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Overall research status in China At present, the research on nutrition and food of ethnic minorities in China is mainly concentrated in schools, including primary and secondary schools; Focus on BMI, undernutrition, and overnutrition; in general, the undernutrition rate has been decreasing and the overnutrition rate has been increasing; There are few studies on the factors affecting diet; Lack of interdisciplinary research, lack of combination with traditional medicine and behavior. In general, ethnic minority groups with more population tend to have more related publications; ethnic min... Read moreority groups only living in a specific region are perceived as unique ethnic groups and can gain more attention on research; ten ethnic groups lack research: Tajik, Xibo, Tatar, Hezhe, Uzbek, Gelao, Menba, Lhoba, Russian, and Gaoshan. Nutrients are generally lacking; Nutrition status has improved significantly in recent years. The obesity rate of Han majority nationality is generally higher than that of ethnic minorities, and the malnutrition rate of Han nationality is generally lower than that of ethnic minorities. Ethnic minorities mainly have three dietary structures: fishing and hunting food: Hezhe, Oroqen, Jino, Dulong, etc; Animal husbandry: Tibetan, Mongolian, Kazak, Yugur, etc; Mainly agricultural rice: Dong, Miao, Dai, Yao, etc. Yunnan characteristic food (academic discovery) Ethnic minorities in Yunnan have the custom of eating flowers, including rose, plantain flower, Canary flower, azalea, bitter thorn flower, seaweed flower, Tangli flower, etc. Flowers are rich in amino acids, a variety of micronutrients, and vitamins, as well as active proteases, nucleic acids, flavonoids, and other active substances. There are more than 250 kinds of wild edible fungi in Yunnan, accounting for half of the world. Wild fungi contain fat, protein, carbohydrates, crude fiber, a variety of minerals, and vitamins, which have high nutritional and health care value. Such as Boletus, ganba, chicken fir, Tricholoma matsutake, etc. Ethnic minorities in Yunnan eat a large number of insects. It can supplement nutrients such as high protein and micronutrients. Most edible insects contain 28 kinds of free amino acids and 8 kinds of amino acids necessary for the human body. It is also rich in Vitamin A, D, E, B1, B2, B12, and other vitamins; Calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and other trace elements. It also contains high-energy phosphorus-containing compounds ATP, cytochrome c, coenzyme Q, and a variety of hormone substances. Including bamboo insects, grasshoppers, acid ants, silkworm pupae, etc. Other findings Not just the ethnic minorities, the impact of fast food culture on the diet of ethnic minorities is also an impact on the diet culture of the Han majority. The Han nationality is also in the process of modernization, and the cooking environment is disappearing. There are no conditions for traditional cooking, and great changes are taking place. With the process of commercialization, many things are changing, and the culture itself is being impacted by modern civilization and gradually disappearing. At present, a kind of adventure exploration has gradually made the minority food materials in remote areas appear in people's vision, and began to explore the sales and profits in the broader Chinese market. It is better to use the novelty and public interest of most people to broaden the market than only to protect and develop the traditional food and food culture. Because moving from rural areas to cities, moving from pastoral areas, and the change of national policies, the change of ethnic minorities' eating habits is far more than that of the Han nationality. Ethnic minorities' youth can accept the traditional diet at home. After going out of his hometown, the traditional diet of ethnic minorities was lost. Minority guests share Kazak people eat a lot of dairy products and meat products. Dairy products include milk, milk tea, milk yogurt, yogurt pimples, butter, milk skin, horse milk, horse milk wine, etc. Dairy products are rich in vitamins and micronutrients. It can improve intestinal colonies, strengthen the stomach and spleen and prevent enteritis, diabetes, and so on. Meat products include beef, horse meat, mutton, etc. The cooking method is stewing or air drying (it can be eaten the next year). There are also some characteristic foods with cultural value. For example, wurezi porridge. There are seven kinds of raw materials, including flour, bone, and meat, rice, millet, milk pimple/yogurt, water, and salt. The porridge represents the longing for a better life. Uyghurs eat a lot of coarse grains, such as corn. Coarse grains contain more unsaturated fatty acids, which have therapeutic effects on the normal metabolism of fat and cholesterol, coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and reducing hyperlipidemia. At the same time, Uyghurs like to eat pilaf. Pilaf is a very nutritious food. Mutton oil, onion, carrot, and rice are multi-vitamin supplements, especially carrot, which is called "little ginseng". Characteristic foods include fennel, which has the effects of promoting Qi, relieving pain, strengthening the stomach, and dispersing cold (Chinese Medicine). It is mainly used for stomach cold pain, abdominal cold pain, dysmenorrhea, hypochondriac pain, colic pain, testicular hydrocele, schistosomiasis, etc. Turnip has the effects of appetizing Qi (Chinese Medicine), promoting dampness and detoxification. It is mainly used to treat food accumulatio Read less

