunities to manage multiple risks along the food system. Below are the key takeaways from the lively discussion and summary made by each group. Read less

The main focus of this Independent Dialogue was on the Action Track 5 on Resilience. An array of familiar and unfamiliar risks deriving from vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses are jeopardizing food systems and forcing millions to face hunger and acute food insecurity. Global crises such as COVID-19, the climate emergency, pollution, biodiversity loss and conflict are aggravating food insecurity and posing an existential threat to both humans and ecosystems alike. They starkly demonstrate the systemic nature of risk and the need for comprehensive risk management for strengthening resilience a... Read morecross systems, and especially for agri-food systems. Food systems are particularly vulnerable and at risk from various shocks (disasters, crisis or conflicts) and stresses (slower and often less visible threats or changes) with grave consequences, as the unfolding climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic are starkly demonstrating. When food systems fail, millions of people bear the consequences in terms of food insecurity, malnutrition, hunger, disruptions of value chains and livelihoods, with cascading impacts on health, education and the economy but also human rights, peace and security. Systemic risk threatens all pillars of sustainable development – social, environmental and economic – and hampers global progress towards achieving Agenda 2030. The UN Food Systems Summit - through its Action Track 5 on Resilience - offers a timely opportunity to focus on the multiple risks, crisis and fragilities underpinning food systems and to regenerate and transform these systems in order to better respond to the growing needs of people and ecosystems. To this end, comprehensive climate and disaster risk management is a critical means to making food systems – and agri-food production in particular – more resilient. Risk reduction can protect development investments in agriculture (including crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and forestry), as well as markets and transportation, ecosystems, consumption and nutrition as well as child and maternal health. From production to consumption and disposal, the sectors and systems that support and connect food systems and food security are highly integrated. If risks at producer-level are not effectively managed, this can have cascading effects across all components of the food value chain, potentially leading to overall food system failures. Adopting a comprehensive risk management approach, including for climate resilience and a green COVID-19 recovery process, would deliver healthier, more resilient, inclusive and sustainable agri-food systems. Comprehensive risk management therefore plays a vital role for ensuring one of the basic human rights – the right to food, freedom from hunger and access and availability of healthy and nutritious and balanced diets. The Independent Dialogue convened by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) offered a unique opportunity to come up with concrete solutions and urgent transformative actions to mainstream comprehensive risk management approaches for resilient agri-food systems, which, in turn are vital for achieving the 17 SDGs and the targets of the Sendai Framework. More specifically, the Dialogue sought to unpack the systemic nature of risk in relation to food systems and encourage innovative thinking in identifying, managing and preventing the complexity of multiple and often cascading risks and crisis that threaten and affect the resilience of food value chains. Discussions centred on the intersections between disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in the agricultural sectors as a key solution towards disaster and climate-resilient and sustainable food systems, with farmers and youth at the centre of transformative action. Read less

While there was some differences of opinion on what aspects to prioritise to scale up sustainable food cold chains, there were no major divergences as regards the challenges, ways to address them, and possible ways forward to make sustainable food cold chains happen for all.

• Sustainable cold chain is critical for ensuring food safety and security, reducing food waste and loss, mitigating climate change and preventing the depletion of the ozone layer. • Further development of policies, strategies, plans and actions for sustainable cold chain needs: -robust systems-level thinking; - to enable logistics connectivity from farm to fork -needs-driven integrated approaches; -multistakeholder, multi-sectoral coordination; -cross-sectoral decision-making mechanisms; -collaboration at all stages of the sustainable cold chain development and implementation, including w... Read moreithin the research community and through formal cross-sectoral coordination mechanisms within governments; and development partners, including the donor community; -robust data and sound comprehensive (including financial, economic, environmental, social and gender aspects) cost-benefit assessment are key to de-risk and optimize investments in sustainable cold chains • The Rome Declaration under the Montreal Protocol on “the Contribution of the Montreal Protocol to Food Loss Reduction through Sustainable Cold Chain Development” is an important platform for political commitments and actions for states and other stakeholders. Parties to the Montreal Protocol are encouraged to sign on to it if they have not yet done so. • The commitment to deliver on sustainable food systems transformation and sustainable cold chain solutions can help countries also deliver on the Kigali Amendment, the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. • Energy-efficient ozone and other climate-friendly technologies powered by renewable energy and integrated approaches and game-changing solutions approaches are needed for sustainable cold chain development. • Foster knowledge exchange at all levels, collection and dissemination of information and awareness raising on available and feasible solutions for developing sustainable cold chains are important. Initiatives such as the sustainable cold chain virtual exhibition, Global Food Cold Chain Status report, and further dialogues such as are useful tools in this regard. • Awareness raising required on a systems approach and multiple benefits of effective and sustainable food cold-chain • Technical assistance, capacity building and training required on use of cold-chain systems and low-GWP technology including deployment, operation and maintenance but also on logistics of an effective cold-chain • The synergetic benefits of sustainable cold chains to both the food and health sectors should be given due consideration in prioritising development programmes, in particular those related to post-pandemic response. Read less

