World Resources Institute: Creating a Sustainable Food Future

Creating a Sustainable Food Future
A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050
by Tim Searchinger, Richard Waite, Craig Hanson, Janet Ranganathan, Patrice Dumas and Emily Matthews - December 2018, 96 pages

The World Resources Institute (WRI) published a new report, Creating a Sustainable Food Future, that states the world must prepare to feed the planet’s growing population sustainably, reducing agricultural land and greenhouse gas emissions, and suggests that genetically modified organisms and gene editing may be useful tools in achieving this goal. According to a summary of the report by ISAAA, population is set to rise to 10 billion people worldwide by 2050, while food demand is projected to rise by 50 per cent.

The report offers several approaches to feeding the world sustainably, including reducing food loss and waste, changing diets to consume less beef and lamb, reducing population growth, increasing harvests on the same land area, stopping deforestation, restoring peatlands, improving aquaculture and better management of wild fisheries, and use of innovative technologies and farming methods to lower agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

To read WRI's recap of the report, visit "How to sustainably feed 10 billion people by 2050, in 21 charts", and to read the original report in full, visit WRI.

Drones for Agriculture: potentials and challenges on the African continent

11 December 2018. The e-Agriculture and The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA)'s Unmanned Aerial Systems Community (UAV4Ag) held this webinar "Drones for Agriculture: potentials and challenges on the African continent".

• There is a general consensus that smallholder farming needs to become more productive, sustainable and profitable. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) – or drone-based systems – services can help make this possible by bringing some of the tools of precision agriculture to producers, which include large and medium-scale holdings and associations of small-scale farmers growing the same crop in contiguous areas. 
• UAS can help increase the returns to farmers and create knowledge-intensive new employment opportunities in rural areas, offering educated youth an alternative to migrating to the cities.
• UAS services are increasingly adopted in developed countries. On the other hand, the deployment of the technology in Africa faces a number challenges which the speaker will present together with enabling environments which are progressively materializing.

Presentation delivered by Giacomo Rambaldi of CTA.

Social media contacts

• Unmanned Aerial Systems Community (UAV4Ag)
• Community: www.uav4ag.org
• Twitter: @uav4ag
• Facebook: @uav4ag 
• Speakers Social Media
• Twitter: @iapad
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giacomo-rambaldi/ 
• Blogger: http://participatorygis.blogspot.com

Strategic foresight in CGIAR : Agriculture & Food Systems to 2050

13 November 2018. Seattle, United States. University of Washington. Foresight @CGIAR One-day pre-SC-7 event on horizon scanning and foresight in CGIAR 

• DOWNLOAD WORKSHOP REPORT
• DOWNLOAD AGENDA
• DOWNLOAD BRIEF 'AGRICULTURE & FOOD SYSTEMS TO 2050'
• DOWNLOAD BOOK FLYER 'AGRICULTURE & FOOD SYSTEMS TO 2050'

The aim of this event was to inform the development of a process for strategic foresight in CGIAR drawing on the outcomes of the two foresight workshops—specifically, the reflections related to key drivers of change and trends that will influence the agri-food system.

Objectives

• Synthesize results of ISPC foresight exercise on drivers of change and future trends affecting the global agri-food systems, and their implications for CGIAR research agenda.
• Consider options for the development of future Independent Science and Development Council (ISDC) work on foresight and horizon scanning.

The book Agriculture and Food Systems to 2050 (World Scientific, published 20 November 2018, 678 pages) was launched during the event. 

• This book features a comprehensive foresight assessment, exploring the pressures — threats as well as opportunities — on the global agriculture & food systems between now and 2050.
• Pdfs of individual chapters are also available on the Publisher website
• The overarching aim of this book is to help readers understand the context, by analyzing global trends and anticipating change for better planning and constructing pathways from the present to the future by focusing on the right questions and problems. 
• The book contextualizes the role of international agricultural research in addressing the complex challenges posed by UN 2030 Agenda and beyond, and identifies the decisions that scientific leaders, donors and policy makers need to take today, and in the years ahead, to ensure that a global population rising to nine billion or more combined with rising incomes and changing diets can be fed sustainably and equitably, in the face of the growing climate threats.