Guest Speakers share: 1. Significance of traditional food of ethnic minorities for the transformation of China's food system 2. The importance of Indigenous nutrition and traditional food systems and their worldwide research and Application 3. Study on traditional food of ethnic minorities in Yunnan Province 4. Research status of nutrition and traditional food of ethnic minorities in China 5. Kazak traditional food and use 6. Uygur traditional food and use 7. Blang traditional food and use Panel discussion: 8. How to combine ethnic minority food with commerce to achieve sustainable economic de... Read morevelopment? 9. Problems and solutions in using traditional food? 10. How to collect, record and develop the traditional diet of ethnic minorities? Read less

No significant areas of divergence emerged during the Dialogue.

[Continued from previous box] Stakeholders’ representatives enriched the discussion with insights about the key role of sustainable finance, innovation and inclusive governance. Panellists emphasized how innovative and sustainable financing operations can promote FST by helping companies to become financially stronger while they expand the sustainability of their businesses, making them more energy efficient, and investing in circular economy. Key instruments include equity investments coupled with advice and support for sustainable growth, the provision of financing for capital expenditures... Read more as well as the integration of grant elements into loans with the aim to stimulate energy and water efficiency. Finally, technical assistance to businesses encourages the use of new technologies and processes that reduce their environmental impact. Development financial institutions should find the right mix between financial feasibility and sustainability, to help successful businesses go the extra mile and have a positive impact on the country and society where they operate, making investments more inclusive. The implementation of innovation projects and initiatives is key to promote cross-fertilization between science, policy and business about FST in the Mediterranean region. These projects and initiatives enable to scale-up and mainstream results, engaging public and private stakeholders, policy-makers, consumers and the society in general. The involvement of local and territorial stakeholders through the creation of working groups on SFS and the implementation of communication plans may enable to establish a common roadmap or a line of actions to achieve FST in the Mediterranean. More gender balance in entrepreneurship and innovation in the agri-food sector is needed, adopting gender-sensitive measures that consider the fragile situation of women, especially those living in rural areas, which has deteriorated after the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, empowering women in rural areas should be achieved by creating economic and social development opportunities. It is crucial also to work with women leaders in national institutions to raise awareness and knowledge of women on climate change, natural hazards and food security, which would enable them to be prepared to prevent and overcome these challenges. In terms of opportunities, civil society should enhance the interest of women in technology and provide access to affordable technological tools for fostering FST in rural areas. Networking is key to extend and disseminate scientific knowledge to the wider population, making the transformation more inclusive and sustainable. Finally, consumers in both cities and rural areas are the main drivers for achieving sustainable consumption patterns in the region and revitalizing the Mediterranean diet. The role of the Mediterranean diet as a lever for sustainable consumption and production was also emphasized in relation to issues of affordability of and access to healthy foods, making them more attractive, especially for youth and children. To prevent and reduce children’s obesity, governments and in particular cities, should focus on school canteens to improve food education, food habits and consumption patterns. Moreover, the Mediterranean should become the “vegetable garden” of Europe and a leader in enhancing the consumption of vegetable-based proteins. Sustainable management of land and water in the context of climate change is also a crucial point to achieve FST, for example through regenerative agriculture and by increasing efforts to build water smart-industries and societies in Mediterranean countries. Read less

