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The areas of divergence that emerged during the dialogue could be easily identified from the section outcomes from each discussion topic.

The National Independent Dialogue on Food Systems Summit has given a powerful opportunity for the participants to bring together a variety of stakeholders, including voices that are hardly ever heard, and provide a significant opportunity to engage directly in proposing pathways towards sustainable food systems, exploring new ways of working together and encouraging collaborative action. In addition from it has also created a chance for the participants to share their issues/ideas and thoughts which are both critical for reducing the vulnerability and enhance the resilience of food systems fro... Подробнееm local to the national level in a country and the Summit’s success. COAST organized this event to bring out and implement actions that can change the ways in which food systems operate in Bangladesh. The major focus was to identify the priority issues from the solution clusters of the action tracks which are suited for our country and to share any additional recommendation for the betterment of overall food system. Скрыть

Major findings: • Establishment of a strong sustainable farmers’ platform in Bangladesh. • Allocation of subsidized inputs such as chemical fertilizers, irrigated water, tractor, high-producing & climate-adaptive varieties of seeds, pesticides, etc. • Strengthening Agricultural cooperatives. • It is seen that there is a gap between the agricultural officer and farmers’ community so in maximum time farmers are unable to get government facility from them. • Information gaps about healthy diets and sustainably produced food. • Mainstreaming the climate impact- invest needed fo... Подробнееr new agricultural seeds that would be stress tolerance. • The price of crops is fixed by the middle right holder and farmers have no power to fix it and farmers are hostage by this middle exploiting class who also make the artificial crisis in the market. • Seed bank establishment and controlled by the government and other responsible directly. • Raising crop production by vegetable garden at the homestead areas and the rooftop through conducting awareness campaigns using social media and small financial support. • Establishment of cold storage and production factory in those areas where production rate is high. It will be helpful to save perishable food items and to give more profit to the farmers. • Support to the farmers for ensuring direct market linkage to get the fair price of his/her produced food items. • Promote climate adaptive technologies and techniques for sustainable food production • Focus efforts on making value chains inclusive through the generation of decent employment and improving resilience through social protection. • Emphasis on Agricultural diversification and rural employment generation and enhanced agro-based economic activities. • More research or scientific evidence is needed to better illustrate challenges and probable solutions. Скрыть

TOPIC 3: Economic opportunity & empowerment Refugees have self-determination, but there is a significant imbalance of power. Refugees deserve the ability to send their kids to school, feed their kids, and be able to do things everyone should be able to do. But this often doesn't happen because of the restrictions that prevent access to employment, land and capital. Refugees are also unlikely to have access to supports that allow them to cope with market fluctuations. Refugees should have access to productive resources. No refugee wants to stay where they are a refugee. Refugee camps are no... Подробнееt meant to be permanent situations; they are there to help them survive. We should be able to provide for that environment so people can return to their countries. We need to engage young refugees productively in food systems as well as providing for the means of life in the time before they can return. Youth should have a role in primary food production, but youth can do more than that. They can do lots of jobs. They should have a living income. Food systems should be able to create many types of jobs. Solutions proposed during the dialogue include: Facilitate refugees’ access and asylum to banking services (eg bank loans) Open an insurance policy to refugee farmers Provide employment and business opportunities for refugee youths Engage governments to ensure refugees can access work permits so they can find job opportunities in their host countries. Make information accessible to youth about how they can access employment in food systems. Promote how farmers and markets can be open to take products to sell and distribute. Invest in human capital (e.g. training of workers on economic risk management and administration) Скрыть