Presentations

Session 1. Introduction - Synthesis of IPSC Foresight

• Synthesis of the ISPC foresight initiative (Prabhu Pingali, Cornell University/ISPC and Rachid Serraj (see picture), ISPC Secretariat)
• Towards a framework for CGIAR foresight (Keith Wiebe, IFPRI; Philip Thornton, CCAFS & Leslie Lipper, ISPC Secretariat ) 

Panel 1: International Ag Research 4 Development – The changing roles

• Background paper: Leigh Anderson (UW) - CGIAR and alternative providers of research
• Raj Paroda (India) – Role of Asian national programs
• Nighisty Ghezae (IFS/ ISPC) – Role of African national programs
• Pedro L.O. de Almeida Machado (EMBRAPA) – View from Brazil/LAM

Panel 2: A new green revolution without mineral fertilizer? New pathways towards sustainable intensification

• Eileen McLellan (EDF) – Nitrogen scenarios
• Tom Bruulsema (IPNI) – Phosphorus scenarios
• Dana Cornell (University of Technology Sydney) - Future Phosphorus Pathways
• Ken Cassman (University of Nebraska) – Resource-use efficiency and the yield gap
• Ruth DeFries (Columbia University) [remotely] – Natural resources and sustainable development 

Panel 3: Disruptive technologies & innovation; Leapfrogging for development – opportunities for CGIAR?

• Patrick van der Duin (STT) – Disruptive technology in agriculture
• Bruce Friedrich (Good Food Institute) – Futures of food systems
• Jonathan Wadsworth (World Bank) – Leapfrogging for development in S.S. Africa

Interactive session

• Cards for interactive session

The Role of Local Governance in Urban Food Security

11 December 2018. For 25 years, the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte has been an unsung hero in the fight against food insecurity. As Dr. M. Jahi Chappell put it, “The course to universal food security will never run smooth[ly], but steps forward have and can be made. Belo Horizonte has walked a bit farther down the path than most.”

This webinar explored a number of issues:

• What special role can municipal governments play in food security, compared to regional, national, and international governments?
• What enables government institutions to maintain their commitments to food security over the long-term?
• How can U.S. development policymakers best support local governance?

Panelists:

• Olivier de Schutter Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Secretary 
• Maíra Colares Secretary for Social Assistance, Food Security and Citizenship, Belo Horizonte 
• Chris Shepherd-Pratt Policy Team Lead, Bureau for Food Security, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition

The Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative shares a new open-access guide that collects lessons learned from four partner countries to help others harness agricultural biodiversity to transform the food system for development, food security and nutrition.

At the recent 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference COP14 in Sharm El-Sheikh (COP14 of the CBD), the BFN team hosted a side event in which it launched an open-access toolkit entitled “Biodiversity Mainstreaming for Healthy ; Sustainable Food Systems”. This guide compiles case studies from all four countries, key resources and methodologies to share the knowledge accumulated by the BFN Partners, promoting the conservation and sustainable use of local biodiversity.

It is free to view and download from the BFN website and CGIAR CGSpace Repository.

Throughout its six years of experience in Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey, the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative (BFN Project) has pioneered a partner-based methodology using indigenous food biodiversity as a lens to address malnutrition, farmer livelihood resilience, and sustainability. To date, the initiative has documented and shared knowledge on 195 nutrient-rich, locally-adapted species that range from African leafy vegetables to Amazonian fruits

The Intra-African Trade Fair 2018

11-17 December2018. Cairo. The Intra-African Trade Fair 2018 is providing a platform for sharing trade, investment and market information.

The Intra-African Trade Fair is the first of its kind in Africa, consisting of a 7-day trade show that provides a platform for sharing trade, investment and market information and enabling buyers and sellers, investors and countries to meet, discuss and conclude business deals. It provides an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase their goods and services, engage in Business to Business (B2B) exchanges and conclude business deals.

#Egypt's PrimeMinister at #IATF2018

Analysis by the African Export- Import Bank (Afreximbank) shows that one of the main reasons why intra-African trade is low at around 15% compared to Europe (59%), Asia (51%), and North America (37%) is because of lack of access to trade and market information. To address this challenge, Afreximbank decided to, among other initiatives, convene the Intra-African Trade Fair every two years to provide trade and market information and connect buyers and sellers from across the continent.