Member State FSS Dialogues Convenors praised the efforts of the SFS-MED Platform in offering a unique opportunity to gather stakeholders with different but strongly converging mandates to foster sustainable and inclusive development for the Mediterranean region. It is important to continue the dialogue and build consensus on collaboration of stakeholders at national and regional level, and promote cooperation between countries for the implementation of joint projects. This is in line with the G20 Matera Declaration, which is a milestone in the global agenda for food security, nutrition and foo... Read mored systems. In this context, panellists referred to the potential role of the UN to establish guidelines for the implementation of national pathways. Similar to the SFS-MED Platform, countries are involved in several international fora, with the aim to maintain the focus on key interconnected concerns including water scarcity, climate change and food and nutrition security. National Convenors described their national dialogue process as the best expression of the network of actors jointly committed to build a robust food diplomacy, with the endorsement of high-level political entities (e.g. at presidential and prime minister levels). The engagement of private sector actors as drivers for the implementation of projects aligned with the strategies of blue, green and circular economy was strongly emphasized. Such extensive and participatory consultations resulted in the formulation of national pathways for FST, identifying actions and priorities. Key focus areas mentioned included the promotion of the Mediterranean diet and the agri-tourism sector as a fundamental tool to valorise the cultural dimension of food and food-related traditions, improve local economies and livelihoods through ecosystem-based solutions. Other themes common to several pathways are the balanced use of natural resources, environmental protection, digitalization of agro-food value chains, food quality and safety, the One Health approach and food loss and waste reduction. Attention is paid also to the development of communication plans to promote public-private partnerships and multi-sectorial and multi-stakeholder approaches. Multi-stakeholder inclusiveness and innovation in agro-food are also of paramount importance to foster FST in the Mediterranean region. Moreover, several countries are integrating and identifying synergies between their national pathways for FST and the monitoring framework of existing national plans and strategies, based on SDG targets (e.g. Egypt’s Haya Karimah (“Decent life”) programme, which aims at improving rural livelihoods in the whole country). The next steps at country level will include, for some countries, the establishment of a multi-stakeholder national coordination mechanism to lead the pathway’s implementation; while for other countries, it will focus on prioritizing actions in the pathway and discussing potential sources of finance through focus group meetings. To maintain a high-level of engagement in the implementation process, multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral coordination needs to be complemented by donors, financial institutions and the private sector in technical and financial terms. [Continues in next box] Read less

The main findings that emerged from the Dialogue are summarized as follows: i) The SFS-MED Platform offers a unique opportunity to bring together Mediterranean stakeholders to support implementation and monitoring of concrete actions and pathways for FST in this region, as well as to foster the establishment of a Community of Practice on SFS. The Platform will open a space of exchange across the Mediterranean in view of scaling up good practices and advancing concrete solutions to tackle the current challenges facing FST in the region. ii) The stocktaking exercise identified a set of shared pr... Read moreiorities that emerged as common to most countries in the region, considered as entry points regarding what to transform in the Mediterranean food systems. These are: green and circular economy; blue and circular economy; sustainable management of land and water in the context of climate change; the Mediterranean diet as a lever for sustainable consumption and production and healthy diets; cities and rural–urban food systems as drivers of change; equitable and inclusive development of rural livelihoods; resilience; and trade and food safety standards. iii) Adapted financing solutions are conducive to sustainable investments and growth around food systems. The sustainable finance of FST will enhance investments in green, circular and blue economy models able to provide eco-friendly, healthy and affordable food for the Mediterranean communities. iv) The private sector and innovation centers are called upon to disseminate new and affordable technologies, while making them more accessible through capacity building and awareness raising schemes. Innovation projects and initiatives can promote cross-fertilization between science, policy and business about FST in the Mediterranean region. Evidence-based solutions to achieve SFS should be up-scaled through the region, promoted by multi-stakeholder partnerships. v) The creation of networks between local, national and international stakeholders is conducive to inclusive governance and ownership of FST. Women empowerment and engagement in FST through increased access to knowledge, technology and leadership is necessary for creating economic and social development opportunities. vi) In order to leverage the strategic role of the Mediterranean diet for FST in the region, CIHEAM Bari is organizing the Third World Conference on the Revitalization of the Mediterranean Diet, to be convened in Bari (Italy), in September 2022. Read less

