Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

There was some discussion on trust in technology. Although most believe that small-holders but also other stakeholders want to stick to what they know and that there is lack of education. However, another problem that was addressed was that most often technology is produced somewhere else and then most money goes to marketing and not educating the people in the areas to use the technology or maintain it. Also, the technologies often do not prioritize the main problem because it is not developed in co-cooperation with the community. Internet entrance was mentioned as a crucial point to empower ... Read moresmall-holder farmers. However, the main question is how to make internet accessible to them. More research is needed on this. More research is needed on new business models and effective ways for co-operation in the process of technology development. It is not only education, but also working together and understanding main priorities in the food community. Read less

What solutions already exist on AgTech Innovation, Digital Transformation in disaster and risk prevention for a resilient and shockproof food system? 1. We need to address the growing demand for food while using significantly fewer resources 2. Climate-smart practices are being used to combat disasters a. Most farmers are practicing agroforestry and other methodology with positive results 3. FinTech solution for inclusive social coverage and financial inclusion to rural farmers a. Normally it takes many months for repayment. Now with mobile technology and weather forecasting, insurance firms o... Read morer governmental insurance firms can pay quicker (by verification of GPS and sending confirmed pictures) 4. Agro-meteorological advisory through mobile apps (Seasonal Rainfall Prediction) 5. Normally farmers grow in Ghana what they are used to plant 6. Information could tell climate trends for the community 7. Information could inform about market trends 8. For example, one has a Major and Minor season in Ghana. Farmers grow paddy stable crops and additional vegetable crops like big onions but require not heavy rain 9. Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning to predict best crops on best soils by aggregating relevant databases from satellites, soil measures, weather stations. 10. Soil measurements for higher quality (biodiversity, carbon, nutrient content). Higher carbon content will help to retain the water, which is good for heavy rain or droughts. 11. Blockchain for food monitoring and traceability via blockchain and sealed products. 12. Agrovoltaics solutions for energy-efficient solutions like irrigation systems, biomass processing and growing biofertilizers 13. Food visibility by blockchain for confirming the flow of products. This improves food safety away from bulk products and could link to consumers that can pay higher. Read less

Issues addressed in the Main Session Discussions - One of the issues in Africa and other (developing) countries is that the governments promise subsidies for innovations, also in times of this pandemic. However, money doesn't reach the farmers efficiently and gets stuck somewhere in the top-down process. A solution for this is a system where the subsidies can be monitored or controlled, maybe via cooperatives or larger farmers communities to get a stronger voice compared to all the smallholder farms individually. Another issue is digital traceability. Now it is unclear where products that cons... Read moreumers buy exactly come from. With a passport (for example a QR-code) on a product, you create certain transparency on where a product comes from and what it contains. With a clear view of the production chain and ingredients of a product, the consumers will be more aware of what they buy. In both issues, block chain can offer major benefits by improving transparency. - Often technology is developed outside of the country where it is intended to be used. Most of the farmers know the context in which they work than most of the technology developers. Farmers also have a different idea of priorities and problems that can be supported with technology. This creates trust issues and a lack of adoption of technology. In addition, in big countries, farms can be found in regions all over the country, which all deal with different climate conditions. When new technologies are introduced in farming within these countries, it might be wise to adapt training for the farmers on their specific region. As the climate conditions might affect how to implement a certain technology in your work. Look in this to new business models and co-creation in the process of technology development. It is important to work with the rest of the supply chain and investment should also be in training local people with skills to manufacture, repair and maintain the technology. Making these solutions locally-led and adaptive are great practices and building multi-actor partnerships and strengthening links between different actors (including farmers, supply/value chain actors, local and national government, private sector, financial institutions, telecommunications providers, research institutions etc. Read less