Objectives

• To bring together continental and global players to showcase and exhibit their goods and services, and to explore business and investment opportunities in Africa
• To serve as a marketplace where buyers and sellers of goods and services meet and explore business opportunities
• To provide a platform for B2B exchanges and development of business opportunities
• To share trade, investment and market information with stakeholders including investors, SMEs, the informal sector, Africans in Diaspora, and to identify solutions to address the challenges affecting intra-African trade
• For Afreximbank and other financial institutions, to share information about their trade finance and trade facilitation interventions that will support intra-African trade
• To discuss topical issues affecting intra-African trade and provide practical and effective solutions
• To deploy multi-country and multi-company pavilions that will serve as one-stop shop for intra-African trade and investment opportunities in Africa

Extracts of he programmed

11 December 2018. Life streamed. Aligning the interests of Governments and Industry on Trade and Investment in Africa

12 December 2018. Life streamed. The Experience of China’s industrial park development and its implications on the industrialisation development of Africa for export manufacturing

Hosted by China EximBank and Afreximbank

12 December 2018. Life streamed. Pulling Together Intra-African Trade Promotion Initiatives of African Multilateral Financial Institutions

13 December 2018. Life streamed. Strategies for promotion of the Steel Value Chain in Africa

13 December 2018. Life streamed. Strategies for promotion of the Agro-processing value chain in Africa.

15 December 2018. Life streamed. Market Access Support for Smallholders (farmers) and SMEs

15 December 2018. Life streamed. Enhancing Investment in the Agriculture Sector and Agriculture Trade

16 December 2018. Life streamed. African Diaspora – Mobilising Diaspora Resources to Support Intra-African Trade

16 December 2018. Life streamed. Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment

16 December 2018. Life streamed. Trade and Gender, Youth Participation in Intra-African Trade

UPCOMING EVENTS IN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT (AR4D) – DECEMBER 2018 & Beyond

2-14 December 2018. Katowice, Poland. UN climate change talks (COP24)

10-12 December 2018. Center of Congress Rennes, France.  DIVERSIFOOD Final Congress ‘Cultivating Diversity and Food Quality’

11 December 2018. Webinar. Drones for Agriculture: potentials and challenges on the African continent

11 December 2018. Webinar. The Role of Local Governance in Urban Food Security

11-17 December 2018. Cairo. The Intra-African Trade Fair 2018 is providing a platform for sharing trade, investment and market information.

12 December 2018. Webinar. The impact of Farmer Filed Schools

12 December 2018. Katowice, Poland. Agriculture Advantage 2.0 - Closing session: Stepping up food systems transformation under a changing climate - COP 24 side event.

12 December 2018. Vienna. Workshop on women, the food economy and networks in West Africa. organised by the Austrian Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, the Austrian Development Agency and the OECD ‘Sahel and West Africa Club’ Secretariat

13 December 2018. Webinar. This second AgriFoSe2030 policy briefs webinar focuses on how to profile your target audience, and then how to formulate and deliver compelling messages about your research.

13 December 2018. Webinar. Innovative financing opportunities for inclusive agri-business

13 December 2018. Webinar. The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development organises a webinar on aligning policies and programmes on agriculture and Aid for Trade.

13 December 2018. Life streamed.  Releasing the Underground Forest. This infopoint conference will provide a brief description of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, a low-cost agroecological approach used to combat poverty and hunger

13 December 2018. Life streamed. Strategies for promotion of the Agro-processing value chain in Africa. 11-17 December 2018. Cairo. The Intra-African Trade Fair 2018 is providing a platform for sharing trade, investment and market information.

14 December 2018. Webinar. Conservation Agriculture for Commercial Vegetable Home Gardens: Field Experiences on Yield, Labor, Pests, Diseases and Water Management.
18 December 2018. Life streamed. Brussels, Belgium. InfoPoint Lunchtime Conference: Coffee: Behind the success story" 

18 December 2018. Vienna, Austria. High-level Forum Africa-Europe: ‘’Taking Cooperation to the Digital Age’’ 

10-12 January 2019. International Conference on Aquatic Resource and Aquaculture for Sustainable Development, ICAR-AQUAS-2019.

17-19 January 2019. Berlin. 11th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA).  "Agriculture Goes Digital – Smart Solutions for Future Farming”.Realising trends, insights and predictions from large agricultural data sets, and using digital tools for advisory services have huge potential for smallholder farmers.