TOPIC 4: Technology & Sustainability Technology is an excellent tool to share information of any kind. If it is done in the right way, we can help many people with the information they need to access better nutrition. Social networks have become our main means of communication: Instagram, FB, Twitter, etc. Climate change, changing weather conditions, poor soils are all risky to food systems and prevent people from cultivating. Investing in innovation to develop ways to cope with adverse weather conditions is important. Engaging and promoting sustainable and innovative food production and e... Подробнееfficient ways of distributing food across countries will help developing countries. Some of the solutions proposed in this area include: Invest in science, technology and innovation, for example: Machinery to enhance food production and preservation (e.g. microwave vacuum - dry up food and keep for longer in refugee setting) New food cultivation techniques (e.g. aquaponic/hydroponic - doesn’t need soil to cultivate) Greenhouses Drip irrigation to help food production in dry places. - keep food production in spite of arain scarcity. Fertilizers Share strategies that help refugees take advantage of what is available Duckweed - plant that grows in pond water - can be food for humans and animals - high in protein - can also purify water - help with water scarcity Creative ways of farming that uses minimal land: vertical farming, container farming (e.g. recycle plastic bottles, tires - create small gardens) One refugee share that she has a YouTube channel to share strategies to cook, gain livelihood and share among youth (e.g. how to make avocado oil from rotten avocados) Ensure that food is affordable because production is sufficient Design opportunities for youth to innovate - think and learn about creative ways to farm - move from thinking that farming is not cool - just for old people - make involvement fun. Скрыть

Summary: At the end of the dialogue, there was an emphasis on the interconnectedness of issues. Many refugees were forced to leave their homes due to conflict and violence or environmental disasters. There was a call to the international community to address grassroots causes of conflict. When people are displaced due to violence, there is an increased population in the host country, which causes an economic crisis, leads to more unemployment and lack of education, starting the cycle of violence yet again.

No areas of divergence raised.

Refugee engagement in food systems, addressing challenges as well as opportunities to the problem of food security Refugees’ views, perspectives and ideas on how the Summit activities and country efforts to transform food systems can be leveraged for greater food security, better nutrition and more viable livelihoods for refugees.

Reliance on humanitarian assurance is short-term. To be resilient in the long-term, refugee youth need: training and access to information about nutrition, a means of food production, employment opportunities, and voice in decision-making about their future. Investment in new technologies to help overcome environmental and economic barriers to production and sustainability is also important. Refugees have self-determination and are a great force who can produce more than food for their communities. Refugee youth experience many issues that are related to food systems in their context. Too ofte... Подробнееn, people who are living in poverty or areas of conflict end up in refugee situations. Refugees should not be living in subhuman conditions. They should have access to food, water; as basic minimums. Beyond that, it is a basic human right to have a home and a means of food production or a livelihood. We also recognize we are working against ecological challenges in a natural environment that requires more intentional management. Responding to the climate crisis provides an opportunity for young people to share what they are learning about environmental conservation. Скрыть

TOPIC 1: Food and nutritional issues faced by refugees All refugees access, consume and buy food. Many also produce food. All are motivated to improve livelihoods and contribute to the economies of the countries in which they live. Yet many barriers exist. In many instances, refugees lack formal education about nutrition, resulting in malnutrition and improper dietary intake. There are also significant limits to refugees having limited access to food distribution and suitable land to produce their own food. Some questions that were raised included: How will food be distributed among people? Wh... Подробнееo has power over food distribution? For example, some people get half a chicken a month if they are lucky. Why is this inequality happening in food distribution? Unsafe situations such as conflict and violence are also barriers to accessing proper food. Some of the solutions proposed during the dialogue included: Provide formal training to refugees on nutrition. Ensure refugees have a voice in the food distribution process. (see more below) Facilitate safe access to land that is suitable for food production. Educate and incentivize the community to create gardens -(e.g. small gardens/home gardens to plant tomatoes, cabbages - increase food access) Ensure access to resources to buy the necessary food AND access to professional information on nutrition to accompany people in using their resources for a diet that really nourishes them. Скрыть

TOPIC 2: Youth Inclusion & Voice Youth face the challenge of exclusion from decision-making platforms that influence food systems. How can we ensure an inclusive approach so displaced refugees are part of the food-security system? Solutions proposed during the dialogue included: Provide opportunities for people to voice their needs and challenges Include youth voice in platforms where decisions that affect engagement in food systems initiatives are made. Ensure those voices are translated into action (beyond tokenism). Build capacity through trainings on how to work on digital platforms, s... Подробнееhare their stories digitally Support young people to conduct exchange visits with different stakeholders for exposure and experiential learning and support peaceful coexistence with the host community. Скрыть