Session Objective: • Identifying solutions to overcoming barriers to technologically supported regenerative agriculture transition This dialogue was curated to discuss the following: • Highlighting challenges with resilience in agricultural business, implementation of innovative solutions, and barriers in adopting technological and market solutions. • Identify solutions for the implementation of, and improved access to innovative, inclusive, fair, and sustainable development for all. • Describe ideas towards constructive, inclusive and mutual cooperation and partnership between researc... Read morehers, farmers, and government along the value chain. • Determine key areas of action towards more resilient, fair, social, and healthy food systems. Main findings of the dialogue: The Independent Dialogue was participatory and participants came from different institutional and stakeholder groups to deliberate on the future of food and suggested actions towards transnational food systems adopting new technologies, leveraging existing solutions and blending action best impact standards with society approach for inclusive participation to achieving The Objectives of The Food Systems Summit and overall objective of SDG 2 while sustaining the planet, promoting innovation, improving global food safety and conserving natural resources through adaptive use of resources (SDG 12). The discussion also addressed specific interconnected SDGs and suggested actions to adopting best impact standards in the food systems value chain and across all other action tracks. Read less

Group 4: Capacity building and awareness The session started with a case study on the Anganwadi work that is being done in Rajasthan. It is an excellent insight about how it is done at the localized level, and capacity building at the grass-root level is so important to ensure the malnutrition levels come down and create much more awareness. It also shows that women empowerment is an overarching intervention across and how it has helped. The group discussion encapsulated the whole umbrella of the different kinds of stakeholders at different levels, and the kind of capacity building programs an... Read mored the awareness at each level at a systemic and a personal level. The main feedback and insight include: ⁻ At the consumption level, the group discussed how it is important for the learnings from the research community to come to the community level and how it can be practiced further, so that it can enhance the nutritional levels and also revive some of the traditional knowledge that already exists. ⁻ There were also some very interesting studies on reducing food waste shared, for example a study done in China which use data to create awareness on reducing food waste among restaurants and consumers. Throughout, it was discussed how it is extremely important not just for the government to take up initiative, but also for different stakeholders from bottom to up to start these kinds of dialogues and initiatives. ⁻ Further, participants shared how social media is used to reach out to more people like minded people who would want to come and volunteer. Although those are not formal structures, the kinds of informal structures also play very important roles in creating awareness, and eventually help one realize that there's a need for capacity building of these kinds of people who want to contribute at their own personal levels. The break-out group discussion was moderated by the facilitator through inviting participants to provide ideas or share information to the specific questions designed. Below we summarized the key feedback received from the participants during the group discussions. Q1: Who are the key stakeholders? 1. Local government sectors, 2. Researchers, 3. Tourism Sectors (Homestays) 4. Youth Organizations 5. Mid-day meal relevant stakeholders Q2: Briefly, what are the key areas of a capacity building required to shift wards healthy and sustainable diets in your geographical region and hence your country? And what type of capacity building programmes can facilitate this shift? 1. Sensitize the local communities about the nutritional value about the local landraces which are actually said to be Nutri-densed food. 2. Capacity building especially for the younger generation. 3. Women's agency and training on nutrition. 4. Training incentivizing farmers for switching to healthy food production. 5. Digital literacy for the farmers is very important. Q3: What are the areas in which awareness programmes are needed to shift towards healthy and sustainable diets in Asia? And what type of awareness programmes can facilitate this shift? 1. Benefiting from the local resources which are easily available around the region. 2. Promote local food which can help the local communities in improving economy as well as improve the nutrition in their daily diet. 3. Media especially social media influences food choices. Leveraging media for bringing about behavioral change. 4. Awareness must be spread among Low Income and Marginalized groups. Read less