22-25 January 2019. Wageningen. CATALYSING ACTIONABLE KNOWLEDGE TO IMPLEMENT CLIMATE-SMART SOLUTIONS FOR NEXT-GENERATION ACP AGRICULTURE
12-13 February 2019. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. First FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference

20-21 March 2019. Washington, DC. Global Food Security Symposium 2019

25 - 30 March 2019. VI GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON FAMILY FARMING: A Decade to improve the life of family farmers
1-2 April 2019. Abu Dhabi. Agricultural Innovation for agriculture summit. Conference Theme: Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture.

23-24 April 2019. Geneva, Switzerland. The FAO/WHO/WTO International Forum on Food Safety and Trade. 

21-22 May 2019, Chicago The Future of Food

29 – 31 May 2019 Arusha, Tanzania. CfP Conference: Pesticide Politics in Africa. 

12-13 June 2019. Stockholm, Sweden. EAT Stockholm Food Forum 2019

18-20 June 2019. Nairobi. 1st  ALL AFRICA CONGRESS ON SYNTHETIC PESTICIDES, ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN AND ANIMAL HEALTH

18-20 June, 2019. Safari Park Hotel & Casino Nairobi, Kenya. 1st All Africa Congress On Synthetic Pesticides, Environment, Human And Animal Health.

9 - 12 July 2019. Accra, Ghana. Evidence to Action Conference 2019. Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana

29 September - 5 October 2019. Curitiba, Brazil. XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019. "Forest Research and Cooperation for Sustainable Development"

28-31 October, 2019. Cairo, Egypt. 8th Africa Agriculture Science Week and FARA General Assembly. This the biggest assembly of actors in Agricultural Research for Development organized every three (3) Years by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and Partners at the regional (ASARECA, CCARDESA, CORAF, NAASRO and AFAAS) and country levels (NARES). The 2019 edition is hosted by the Egyptian Agricultural Research Centre (ARC) and the North Africa Agricultural Sub-Regional Research Organization (NAASRO). You don'y want to miss this.

Announcement AflaZ

Africa’s Nutrition Action Plan

5 December 2018. The African Development Bank (AfDB) launched a Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Action Plan, which aims to expand the bank’s primary focus on infrastructure into the realm of nutrition. 

The Bank has adopted the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Action Plan to guide and coordinate the implementation of the nutrition dimension encapsulated in its strategy documents, particularly the Feed Africa Strategy (2016, 74 pages) and the Human Capital Strategy.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 53.7 million children are currently stunted, but the AfDB predicts that new investments could reduce that number by 24 million people. The bank will scale up nutrition-smart investments in education, agriculture, and health.

• Through its 2018-2025 action plan, AfDB has committed to scaling up the proportion of nutrition-smart investments in five sectors that account for more than 30 percent of government spending: education and skills; WASH; social protection; health; and agriculture. 
• One example is a $38.5 million project in The Gambia designed to improve the socioeconomic and environmental conditions of rural populations through rehabilitation of water resource management systems, to increase access to safe water by 17 percent.
• In partnership with Big Win Philanthropy and the Aliko Dangote Foundation, AfDB hopes its investments will reduce stunting by 40 percent in African children under age 5 by 2025.

Earlier this year, an African Leaders for Nutrition initiative was launched by AfDB and African Union. The network of high-level political leaders and other high-profile figures aims to spur investment in nutrition across the continent.

AfDB also plans to mainstream nutrition into the bank’s portfolio and pipeline, including in lending and country/regional strategies. It has committed to including nutrition-smart investments in half of its health and agriculture investments, 15 percent of its WASH lending, and 10 percent of social protection funding.

Another component of the action plan aims to increase the production and consumption of safe and nutritious foods.

ECHO International Agriculture Conference

13 - 15 November 2018. Fort Myers, Florida, US. This year marked the 25th Anniversary of the US based Christian faith organisation ECHO International Agriculture Conference.

The event brought together influential voices dedicated to eradicating hunger and improving lives. The ECHOcommunity is a membership community that provides access to nearly all of ECHO’s resources online, as well as communications tools to help development workers connect with each other.

Extracts of the program: the videos of the plenary sessions are available now for everyone.