The major focus of the Dialogue is to build a way forward for stronger regional collaboration on food systems transformation (FST) in the Mediterranean region after the Summit, stimulating consensus around the relevance of multi-stakeholder partnerships to address common challenges and take advantage of shared opportunities. Hence, the exchange of views among the four Member State FSS Dialogues Convenors (Albania, Egypt, Italy and Turkey) and the four stakeholders’ representatives – Arab Women Organization (AWO), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Institute o... Read moref Innovation & Technology (EIT-Food), and BETA Technological Center of the University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia – pivoted around the following key points. 1) Do the findings of the stocktaking of Mediterranean Summit Dialogues reflect stakeholders’ priorities? 2) How to foster the development and implementation of national pathways? 3) How can regional collaboration support the UNFSS follow-up process in the Mediterranean? 4) Which actions/initiatives can be taken to best operationalize the UNFSS outcomes in the Mediterranean? The Dialogue outcomes highlight: • The urgency of implementation and monitoring of national pathways towards FST to be enhanced by multi-actors cooperation and inclusive SFS governance (also at local/sub-national level). • The importance of exchanges around the Mediterranean – between and within countries and across sectors – to transfer innovation and knowledge. The SFS-MED platform is considered a key initiative to foster effective collaboration on FST in the Mediterranean. • The need to create synergies between the UNFSS national pathways and ongoing strategies and action plans and existing monitoring frameworks being implemented at country level. • A call for the private sector to engage in transformative actions through more sustainable business operations, driving innovation and technological advancements, through effective partnerships with public sector, civil society and research/academia. • A call for international and national financial institutions to stimulate innovation through tailored financing and investments mechanisms that make sustainability more affordable. • The consideration of FST as an opportunity to empower the most vulnerable groups, enhancing entrepreneurship, creation of new job types, knowledge and technology transfer, and social inclusion. Read less

a) Strengths and vulnerabilities within food systems, Issue: Disunity in the food system could slow down processes from farm to fork. Solution: The Botswana Natural Products Association to help key players be accountable and review processes. More dialogues could bring people together to review the food system and make changes going forward. b) Stakeholders whose interests should be prioritized. Issue: Lack of government price restrictions results in high prices at the harvesting level; affecting manufacturers' pricing model and therefore, costs are pushed onto the customer. Solution:The hope ... Read moreis to take this up with the government and create policies and restrictions surrounding the matter. Manufacturers and harvesters can work together to improve the quality and price of the product ultimately Read less

Solutions posed were: - Advancing equitable livelihoods from farm to fork - To make all aspects of producing to consuming in the value chain more lucrative - The general consensus was that more attention needed to be paid to branding and packaging to attract all consumers. Maungo Craft products were an example of international standard packaging. - Gaining knowledge positions us internationally; Local Enterprise Authority offers businesses classes that can be marketed more for business development. Continuous education also offers affordable courses at the University of Botswana for business d... Read moreevelopment - Increased marketing to make indigenous foods more attractive Read less

Solutions posed were: - Educate Batswana and find a champion, a leader, and representative - Alignment of policies to promote synergy - Protect small producers by price regulations - Encourage international Franchisers to include indigenous foods in their menus - Focus on tech in agriculture to involve the youth