Group 3: Policy The group discussion started with a case study presentation from Bhutan. Bhutan is facing challenges and barriers of climatic change and terrain. The country is working on a five-year plan focusing on water, food and nutrition security. Government is one of the major stakeholders. Still the country has some very great policies of the school feeding programs running in the country. The importance of bringing the safe food for the children were highlighted. The group discussed what and how policy initiatives drive sustainable food consumption. The main feedback and insight includ... Read moree: ⁻ It was noted that farmers should be incentivized to produce nutritious crops such as fruits and vegetables and animal based foods. For these crops, pricing policy is very important and this is especially in case of highly perishable foods. ⁻ The group discussed that governments should help farmers to get adequate price for the high risk crops. ⁻ Up skilling the capacity of the extension workers and knowledge dissemination about healthy foods were mentioned by most participants. ⁻ Digital literacy of farmers and consumers is equally important. The good infrastructure to support the farmers were also highlighted in the discussion. ⁻ The two components to be taken care of by the policymakers for healthy diets emphasized by the group were: 1) accessibility to all and; 2) supporting farmers in crop diversification. The break-out group discussion was moderated by the facilitator through inviting participants to provide ideas or share information to the specific questions designed. Below we summarized the key feedback received from the participants during the group discussions. Q1. What policy initiatives that drive the transition towards improved food consumption in Asia? 1. Incentivizing farmers for switching to healthy food production 2. Pricing policy. Fruit and vegetable consumption has not increased to an optimum level which is the direct result of lack of availability and affordability along with production, shared by one participant. One participant laid focused upon lack of economic access in India of fruits and vegetables. 3. Adequate Storage 4. Road Infrastructure for connecting the farmers with the market 5. Taking both ‘farm to fork’ and ‘fork to farm’ approach - working with farmers and consumers 6. Food labelling 7. One participant shared a policy case in China. China issued a new food safety law in 2015 to ensure improved better food production, distribution and inspection and reduce food waste. 8. Regional diversity must be acknowledged in implementing local food policies. Q2: Do feeding programmes for children an effective measure for improved nutrition and better development of children? 1. It is a good initiative but not sure how much reaches to the children and how much somewhere else. How to make that effective is the question. Read less

Group 2: Technology The group discussion started with a case study based on Gravity Goods Ropeways (GGR) in Nepal and explained about how route based technology was used to transport goods and how it really helped all the stakeholders in that particular ecosystem. The group discussed how and what technologies can help in improving diets of low-income households in Asia, with communities’ engagement. The main feedback and insight include: ⁻ The group discussed that there is no one-size-fits-all model and it depends on each case. ⁻ The group participants shared various technologies, for ex... Read moreample, a lot of digitization models are there to enable access of nutritious food to people. ⁻ It was also mentioned that the right technology is very important and that has to be supported by government. Hence, the role of government and policy is equally important for application of technology. All aspects are equally important and they have to be looked at together and support is needed from all stakeholders. ⁻ Further, a lot of participants also shared innovative ideas. They discussed about AI based technologies which have been used today to access to sufficient and nutritious food. ⁻ In terms of social media, one of the participants shared how social media like Instagram can be used to deliver specific nutritious food. ⁻ The importance of crop insurance was discussed. It was also highlighted to provide good networks to farmers at the ground level, so that they can also reach out to technologies predicting crop weather. ⁻ Grid systems were also discussed which has a lot of bearing on the utilization. The break-out group discussion was moderated by the facilitator through inviting participants to provide ideas or share information to the specific questions designed. Below we summarized the key feedback received from the participants during the group discussions. Q1: What type of technologies can help in improving diets of low-income households in Asia? 1. Clean Energy can enable access power and also can lead to other development outcomes. 2. A great Equalizer, e.g. Micro-hydropower in Nepal. Q2: What techs used so that farmers can sell their produce online? 1. In the context of Nepal, at the moment, there are not many ways to do so for the farmers. It is hard to have access to electricity and mobile networks, in the case of high hills. Farmers can be indirectly helped by market actors and the government agencies. Q3: Are there any specific technologies that can be upscaled to a larger context in Asia? 1. Clean electricity can be upscaled to a larger context in South East Asia via Hydroelectricity. 2. Meteorological technologies such as Agri Drones can be upscaled for the benefit of the farmers. It would result in optimum usage of inputs in farms not only helping the farmers but the soil as well. 3. While digitization provides some benefit to farmers, but they have least power in the supply chain. Most of the income in the sector is directed towards market intermediaries and other players in the supply chain rather than the farmers. 4. Usage of social media. 5. Crop Insurance assisted by satellite monitoring. 6. AI and IOTs can be upscaled for the benefit of food consumption. Decentralized approach can be adopted in order to scale up. 7. Digitization models: Access to safe and nutritious foods must be emphasized in South Asia. Q4: How can communities better participate in benefit from technologies and improve their nutritional security? 1. Help of cooperatives and other local community groups to reach grassroots. 2. Focus should go towards marketing that encourage healthy eating practices. For example, in Kyrgyzstan, app to develop Nutritious meal planning for families. 3. Business analytics can be used to understand the market. Manipulation, monitoring of relevant parameters can be used to improve demand. 4. Data collected showed that consumers tend to choose healthier local alternatives when informed about the available foods, through a promotion of Local foods via android apps in Canada. Such strategies can be adopted in order to promote traditional or neglected foods to improve food security. Read less