15 underutilized crops for improving the lives of smallholder farm families
The presentation will explore proven options for different climatic zones and the basics of cultivating and utilizing these crops. Through embracing a model of diversity and year-round production, communities can move towards abundance and flourishing.

Investing in African women and thriving food markets through post-harvest innovation Compatible Technology International (CTI) is working to increase food supply and to empower women farmers and rural communities with postharvest tools and services that are greatly needed in the efforts to eradicate hunger.

Anthropology as a tool for facilitating agricultural development

Human perception of reality is mediated through assumptions, beliefs, and mental habits, most of which are products of our culture. Typically, this does not present a problem until we find ourselves trying to function in an unfamiliar environment. Thus, Northern facilitators trying to function in an unfamiliar environment in Southern contexts report that their greatest challenges are not technical, but cultural. This presentation introduces basic tools of social science, and encourages participants to apply these tools to improve the outcome of development facilitation in unfamiliar contexts.

Extract of Powerpoint presentations:

• Farmer resilience and innovation through community-based Fall Armyworm Control
• Seed2Save – an ‘old school’ approach to vegetable seed development
• Parasitic plants in African agriculture—A growing problem
• Grinding peanuts and millet processing equipment
• Getting the word out about agroforestry: A case study on knowledge transfer in western Kenya

Agriculture Advantage event series @ the COP24

2-14 December 2019. Katowice, Poland. COP24 is the informal name for the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

At COP23 in Bonn, the Agriculture Advantage event series was initiated by likeminded
organizations, which brought together over 400 diverse stakeholders to put forward a vision and action agenda for transforming agriculture under climate change. In its second year at COP24, the series will focus on implementing the action agenda and realizing the vision for transformation.

The event series will link multiple side events held during the 2 weeks of COP24 into a single theme, “Agriculture Advantage 2.0: Transforming food systems under a changing climate”, with the effect of a day-long conference, spread out over multiple days. The aim of the event series will be to step up actions to drive a transformation within global food systems that will help to achieve food security, adaptation to climate change, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector.

Objectives

• Showcase opportunities and emerging examples of transformative actions in food systems in response to climate change.
• Create a collective case for investment in transformative climate actions in agriculture.
• Chart a path for bringing expanded partnerships to scale up transformative climate actions in agriculture.
• Inform the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture under the UNFCCC.

Programme:

3 December 2019. Africa Day, a joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AFDB), African Union Commission UN Economic Commission for Africa and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), was organized, this year, around the theme, "The Africa Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Hub: Going further and faster with NDC implementation in support of Agenda 2063."

• Four Pan-African institutions along with the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of Gabon. The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC) co-organized the day.
• Africa Day 2018 focused on how to ensure that all development partners deepen their partnerships and commitments to deliver concrete actions and resources for African countries to deliver their NDC targets and enable the imlpementation of the Paris Agreement.
• Highlights of the event included a high-level statement by Gabon’s Minister of Foreign affairs, Regis Immongault, on behalf of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC).
  
  Josefa Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture represented the chair Person of the African Union commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
• A high level Ministerial panel and a Parliamentary dialogue provided a platform for detailed discussions on this year’s theme and Africa’s position at COP24. The last segment of the Africa Day was an expert panel discussion from various technical institutions on the theme of the day.

“Countries in Africa continue to suffer from the adverse impacts of climate change with the costs of climate change threatening the realization of the aspirations of Agenda 2063 the Africa we want. Climate change is also partially to blame for increased migration of African youths to Europe through the deadly Mediterranean Sea due to shrinking livelihood opportunities. There is a link between climate change and conflicts in Africa as demonstrated by the Boko Haram’ insurgency in Western and Central Africa partly as a result of the shrinking of Lake Chad.” Josefa Sacko Africa Union Commissioner Sacko 

“As Parliamentarians we carry the hopes, aspirations and concerns of the peoples of Africa. The Africa Day accords us an opportunty to emphasize the need for parties to adopt concrete actions towards effective and adequate implementation of the Paris Agreement, especially in the context of the African Climate Legislation Initiative (ACLI),” Kone Dognon, Chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament Committee for Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment.