A total of 20 organizations (from governments, farmer and industrial associations and international organizations) made contributions to the dialogue. They first discussed challenges related to the cold chain for food (and also vaccines) which demonstrated various facets of cold chains in the area of food and healthcare. The following key challenges in scaling up sustainable cold chain solutions in a meaningful way are as follows: 1) Poor awareness of food cold chains benefits among food chain and cooling sector actors at international and national level; 2) Access to cold chain is uneve... Read moren both within countries and between developed and developing countries 3) A siloed approach to cooling and cold-chain development, resulting in a sub-optimal outcome, e.g. insufficient consideration to the close linkages between access to cooling and cold-chain services and access to sustainable, reliable and affordable energy; e.g. efficiency of sub-system instead of effectiveness of the entire system 4) Insufficient consideration to the multi-dimensional character of food cold chains development, resulting in benefits from food cold chains being available in a fragmented manner, e.g. the lack of coordination between the food and health sectors regarding the possibility to combine cooling action benefits ‘from farm to fork’ with those from “vaccine manufacturer to arm”. 5) Transition to from outdated and polluting existing technologies to ozone and climate friendly cold and energy efficient chain technologies due to the operational and commercial limitations of current more sustainable refrigerant options, insufficient skilled technicians in developing countries, underdeveloped or weakly implemented standards and regulations for safety and energy efficiency 6)Other identified challenges include paucity of robust evidenced based data and forecasts on impacts of food cold-chain, limited, research funding; 7) Projected growing project demand for more cold chains driven by the various factors which compounds these challenges but also present an opportunity. In the second part of the dialogue, the panelists presented various initiatives as scalable solutions for cold chains in the food sector and beyond. These included: -Overview of available more sustainable technologies (e.g. by Global Food Cold Chain Council, industries in EU and China), -Database model for cold chains to understand the cold chain extent in developing countries and to identify opportunities for expansion of cold chain benefits (e.g. by Bahrain and Paraguay with support of OzonAction), -Enabling strategies and policies to ensure better coordination and integrated approaches to cooling and cold chains for compliance with the MEAs (Montreal Protocol and Paris Agreement), agricultural development and achieving SDGs (e.g. India and EU) -Cooling for all needs assessments and National Cooling Action Plans (e.g India) -The Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (Rwanda); -Best practices and lessons learned from projects on already available energy-efficient, low-global warming potential and ozone-friendly cold chains technologies and capacity building activities in specific sectors, i.e. supermarkets, including the role and instruments existing multilateral financial mechanisms to promote these solutions (UNIDO, AREA) -The role of the cold chain in health care ensuring more equitable and efficient roll of vaccinations programmes -Summary for policy-makers from case studies and status assessment on cold chains (Cool Coalition, CCAC,FAO, Ozone Secretariat, UNEP OzonAction). Participants agreed that sustainable cold-chains are key for improving human well-being, boosting economic growth and delivering socio-economic development through the SDGs, while simultaneously achieving the climate change targets of the Paris Agreement and Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol. Read less