What actions in the next 3 years will have the greatest impact on the discussion topic? - Building resilience: we have 3 main aspects to look into when we talk about resilience. These are challenges, commitment & control. - Reinforcement of already existing storage. - Providing different storages for different types of food so that all types of food are catered for. - Technology: management of farms can now be made accessible and available using our day-to-day gadgets, for example, Barulaganyi App which is designed to help farmers track their livestock. How will it be possible to tell if t... Read morehese actions are being successful? - Developing strong policies: the ministry needs to enforce existing policies and develop new ones which are beneficial to the nation at large. - Engaging the youth in summits that talk about food security and safety. - Documentation of ideas and opinions of different stakeholders in dialogues. What are the divergences that are revealed and how to manage them? - Low/ lack of rainfall: the solution is to resort to underground water sources and the use of new and improved irrigation systems - Lack of income: the government should lessen funding criteria - Lack of knowledge: offer training to the youth and adults Contributions from our organizations: - Raising awareness about smart farming, climate-friendly crops, and livestock, sustainable farming methods. - Host more dialogues to get fresh ideas from the youth across the world. - Share information with relevant stakeholders, to assist with funding and marketing Read less

The constraints food producers such as smallholder farmers and small-scale enterprises face in the food value chain are: - lack of government support and intense independence on food production - lack of funding support - government bureaucracy across African continent - high input costs leading to low profits - struggles with exporting products across countries and internationally - lack of infrastructure - insufficient political support and youth involvement - lack of markets and water access - perception versus approach in which government perceives agriculture has the work of the farmer on... Read morely and does not get engaged in the actual physicality - governments have a top-down approach The opportunities that could solve their problems: - provision of subsidies to deal with water access to drill boreholes - make agriculture sector attractive to attract youth with appropriate marketing campaigns - effective and efficient land use for agriculture - subsidies for production and maintaining production e.g. covering weeding costs - building infrastructure such as roads - use of drones like managing and checking harvesting of honey from hives - integrating insects as compost - move towards partnerships - adopt a more bottom-up approach between authority and farmers - UN Red in Nigeria to detect disasters such as drought - governments have a top-down approach, so the solution is to give a more bottom-down approach - reduce taxes as they only lead to impoverished societies Contributions our organizations can make: - advocating for smart technology - sharing knowledge and empowering each other - extensive study of what is going on the ground to see what's going on (get real-time data to use for studies) - government looking at the environment to make it more conducive and safeguard resources Read less

Unifying and strengthening local value chains by: a) Creating synergies through dialogues and online expos to close gaps in the value chain between harvesters and manufacturers. b) Registering harvesters, manufacturers, and retailers in the Botswana Natural Products Association database for easy contact access among key players and encourage partnerships. c) Keeping companies that produce local foods accountable by the Botswana Natural Products Association maintaining contact and accountability with them and introducing shared projects. Increased research in the area of indigenous foods to har... Read moreness more of their power. a) ‘Wild Plants For a Sustainable Future’ by Kebadire K. Mogotsi, Tiziana Ulian, Cesar Flores, Rafael Lira, Avhatakali Mamatsharaga, Patrick Muthoka, Samodimo Ngwako, Desterio O. Nyamongo, William Omondi, Abdoul K. Sanogo, Sidi Sanogo, and Efisio Mattana is a research book on indigenous foods and their uses that addresses the UN sustainable development Goals to ‘end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all’. This is a book that can aid the research needed to explore more of our indigenous foods will create workshops with practical applications for capacity building and knowledge sharing. Sustainable harvesting policies a) These can be created by National Agriculture & Development Institute and Botswana Community Based Organizations Network and agreed upon endorsed by the government. b) Natural resource and technical committee of rural development council can influence policy and make research easier for sustainable harvesting, semi-processing, and supplying manufacturers with these semi-processed raw materials. Securing funding for activities a) The Botswana Natural Products Association in conjunction with community building bodies such as rural development council, NGO Council, ‘Ntlo ya Dikgosi’ (House of Chiefs) and Poverty Eradication to secure funding to set up semi-processing centers in each community to help communities process their yield of harvested indiginous foods to add value to them before selling to manufacturers. b) The Rural Development Council is currently working on indigenous food product prototypes to be commercialized. c) Technology transfer for building processing factories and practical workshops on the commercialization of indigenous products. d) Intentional farming of indigenous foods to curb over-gathering. e) Building consumer demand through marketing campaigns that celebrate alternative and indigenous food. Read less