“African countries require significant resources to meet their commitments to the Paris Agreement.. The Africa NDC Hub hosted at the African Development Bank, represents a concerted effort by development partner institutions to leverage each other’s comparative advantage in mobilizing resources necessary for Africa to embark on a low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathway.” Anthony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth, representing the President of the African Development Bank Group

4 December 2019.  Transforming food systems under a changing climate: From priorities to action
Related publications:

• Briefing: A 6-part action plan to transform food systems under climate change, available in 2 formats: Exposure story with animated graphics | downloadable Info Note
• Koronivia submission: Submission from the CGIAR System Organization, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture and the World Bank, in response to Decision 4/CP.23
• Journal article: Transformation in Practice: A Review of Empirical Cases of Transformational Adaptation in Agriculture Under Climate Change
• Global Commission on Adaptation report: Feeding the World in a Changing Climate: An Adaptation Roadmap for Agriculture

5 December 2019.  Policy advantage: Enablers for food systems transformation
Related publications: CCAFS briefing: A 6-part action plan to transform food systems under climate change, available in 2 formats: Exposure story with animated graphics | downloadable Info Note
5 December 2019. CSA investment advantage: Climate-smart agriculture - identifying the best bets

Related publication: 

• CIAT, CCAFS & World Bank report launched at the event: Bringing the concept of climate-smart agriculture to life

6 December 2019. Technology advantage: Next generation technologies to tackle climate challenges
in agriculture
Related publications:

• CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas journal article: Roots, tubers and bananas: planning and research for climate resilience

10 December 2019. Food systems finance advantage: Leveraging finance to create opportunities for scaled climate action

11 December 2019. Soils advantage: Transforming agriculture by recarbonizing the Earth’s soil

Related publications:

• 4p1000 and CCAFS commentary in journal Nature: Put more carbon in soils to meet Paris pledges
• CIAT-WLE journal article: Global sequestration potential of increased organic carbon in cropland soils
• Journal article: The potential of agricultural land management to contribute to lower global surface temperatures

12 December 2019. Stepping up food systems transformation under a changing climate

Related publications:

• Koronivia submission: Submission from the CGIAR System Organization, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture and the World Bank, in response to Decision 4/CP.23
• Journal article: Transformation in Practice: A Review of Empirical Cases of Transformational Adaptation in Agriculture Under Climate Change
• Global Commission on Adaptation report: Feeding the World in a Changing Climate: An Adaptation Roadmap for Agriculture

Related:

How can the EU scale up climate action: Climate Action Tracker report

Related:

17 - 29 November 2018. Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 

• Durign this conference Cornell’s Alliance for Science interviewed experts on the role of agricultural biotechnology in conserving biodiversity. Dr Margaret Karembu, director of ISAAA AfriCenter Kenya, noted that agricultural biotech can increase productivity per unit of land and reduce the release of chemicals harmful to pollinators. Biotechnologist Dr Manuela Campa of Stellenbosch University in South Africa reduces food waste, making land use more efficient. Both experts noted that biodiversity is the source of genes on which biotechnological innovation depends.
• It is therefore a surprise that Tanzania’s decided not only to ban all GM crop trials but also to order the Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI) – which has been conducting field trials of GE drought- and insect-resistant maize and whitefly- and virus-resistant cassava crops – to immediately destroy all evidence of its research thus far. Dismayed Tanzanian scientists say that this represents a setback of a decade’s worth of biotech advancement in the country.

Strengthening Rural-Urban Linkages in Africa to achieve food security

3 December 2018. This was the forth event in the series ‘Frontiers in Development Policy’ and it  analyzed the importance of the link between both the rural and urban dimension. In particular the focus was on recognizing the role of small towns and enhancing rural-urban linkages in making food systems more effective and inclusive.

You will find below the link to watch the video of the conference

https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/news-and-events/strengthening-rural-urban-linkages-africa-achieve-food-security_en

1. Firstly, the session explored the urban-rural dynamic in Africa and implication for food systems, presenting some cases of agro-food sector development in small-medium sized towns. 
2. Finally, it discussed concrete approaches that build, transform or strengthen urban-rural linkages to achieve food security for all.