Group 1: Business. The group discussed various business stakeholders such as large farms, social entrepreneurship and how they face challenges related to technology, financing and capacity. The main feedback and insight include: ⁻ The group discussed how big sustainability standards can bridge the gap between farmers and consumers by giving certificate of trust. ⁻ The role of Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) was discussed focusing on social local enterprises. The group highlighted that policy support is important for such enterprises. ⁻ Changing consumer behavior is important for creat... Read moreing the pull for businesses. ⁻ The group also discussed willingness to pay and affordability as important factors. The break-out group discussion was moderated by the facilitator through inviting participants to provide ideas or share information to the specific questions designed. Below we summarized the key feedback received from the participants during the group discussions. Q1: What type of best business case studies are there in Asia (that help in improving diets of low-income households) 1. Community based platform to sell local seasonal food direct from farmers 2. E-commerce delivery platform for organic food or eco-labeled food 3. Service on renting land for household in country side 4. Companies that are utilising agri waste and fermentation based technologies to produce fungi based and plant based products at a fraction of cost of their animal-derived counterparts 5. Government funded projects to assist the low income groups at a much individual level as to assist with local business establishments 6. Investing in compiling disaggregated information and learning focused training programs for farmers Q2: Who are the key stakeholders? 1. Communications for consumers (the willingness and choices of consumers will affect what kind of food product will be offered in the market) 2. Local community (especially the country-side) to empower and involve them (either as a business partner or labour source) 3. Financing agencies 4. Public funding for open access research in sustainable food innovation such as alternative protein that can diversify our protein sources 5. Policy makers providing policy support and incentives to businesses to adapt products into formats for the bottom of the pyramid 6. Agencies working in communities’ changing and near to farmers. Read less