There were a couple of areas of divergence. The first was around the focus on developing sustainable, low cost technology to remove contaminants from the waste stream. It was suggested that we should stop focusing on adding new processes and more innovation to selectively capture an ever-increasing list of contaminants and instead, focus should be on upstream causes of this contamination. We should be asking why they are present in the waste stream in the first place and how we can rectify this (e.g. source reduction, not mixing waste streams in the first place, rather than paying to fix them ... Подробнееfurther down the line. e.g. producing new, less persistent pharmaceuticals). The second disagreement was over the suggestion of increasing the cost of synthetic fertiliser to make it less economical to overuse. Making fertiliser more expensive will encourage farmers to generate their own free Nitrogen (better crop rotations, cover cropping etc.) which will in itself have numerous benefits and be cheaper anyway for the same Nitrogen production. Counter points focused on instead making diagnostics cheaper to reduce indiscriminate and over-application. Lastly the presentation of the risks and benefits of the reuse of excreta needs to be presented in balance. There is already an overwhelming narrative about the health risks of reusing excreta for agriculture, and it’s the dominant argument used by those who oppose the idea. To encourage and improve the uptake of this very practice it needs to be framed in a more positive light rather than constantly discussing the health risks. There are known risks which need to be mitigated against, but industrial agriculture comes with its own health and environmental risks too. There was a feeling that the risks of excreta shouldn’t be blown out of proportion, and should be compared against the risk of continuing with “business as usual” and to degrade our soil resources and wider environment from industrial farming practices. It was suggested that we shouldn’t wait to be certain it is 100% safe before starting to think about implementing this in a safe and sustainable manner. Скрыть

Our drive to increase agricultural production, has been at the expense of long-term sustainability. Under a circular economy the production of agricultural commodities uses a minimal amount of external inputs and nutrient loops are closed to reduce discharges to the environment. By creating an economy in which waste is reused and pollution is mitigated, natural systems can recover. This approach supports the drive to produce food commodities in an environmentally sustainable manner, ensuring the needs of a growing population are met today without any long term negative impacts on food producti... Подробнееon in the future. The potential benefits for food security under a circular economy approach are therefore enormous. However, this can result in changes to greenhouse gases and nitrogen-related discharges, as well as inadvertently introducing into agricultural systems a suite of emerging contaminants, such as antimicrobial resistance determinants, pharmaceuticals, and plastics. As part of the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, this dialogue explored the concept of a circular economy, with a focus on Chinese agricultural systems. China has rapidly transformed their food production systems to meet a “Zero Increase Action Plan” for fertilizers and pesticides, and therefore provides an excellent case study to explore the concept of a circular economy in sustainable food systems further. China is predicted to reduce mineral N use between now and 2050 and organic fertilisers are assumed to help this transition. The aim was to: Share knowledge on the feasibility and risks of using organic fertiliser in agricultural production through adoption of a Circular Economy approach. Discussions in breakout groups focussed on the three key themes: 1. Current policy frameworks and future policy drivers  2. Technical adaptions in waste recovery and use of resources  3. Potential risks and mitigation measures   Скрыть