a) Strengths and vulnerabilities within food systems Issue: Disunity in the food system could slow down processes from farm to fork Solution: The Botswana Natural Products Association will help key players be accountable and review processes. More dialogues could bring people together to review the food system and make changes going forward. b) Stakeholders whose interests should be prioritized. Issue: Lack of government price restrictions results in high prices at the harvesting level; affecting manufacturers' pricing model and therefore, costs are pushed onto the customer. Solution: The hope... Read more is to take this up with the government and create policies and restrictions surrounding the matter. Manufacturers and harvesters can work together to improve the quality and price of the product ultimately Read less

The focus was for an exploratory discussion on what place Indigenous and Alternative foods (as in edible insects like Ants, Termites, Crickets, and Mophane Worm) have in Botswana's food system. The objectives of the conversation were to explore ideas with the potential to make our food system more nutritious, dependable, and lucrative using these foods by bringing forward solutions that are: a) Smart (Involving more ‘tech’ to make processes from farm to fork more efficient to minimize production losses and to make affordable products) b) Climate Friendly (Climate-friendly practices from fa... Read morerm to fork) c) Sustainable (strong enough to meet the demands of National Food Security) The dialogue also explored ways in which the addition of technology in agriculture can help expedite the process and minimize losses. The main questions were: How will Botswana sustain nutritious and reliable food systems as the pressure to feed growing populations increases? Can we turn to use foods that occur naturally to augment our cultivated food systems and diversify our diets without undue pressure on the environment? In our dialogue, we explored this topic from each of the five Action Tracks for wider exploration while exposing links between key players to strengthen the food system. The following questions are what we focused on in each action track: 1. Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all - How can we make indigenous and alternative foods affordable and more accessible to all? - What are the nutritional benefits of including indigenous food and insects in our diets, especially across tribes [tswii, phane, flying ants]? 2. Shift to sustainable consumption patterns - How do we control the over-gathering and overconsumption of these foods? - What government laws, regulations and penalties are in place? 3. Boost nature positive production - What constraints do food producers such as smallholder farmers and small-scale enterprises face in the food value chain? - What opportunities can solve their problems (e.g. workshops that teach on drones detecting soil fertility or plant disease outbreak or pests) - Can we encourage environmental tax penalties to protect and regulate indigenous food harvesting and production as a way to collect tax and regulate natural resource abuse? 4. Advance equitable livelihoods The goal is to create productive employment and decent work for all people in the food value chain and enable entrepreneurship. Here we want to focus on improving the livelihoods of people in villages and smallholder farmers who usually farm and provide these raw materials. Most especially, we want to focus on youth inclusion. Youth need not view food production at any level in the value chain as a second rate job. - How can we show young people the huge opportunities in the industry? - How can we attract them? - Can we allow their new methods and technology into the existing system? - How can we increase the value of indigenous foods through processing for export? - What international trade opportunities since the Africa Free Trade Area can we identify? 5. Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress - How do we protect our food sources so as to not deplete them; what regulations does the government enforce to this effect? - Are there safe food storage places to stockpile these foods during their off-seasons? Read less