The event aimed at highlighting the key role of sustainable food cold chains in ensuring food safety and security, reducing food waste and loss, mitigating and adapting to climate change preventing the depletion of the ozone layer. As such it related to several Action Tracks – AT1/ ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all; AT2/, shift to sustainable consumption patterns, and AT5/ 5 build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress - as well to the newly defined Action Areas of the UNFSS, in particular AA1/Nourish All People; and AA4/Build Resilience to Vulnerabilities, Shocks a... Read morend Stresses. Another objective of the event was to demonstrate how the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, universally ratified multilateral environmental agreement, its Kigali Amendment, and its Rome Declaration on Sustainable Cold Chain Development can contribute to mobilizing and scaling up solutions for delivering sustainable cold chains. The Rome Declaration aims to foster exchange of information and strengthening cooperation and coordination among governments and other stakeholders in the area of the cold chain and the contribution of the cold to SDGs, and the Dialogue contributed significantly towards this objective. Read less

There was no overt "conflict", but it is worth noting that one of the challenges faced by Breastfeeding advocates is the conflict of business sector interest, specifically of companies producing breast milk substitutes (BMS), with that of common good. Aid from BMS companies inevitably promotes BMS products that usually undermines the efforts of breastfeeding advocates to empower and equip women to continue breastfeeding even during emergency situations. The business sector expressed that they have been very active and involved in mitigating the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups but t... Read morehere is merit in considering how the BMS distributed, or at least the promotion of the brand, could discourage lactation or uplift the image of BMS over breastmilk. There was no further comment from the business sector on how they plan to align their efforts with the World Health Assembly targets on promoting exclusive breastfeeding for optimum child growth. Read less

Participants from various stakeholder groups expressed how they perceive the government could support and complement their local efforts to build resilience. These are summarized into five key functions: 1. Consolidate, coordinate and scale up good practices Participants deem it necessary to strengthen partnership with the government for additional support and guidance on their effort to build their resilience against food system shocks and stressors. They consider the government able and appropriate to harmonize and unify the various information management systems so that it is readily availa... Read moreble at all levels (local, region, national). The delegates also think it is the role of the government to coordinate the efforts of various organizations working on specific target groups to unify and synergize interventions and prioritize the most vulnerable and reach far flung areas. One example of this is the partnership of LATCH Los Baños with the Provincial Government of Laguna and UPLB to establish community-engaged Human Milk Banks and to mobilize communities to prepare for and handle IYCF during emergencies. The government is seen as the appropriate institution to establish a platform for effective partnerships to facilitate institutionalization and scaling up of best practices for food system sustainability. There are already many good innovations, systems, and practices being done in the communities and local markets; they just need to be scaled up. 2. Policy and governance There are a lot of food system drivers that are beyond the control or influence of civil society stakeholders but under the authority of the government. For example, land conversion could be prudently managed through appropriate local government resolutions on land use. Trade and pricing policies hugely affect consumers and food producers, especially when supply of cheap imported alternatives becomes greater than local produce. Participants expressed hope for the government to control the prices of commodities and monitor fake imported products in favor of the consumers and local food producers. Relevant to the role of the government on scaling up resilience-building strategies, breastfeeding advocates expressed their request for the government to issue a policy on institutionalization of mother support groups in the communities like the policy on ensuring availability of community health and nutrition workers in every barangay. 3. Increase government investment Various civil society stakeholders also call for increased government investment on health and nutrition services, extension services, and personnel. They think it is appropriate for the government to invest in having “Agriculturist to the Barrios” – agriculture extension workers for every community, especially in last-mile areas. 4. Provision of Inputs, Infrastructure & Capacity Building activities The delegates perceive the government having a big role in providing essential agricultural infrastructure such as mini-dams, tractors and other heavy equipment. Specifically, they see the LGUs as key actors who can refer farmers in need of government support to national agriculture agencies if only they have a systematic profile of farmers in their municipality or city. This could also help in effective and efficient monitoring of aid given. The delegates also expressed the need to tap government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Science and Technology (DOST), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to provide training for livelihoods and financial literacy among farmers and other vulnerable groups. 5. Accountability and transparency Last but not the least, the delegates clamor for accountability and transparency in our governments decisions and actions relevant to our food systems. Read less