Practical enablers, challenges and solutions towards sustainable food consumption and healthy diets were shared through panel discussion and case studies, followed by 4 detailed break-out discussion groups in the aspects of business, technology, policy, and capacity building and awareness. It is highlighted that all these aspects are equally important and they have to be looked at together and supports are needed from all stakeholders. Improvement of sustainable and healthy diets and access to healthy diets especially for vulnerable in Asia are equally significant to address the challenges of ... Read moresustainable food systems. The following key insights and information were shared in the opening remarks and keynote speeches: 1. Sustainable consumption and production and circularity of food systems are key to achieve the global goals. 2. The food systems contribute almost a quarter of GHG emissions. 3. The EU's Farm to Fork strategy is a comprehensive principle and systemic approach that seeks harmony between the local and the global supply and demand in the long term trends and unpredictable crisis, aiming at coherence across the many pillars of the EU Green Deal. The ambition is to transform the whole food system from seeds and farms down to food waste, on both the supply and demand sides. 5. All systems including ecosystems, human population, farming, agro-industries and food distribution are interconnected. Hence solutions need to be holistic and integrated. 6. Industrialization and global supply chains have allowed for food production to be revolutionized into a global business opportunity. The industrial agriculture has corroded the planet because of its injudicious ecological practices like mono cropping, systematic erosion of soil and biodiversity and the local food systems. 7. The world’s disproportionate dependence on just three crops: maize, rice, and wheat, and that the deepening climate change crisis is changing the nutritious values of all crops just with a nutritious profile of rice going down. Dr. Chubamenla Jamir, TERI School of Advanced Studies, shared initial findings of a baseline study on the food consumption pattern of low income households in Asia, specifically focusing on South, Southeast and East Asia, conducted in collaboration with SWITCH-Asia RPAC. The key findings are summairzed below: 1. From 2000 to 2018, there has been an increase in the calorie consumption in all the three sub-regions of South, Southeast and East Asia, and there's also been an increase in the fat and protein consumption. However, the protein consumption is quite low, much less than recommended although Asian countries are the largest producers of different food items in the world. 2. More than half of all the undernourished people in the world live in Asia. It is noted that both undernourishment and over-nourishment such as fat remain challenging to Asia, like in most parts of the world. 3. There is also an intrinsic linkage between dietary factors and culture in Asia. However, there is a shift from traditional and local food towards more of processed foods, especially in the urban areas leading to increased consumption of macronutrients, especially fats and sugars, which lead to higher health risks. 4. The complexities and differences between the lower income households and the urban middle class or higher class were highlighted. Hence, there cannot be a one- size-fits-all solution for addressing these issues. 5. The fruits and vegetable present opportunities for transitioning towards healthier diets, which are still consumed in very low quantities much lower than the required the recommended quantities. The principles of organic and natural farming should be promoted in Asia as they can improve accessibility to healthier food. 6. It is also very important to promote traditional and local food which is sustainable and nutritional. Key findings from the Panel Discussion – Practical enablers towards sustainable food consumption and healthy diets in Asia 1. In terms of business, the challenges are that fruits, vegetables and animal source foods are high value crops and are also high risk, so farmers are hesitant to invest and produce them. The low tech, sustainable and locally appropriate technologies, which can be used quite widely, will cut food loss and help nutrition sensitive processing, so that the nutrients don't leak out when you process it and make it available across seasons. 2. In terms of policy, the transition pushing back towards healthy food environment requires stakeholder participation and requires systemic changes. The government in any country is the biggest initiator of change and thus it is key to analyse what factors influence the government to lead food environment policy (FEP) processes. Funding or financial support through government grants and subsidies is important. 3. In terms of technology, for the low HDI countries and in many Asian countries, industry engagement or support with innovative technology support, e.g. data technology, as well as monitoring and accountability system aspects need to be factored into ensuring success. 4. In terms of capacity building and educcation, enhancement must focus on all value chain actors. The competencies and capacities for sustainable food system have to be both systemic and disciplinary. Read less

The EU-funded SWITCH-Asia programme aims at supporting the development of green economy and the transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient and a more circular economy in Asia promoting economic growth while decoupling it from environmental degradation. The SWITCH-Asia Regional Policy Advocacy Component (RPAC), implemented by United Nations Environment Programme, is designed to strengthen the dialogue at regional, sub-regional and national policies on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and thereby contributing to green growth and reduction of poverty in Asia. In spite of the ... Read morefact that Asia is the largest contributor of global food production, yet it is home to a large portion of the world’s poor, hungry and food insecure people. Food accessibility remains one of key challenges in the region especially among the low income households. There is rapid urbanization over large parts of Asia and currently about 50% of the population lives in urban area. Studies have shown that urbanization influences both quantity and diversity of food consumption (Bhartendu et al., 2020) while risks such as climate change, natural disasters, price volatility, etc., impacts the food accessibility of the lower income households. In Asia, increasing food consumption by a growing population, together with changing dietary habits, poses an immense challenge for the global food system and is associated with health and environmental impacts, such as diseases due to unhealthy diets, increasing use of harmful chemicals to increase production, and increasing food wastage. Shifting to more sustainable food consumption patterns would greatly contribute to food systems transition in the context of Asia towards a sustainable, equitable, resilient and nutritious food system. Improving access to food and facilitating a transition towards healthier and sustainable diet is an essential aspect of green growth and sustainable development in the region. Policy and evidence-based, regenerative, innovative and technological solutions is urgently needed across Asia to overcome the diversity of problems that exist in meeting the challenges of food systems transformation. A Sub-Regional Dialogue: Promoting Sustainable Food Consumption in Southeast and Northeast Asia through Farm-to-Fork Concept, held by RPAC in partnership with Asian Institute of Technology on 14 September 2021, shared insights on food consumption patterns, policies and ways towards sustainable food consumption in Asia. Among which, healthy and nutritious diets for the vulnerable population were highlighted as one of priority areas in Asia to transform food consumption patterns, while technology, innovation, and policy were addressed as important tools. In this context, RPAC in partnership with the TERI School of Advanced Studies and AIT organized the Regional Dialogue - Promoting Sustainable Food Consumption and Shift to Healthy Diets in Asia through Farm to Fork Concept, held on 27 Jan. 2020 virtually via Zoom. The dialogue was based on the concept of Farm-to-Fork and further discussed sustainable food consumption with focuses on ensuring healthy and sustainable diets for the low-income households, with key stakeholders and experts in the region to gather first hand insights. Practical enablers, challenges and sollutions towards sustainable food consumption and healthy diets in Asia were shared through panel discussion and case studies, followed by detailed break-out group discussions. The dialogue documented the farm to folk strategy, addressed the challenges of sustainable food systems, and recognized the inextricable links between healthy people, healthy societies and healthy planet. It was highlighted that the regional dialogue on promoting sustainable food consumption and the shift to healthy diets in Asia is timely and will help in better understanding and identifying various mechanisms to which the shift to healthy diets can take place. Read less