Several key themes emerged from the Dialogue discussions, in the context of understanding existing knowledge of participants, the possibility of translating knowledge from on-going sustainable agricultural systems in China to UK relevant scenarios and exploration of future opportunities to address identified knowledge gaps. Participants could see the benefit and value of adopting a circular economy in agricultural systems as it offered a means of ensuring that current and future food demands are met. This then lead to a discussion considering the risk-benefit of a circular economy. This reveal... Подробнееed we need more data to comprehensively understand the risks as well as the benefits but so far research demonstrates that these practices can introduce contaminants into our agricultural systems. This presents a risk to human and ecosystem health. Of particular concern were emerging contaminants. As their name suggests these contaminants are ‘emerging’ and our understanding is only in its infancy in terms of knowledge surrounding the associated fate and risks in agro-environments. We need to continue our work characterising these chemicals in the environment by developing analytical capabilities to ensure we can detect these chemicals at low, environmentally relevant concentrations. A key message was that we need to work with a transdisciplinary focus. This is a complex topic and understanding the risks and benefits of adopting a circular economy cannot be achieved by working solely on our areas of interest and in isolation. We need to adopt a nexus approach bringing together expertise in food, energy, sanitation, environment, human health, and policy. Collaborative thinking will require funding mechanisms to be put in place support future interdisciplinary research initiatives. A key theme emerged that we need to work with a solutions focus moving forward. We have a growing body of knowledge surrounding the risks of using sustainable agricultural systems and in particular the use of organic fertiliser but the benefits of adopting these practices are significant in terms of meeting global food demands. We therefore need to work on developing mitigation options to ensure that these practices are done in a safe and sustainable manner. Participants discussed mitigation options and put forward their own work investigating mitigation options such as additional wastewater treatment and use of biochar to adsorb some of the contaminants. This is an area where future work is needed and there is the potential to build collaborations through this Dialogue to explore this further. New policy developments are underway in the UK, largely driven by the new national strategy following the recent departure from the European Union. Focus areas are carbon reduction, driving down synthetic fertiliser use and pursuit of a circular economy. These mirror the efforts currently underway in China to ensure a zero increase in chemical fertiliser use. However, on a global scale, very little policy exists in terms of regulating the release of emerging contaminants in the environment even though sustainable agricultural practices, such as the application of organic fertilisers, provides a pathway by which these chemicals can enter the agro-environment. Environmental regulators therefore need to harness the latest scientific developments to establish research informed thresholds allowing for the safe use and application of organic fertilisers. This is going to require research outputs to be disseminated to regulators and presented in an accessible format. The Dialogue built on existing relationships and most importantly facilitated new connections with stakeholders and academics in the UK and China who have an interest in the use of sustainable agricultural practices to support future agricultural development. This will allow for combined expertise to address the crucial knowledge gaps identified in our discussions. Скрыть

Current Policy Framework and Future Policy Drivers There are current policies and frameworks in place concerning a circular economy in agricultural systems, in both the UK and China, although further development is needed given the complex nature of this system. Policies are driven by the need to reduce our reliance on chemical based fertilisers, recover nutrients and the need to become carbon neutral and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Existing policy is also in place to protect the environment from the presence of contaminants although this policy area is largely fragmented. In China fa... Подробнееrmers are given 100-500Y per tonne to use organic water-derived fertilizer though these aren’t always evenly distributed. There are also penalties in place for poultry/pork farmers who do not recycle waste and pollute water ways. The Chinese government also produces technical documents which advise farmers on how to use wastewater-derived fertilizers, i.e. how to apply and maximize benefit whilst minimizing risk. UK legalisations set environmental quality standards for contaminants and restrictions on the usages of animal manures given local climate and weather conditions. The UK plans to mitigate flooding partly though soil management policies such as reducing compaction. In the UK the drive to recover nutrients is part of the net zero by 2050 targets. In response to Brexit, new environmental and agricultural bills are in the pipeline which are in line with carbon reduction commitments and in pursuit of circular economy. UK policies include driving down synthetic fertiliser use and to making fertiliser use more efficient, e.g. full life-cycle analysis for nutrient additions. Whether existing legislations are followed is hard to judge or even control. We need to ensure guidance and regulations are clearly communicated and incentivised to ensure maximum support from farmers and land managers. In the UK water treatment companies and government are considering carbon credits to encourage better resource recovery and facilitate farmers to use organic fertilizers and increase soil carbon. Issues have been identified concerning heavy metals (Pb and Cd) and the build-up of these within soils over repeated application of fertilizer. Organic fertilisers can also introduce emerging contaminants into the environment however legislation permitting safe levels of these chemicals in the environment is largely missing. It is therefore important to consider the impacts on human and ecosystem health in development of new policies to account for this. When considering policy implementation in the context of supporting a circular economy, we need to consider nexus solutions. We need to link sectors together (waste and agricultural sector along with food, water, energy, human health and soil) to address relevant systemic issues and identify the primary drivers, concerns and points of intervention. Organic fertilizer is fundamental for improved soil health within agriculture, it also serves as a suitable waste removal technique and therefore has potential to be widely adopted in modern day agriculture over that of synthetic fertiliser. However more attention is needed in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to better control nutrient and contaminant concentrations. Ultimately, organic wastes need to be used in a safe and sustainable manner. In order to both improve global food demand and preserve/improve environmental quality we need to enforce environmental legislation. However we suggest a reduced focus on standardised guidelines, and instead increase awareness and train people to be local problem solvers. Previous experience has shown it is often the implementation of the policies which fail. We need positive incentives and support needs to be in place with a focus on education to reduce barriers to social change in practices which incorporate circularity principles which are nexus-smart. Current legislations and policies only assess the toxicology of single contaminants, more work is required to make this realistic by looking at mixtures of both inorganic and organic contaminants and the risk of antibiotic resistant genes to society. Скрыть