As the RSPO-certified palm oil tends to cost higher, food operators can control their costs by purchasing palm oil in bulk (high volume), achieving the economies of scale. Alternatively, food operators can partner with local suppliers to introduce the sustainable products to the consumers. Government intervention such as the Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification, is a regulation in Malaysia. This makes it mandatory for the producers to ensure that they comply to the criteria of the MSPO, otherwise their license will be revoked. Although MSPO may not have the same set of criteria a... Read mores the RSPO, it is still a step for producers to achieve a sustainable production of palm oil. In the past, RSPO certification is something foreign to the producers. As the demand for sustainably-sourced products grew, this certification has now become a default for businesses in pitching for projects/contracts. Since the certification requires some operational tweaks for the palm oil producers, businesses can work hand-in-hand with producers towards achieving the RSPO certification. Read less

RSPO acts as a third-party certification body that links the businesses with the producers that are practices sustainable production. This is especially helpful as the demand for sustainable palm oil has been growing. With a credited certification body, businesses will be assured that the producers deliver the product as per specifications. Moreover, there is a growing number of businesses who are also working towards ‘deforestation-free’ supply chain, whereby they only purchase from palm oil producers who no longer practices deforestation. However, because RSPO is yet a mandatory requirem... Read moreent, it is difficult to prevent the non-RSPO producers from deforesting. As a consumer, we can make the change by supporting sustainably-sourced palm oil, so that producers would be obliged to join RSPO and to adhere to the rules, minimizing global deforestation. Moreover, government policy on land use can make a huge impact to the industry, especially on palm oil producers who are not a member of the RSPO. This allows the producers to carefully select the areas of plantation under a specific set of criteria, preventing the inferior areas from being deforested and being left unused. In addition, conserving plots of land to protect the endangered species. Read less

As the population continues to increase, the global production of palm oil has soared tremendously. These production facilities are often located in tropical countries and usually in areas with high level of poverty. Palm oil is more popular than other cooking oils because of its productivity in output. For instance, palm oil has a yield of 3 tonnes per hectare, as compared to soybean which yield 0.5 tonnes per hectare. If we were to substitute palm oil with other cooking oil, it will shift the same problem to other parts of the world. In the last 40 years, the number of animals living in the ... Read moreforest has decreased substantially, mainly due to deforestation. Even so, the demand of palm oil is expected to continue rising in the coming years. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, RSPO, has a set of principles and criteria which comprises of legal, economic, environmental, and social aspects that members must adhere to. This defines how the production of palm oil is to be done in a sustainable manner. However, the challenge often, is to incorporate conservation with development. As nations develop, there are bound to have a negative impact to the environment. The objective is to conserve the existing environment as nations progresses. Read less

Palm oil was first introduced into Malaysia in 1875 and in 2005, palm oil became the most consumed oils and fats globally. There are some special qualities in the palm oil which makes it difficult to be replaced. For instance, palm oil is used in cooking oil as it is non-GMO, stable in high temperature, nutritionally balanced and many more. The same oil is also present in palm-based oleochemicals, which is the main ingredients for cosmetics products. Till date, the plantation of palm oil imposes several issues, such as the labour involved, and the inefficient usage of fertilizer and herbicides... Read more. The focus of this independent dialogue seeks to understand the importance of palm oil, its impact to the environment, the current initiatives and possible partnerships, towards achieving a sustainable production of palm oil. Read less

Though these innovations are essential for community members and can provide short term solutions to the long term problems of food insecurity and malnutrition, dialogue participants still pointed out that root causes of hunger still need to be addressed in order to create interdisciplinary pathways to long term resilience, sustainability, health, and equitability. The Zero Hunger Pathways Project continues to develop a systems approach that also takes into account poverty, health outcomes, and other factors. However, many dialogue participants see value in local innovations and interventions,... Read more and promise in scaling these innovations to reach more people and increase effectiveness. The dialogue also included discussions of planning projects with the core values in mind and how to tackle such tradeoffs during project development and management. Some dialogue participants shared the thought that “you can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”, as ensuring all core values are met can create roadblocks and slow down progress. Read less