Simplification vs Complexity: there is considerable demand for simplicity in this field, whether that is simplifying terminology and language, simplifying measurement systems, labelling systems, or simplifying complex supply chains. The demand for simplification has an alter ego called recognition of complexity. As much as there is demand for simplicity, there is also recognition that scaling regenerative agro-ecology can not be made simple due to the wide variety of approaches it includes, the vast differences in its application depending on landscape, culture and market. Valuable next steps ... Read morewould be a UN-led exploration on what it is possible to simplify to engage with broader audiences and stakeholder groups, and where the need is education in complexity to enable people to cope with the ambiguity (no cookie cutter approaches or simple best practice models) that is inherent in complex system change. Organisations with greater capacity to manage complexity are much more easily able to absorb ambiguity than small scale farmers. Standardisation and Best Practice vs Localised Uniqueness This is a further reflection of the above issue. Global economies are build on standardisation and best practice because these approaches are what makes it possible to generate a certain kind of scale which is built on homogenisation. The kind of scale that is possible for regenerative agri-ecology is not this kind of scale. It is finding processes that enable scale from a different approach. It will be scaling on an ecosystem level rather than a global level. Therefore it will be critical to define how these approaches can work most effectively in specific ecosystems, cultures and markets and follow this approach to scale rather than global certification and standards. This might mean approaches for vast grasslands, arid steppes, coastal wetlands, temperate forests etc and also by socio-economic regions. During the presentations and discussions the restoration of the link between animals and the land emerged as a core principle of regenerative agriculture for many. Good grassland systems for raising animals were advocated by many in view of the environmental and animal welfare benefits. However, there was disagreement from others. Several participants argued that there is an enormous difference between regenerative animal agriculture and ‘regenerative veganic agriculture’. One stated, for example, that ‘’veganic agriculture is good for the planet and the climate whereas regenerative animal agriculture is used as a public relations point to give cover to the animal foods industry’’. There were differing viewpoints on future food systems. Some argued that we should move to predominantly plant-based food systems with less and better animal-source foods from grazing animals that benefit the environment, livelihoods and animal welfare. Others argued for transition to 100% plant-based diets freeing up land currently used for animal agriculture for rewilding. With respect to health, some argued that meat from grazing animals is healthier than meat from industrially reared animals, whereas others argued for a vegan diet on health grounds. Read less

What technologies would aid or hinder us in scaling agro-ecology and regenerative agriculture? • Geospatial monitoring can help to determine how well/poorly landscapes are doing in terms of soil health, biodiversity and reforestation. • Satellite, drone and other digital approaches can be used to monitor soil health, biodiversity and reforestation and drive funding towards farmers improving land management • Collaborative land management is made possible by satellite monitoring technology - whether that is through large scale herd management across vast landscapes, or reforestation. What... Read more is needed to maximise the potential of emergent technology is collaboration across landowners, governments and global food stakeholders. • Labelling technology to track and trace source and provenance is not maximised in the food system. Read less