Technical Adaptations in waste recovery and use of resource? There is much potential to apply technical adaptation in waste recovery. Ultimately, we need to embrace new, more sustainable approaches to farming, rather than trying to alter a broken system. However, this will require a change of approach, focusing on the role of wastewater treatment in terms of making the waste products safe in terms of human and environmental health whilst maximising nutrient recovery to realise the benefits of this reuse. A balance needs to be met here. Current processes which are optimised for effluent waste s... Подробнееafety may include significant nutrient losses (e.g. denitrification). We need to investigate how the benefits of waste reuse can be met with only minimal risks. New technologies will need to be developed to complement existing waste infrastructure to ensure we can use these waste products as a resource. When considering waste reuse a significant barrier is the location and transportation of wastes suitable for fertilizer use. This may require significant infrastructure in place to support widespread use. Concerns were raised regarding the transportation and mixing of wastes as this may result in the loss of information regarding quality of the waste and contaminants present. An overarching governance is required in order to achieve this. It is important that research and industry work together in partnership with regulators to collaborate and address these issues. This needs to be supported by appropriate funding required for a sustainable future -is this funding coming from the consumer or cross sector funding primarily supported by waste and agriculture sectors? Скрыть

Potential risks and mitigation measures Both the UK and China have considerable expertise in understanding the risks associated with use of organic fertilisers in sustainable agricultural systems. There is a longstanding research programme in China on the risks associated with wastewater derived fertilizers, from field sites in Nanjing and Ningbo. Hazards include the introduction of inorganic contaminants (e.g. metals), organic chemicals, including emerging contaminants (e.g. pharmaceuticals and personal care products), as well the presence of pathogens (e.g. bacteria, viruses). Use of organic... Подробнее fertilisers can also introduce antimicrobial genes (ARGs) into the agricultural environment. ARGs can enter the food system via uptake into crops but can also damage soil structure by altering the soil microbial community and breaking the soil microaggregates held together by microbial activity. There is a need to both reduce the ARG load in fertilizer manufacturing, and to research how mitigation options can limit the risk of ARGs associated with wastewater derived fertilizers. We need to consider the legacy of existing contaminants and emerging contaminants as these both present a risk to ecosystem and human health e.g. heavy metals are often high in concentration and do not degrade whereas organic contaminants such as antibiotics are low in concentration but still remain bioactive and cause selection pressure on antibiotic resistance genes. Our research has shown that the build-up of Cd and Pb from waste products has resulted in impacts on soil health and the reduction in crop yield. It is important to consider these to achieve food goals as well as retain soil health. It is also critical to consider the effects of transformation products and not just the parent contaminants. Often these transformation products contain bioactive properties and still can influence soil health and organisms present within the environmental matrices. We also need to consider the influence of mixtures of contaminants. We know very little about how chemicals can interact, especially inorganic-organic chemical combinations. This is largely due to the difficulties in addressing mixture effects as well as detections of complex samples. We therefore need to advance our experimental and analytical capabilities to deal with this challenge. Mitigation measures exist which focus on reducing the concentration of contaminants in organic fertiliser through advanced treatment technologies such as anaerobic digestion, liquid-solid separation, and electrolysis. The extraction of struvite is the most advanced commercial operation globally. There is a need to address regional challenges when considering mitigation options as in some cases enhanced waste treatment is not an option when a country has limited sewage connectivity and sanitation options. In this case, bioremediation options may be more appropriate such as pollutant removal via wetlands or composting of faecal sludge from pit latrines. Research in China has evaluated the potential of biochar to become a suitable sustainable method in removing contaminants from environmental matrices. More research is needed to understand currently overlooked issues such as the potential for contaminants to desorb and release slowly into the environment, ecotoxicology (earthworms mortality rate with high biochar %) and the bioavailability of contaminants adsorbed to biochars. In order to overcome potential risks we need to integrate research and industry application and have integrated planning to move forwards. While we could focus on developing sustainable, low cost technology to remove contaminants from the waste stream; perhaps we should stop focusing on adding new processes and innovation to selectively capture an ever-increasing list of contaminants. Instead, focus should be on upstream causes of this contamination, ask why they are present in the waste stream and how we can rectify this. The focus should be placed on the risks of NOT making change (business as usual), rather than focusing solely on the risks of doing something ('least worst'). This allows a more balanced decision going forward. Скрыть