• Introduction: Leonard Mizzi, Head of UNIT C – DG DEVCO
• Francesco Rampa, Head of Programme Sustainable Food Systems and Economic and Agricultural Transformation Programme at ECDPM
• Olivier De Schutter, Co-Chair, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food)
  
  
  
• Guido Santini, Technical Coordinator of the “Food for the Cities” Programme at FAO
  
  
  
• Discussant: Daniele Fattibene, Research Fellow at IAI
• Moderator: Giulia Maci, ETTG Coordinator

Developing the rice value chain in East and West Africa

30 November 2018. Brussels. DevCo Infopoint. Rice is becoming one of the most important food crops on the African continent. Steep population growth coupled with rapid urbanization and changing consumer behaviour are the main drivers behind the increasing demand for the cereal.

You will find below the link to watch the video of the conference
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/news-and-events/developing-rice-value-chain-east-and-west-africa_en

Despite increased rice production output over the years, the average yields across Africa still remain very low and meet just a fraction of what is actually demanded Challenges along the value chain are still high, but also the potential for significant growth, employment creation and poverty reduction in Africa.

• Introduction: Mr Regis Meritan, Head of Sector - Agricultural Growth DEVCO C1 - Rural Development, Food Security, Nutrition
• Dr. Ulrich Sabel – Koschella, Head of Unit, Agricultural Value Chains, GIZ A4SD
• Mr Jean – Bernard Lalanne, Head of Program, GIZ CARI (Competitive African Rice Initiative)
  
  
  
• Mr Michel Baudouin, Agro- economist
  

The CAADP Biennial Review Mechanism

28-30 November 2018. Bangkok, Thailand. The IFPRI-FAO Global Event: Accelerating the end of hunger.

30 November 2018. Side event ACCELERATING ENDING HUNGER THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF MALABO COMPLIANT NATIONAL AGRICULTURE INVESTMENT PLANS AND BIENNIAL REVIEW MECHANISM
Organized by: African Union Commission, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture

• Dr Simplice Nouala, Head of Division Agriculture and Food Security, African Union
  
  Commission
• Mr Ernest Ruzindaza (left picture), CAADP Team Leader, African Union Commission. Accelerating Ending Hunger through implementation of Malabo compliant National Agriculture Investment Plans and Biennial Review Mechanism
• Dr. Norman (right picture), Donor Coordination CAADP, Malawi
• Dr. S. B. Baye, CAADP focal Coordinator Nigeria
• Dr. Namukolo Covic ((middle picture)), IFPRI-A4NH
• Dr Suresh Babu, IFPRI

Accelerating Ending Hunger through implementation of Malabo compliant National Agriculture Investment Plans and Biennial Review Mechanism from Francois Stepman

Spotlight on Kennie-O Logistics: Cold storage solutions to reduce food wastage

28-30 November 2018. Bangkok, Thailand. The IFPRI-FAO Global Event: Accelerating the end of hunger.

Having won the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) agri-pitch competition at the first Nutrition Investors Forum in Nairobi, Kenya (16-18 October 2018), two Nigerian SME's represented Africa at the IFPRI-FAO meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Over 450 SMEs from across Africa applied for the SUN Pitch competition and through rigorous selection processes at various levels, 21 top businesses qualified as finalists, five of which were NutriPitch entrepreneurs from Nigeria, namely:

• Veggie Victory, Hakeem Jimo
• Soupah Kitchen, Ifeoluwa Olatayo
• Augustsecrets, Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo
• Prothrive, Oluyemisi Obe
• Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics, Ope Olanrewaju. 

Other countries represented at the final competition are Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. The award which included specialised technical assistance worth $15,000 to be provided at country level and in Switzerland and the Netherlands. 

Ope Olanrewaju of Kennie-O Logistics based in Kwara, provides Cold storage solutions to reduce food wastage, preserve the freshness and nutrient retention in Food.

• KCCL(Kennie-O cold chain logistics) is an indigenous company to provide dedicated cold chain solutions that meet the growing demand for reliable logistics services for the food industry particularly, in the fruits and vegetable sector. 
• Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics was established in 2014 to provide reliable cold chain solutions for Nigeria’s food industry, thereby reducing post-harvest losses.
• See: Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics from Nigeria Crowned Champion of Africa’s First Scaling Up Nutrition Pitch Competition

Another promising entrepreneur is a journalist and founder of August Secrets, Mrs Oluwatoyin

Onigbangbo, who produces baby food, using local recipes. 