Ahead of the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit, Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted three independent Food System Dialogues to bring together voices from across and beyond the Canadian Food System. The third dialogue explored strategies to put agriculture at the heart of a green economic recovery plan. There were 5 discussion groups in this Dialogue, all of whom discussed one of these three topics: - Canadian agri-food exports being recognized internationally as being the most sustainable on the planet - The agri-food sector as an engine of green prosperity - Mor... Подробнееe Canadian youth are choosing agri-food as a career option and being trained in a way that meets the needs of this rapidly expanding industry Framing speakers: David McInnes, Canadian Agrifood Benchmarking Project Vimlendra Sharan, FAO Michelle Nutting, Nutrien Bill Gruel, Protein Industries Canada Скрыть

Clearly establish a national sustainability benchmarking process, linked to a robust data collection framework, that transparently shows how Canadian producers perform environmentally on a global stage. Preliminary data suggest that although progress is still needed, our producers are often among the most sustainable on the planet. Canada can embrace the idea that we are the world’s trusted producers of safe and sustainable food and put agriculture at the centre of a green economic recovery program. Recent announcements in the 2021 federal budget move us in this direction. A next step is to ... Подробнееcreate a national sustainability benchmarking program that would give Canada economic advantage in export markets, contribute to our ability to meet our Paris climate commitments and to the UNFSS Action Tracks 3 and 4. Major global trends linked with population growth, climate change, new consumer expectations and novel technologies suggest that the next 10 years may be incredibly disruptive for food systems everywhere. In Canada, we have much to celebrate: our producers are amongst the most environmentally conscious in the world, most Canadians enjoy safe, healthy, and affordable food year-round. Nevertheless, systemic problems of food insecurity and disruptions to the food system caused by the pandemic mean that we need to do better. Together, by putting environmental sustainability at the centre of the Canadian agri-food sector's identity we can ensure Canada has the tools it needs to continue having one of the greatest food systems in the world. This will not only help support domestic producers and consumers as well as allowing those parts of our food system that depend on exporting to international markets thrive and expand over the next generation. Скрыть

• Improve ag education, at a young age especially • Address land costs/ownership barriers • Record protocols and be more transparent about sustainability efforts and outcomes within agriculture; sharing best practice but recognising that different situations need different approaches. • Explicitly include aquaculture and water-based food production • Consider further digitization of agricultural information beyond productivity – including carbon sequestration • Benchmarking and showcasing sustainability practices and outcomes in regional and national agricultural and food systems