• She won the Gender Lens Investing Award by the Graca Machel Trust. The award was given to deliver mentorship and technical assistance worth $10,500 to scale a promising business that has substantive impact on the empowerment of women and in nutrition in Africa. 
•  Her start-up is a growing food company with a focus on natural, home-grown innovative meals for babies.
• While working as a journalist with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mrs Onigbangbo started making her own range of baby meals from her kitchen in 2016 and has since expanded to selling in 15 cities, Ghana, the United Kingdom and the United States, reaching over 60,000 mothers from all over the world, who use the digital media. While having her son abroad, she bought all sorts of pre-made baby foods, but at six months the baby rejected them and as a mother she became frustrated and started looking for a solution.
• She had to start looking for locally-made weaning foods as an alternative and started trying
  
  homemade foods with the support of her mom and nutritionists close to her. Her experience made her to start the business. She recently launched her Baby and Toddler recipe book, selling to hundreds of mothers within and outside Nigeria. 
•  She was the first runner-up at the food art competition, organised by Samsung Nigeria in 2016. Her company, Augustsecrets, was listed among the 100 Most-Innovative Female-owned businesses in Nigeria by SME100. It also won the Bell-Africana Award for the Most Innovative Company in Nigeria in 2017.

G-STIC 2018 Global Sustainable Technology & Innovation Conference

28 - 30 November 2018. Brussels. G-STIC 2018: Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Conference

By adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (September 2015) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (December 2015), the international community has set clear goals to shift the world onto a sustainable development path.

To limit global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius and to achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, a transition is needed to more resilient economic and social development models. That in turn requires the active participation of all sectors of society to contribute to the world-wide implementation of new technologies, and new ways of producing and consuming.

• Under the lead of VITO (the prime research and technology organisation on cleantech and sustainable development in Belgium), a number of independent and not-for-profit technological research institutes are teaming up to organise a series of Global Sustainable Technology & Innovation Conferences (G-STIC). 
• Bringing together key stakeholders from Science, Technology and Innovation communities (including the private sector) the G-STIC Conference series helped catalyse change, strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. 
• G-STIC provided all stakeholders with a forum to review, discuss and identify internationally relevant technological innovations that can lead the world on a more sustainable development course.

Extract of the programme:
AGROECOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS

The sustainable food systems session at G-STIC last year recognized the need for a paradigm shift in agriculture towards diversified agroecological systems. Agroecology applies ecological principles to the design and management of agroecosystems, it basically works together with nature.

• Agroecology has proven consistently capable of sustainably increasing yields over time and for building salt fertility. 
• Evidence is particularly strong on the ability of Agroecology to build resilience, which is crucial in the face of climate change. 
• Agroecology can also ensure adequate nutrition through providing diverse diets. 

The focus was on technologies and innovations that adhere to agro-ecological principles. During this session we will discus the following questions:

• What are the barriers that are preventing the adoption of these technologies and how can they be overcome? 
• What policies incentivize change?
• How can we scale up and make agriculture more widely applied throughout the world? 

The session shared successful case studies and examples from different countries in the world. Agroecology also needs a change in the way we do research and development extension and dissemination of knowledge: we need to focus on bottom-up participatory approaches. Therefore, we will also be sharing examples from farmer-to-farmer, farmer-to-networks and farmer-to-scientists collaborations that have helped scale up and spread agroecology technologies and innovations.

• Introductory keynote - Emile Frison - Member, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES) 
• Upscaling Agroecology through participatory and collective innovation - MOHAMMAD HOSSEIN EMADI - Ambassador and Permanent Representative for Iran to UN Agriculture and FAO
• Respondent - MARIËLLE VINK-DE ROOS - Member / Farmer, European Coodination Via Campesina/NBS / Lofoten Gårsysteri
• Panel discussion How do we make the key findings of G-STIC 2017 more actionable and what is needed to enhance the use of agroecology technologies and innovations?

HOW TO BUILD URBAN FOOD SYSTEMS FOR BETTER DIETS, NUTRITION, AND HEALTH

28-30 November 2018. Bangkok, Thailand. The IFPRI-FAO Global Event: Accelerating the end of hunger.

30 November Side event HOW TO BUILD URBAN FOOD SYSTEMS FOR BETTER DIETS, NUTRITION, AND HEALTH IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES

Organized by: IFPRI

Diets of poor urban dwellers in low and middle-income countries are rapidly shifting from traditionally rich in coarse grains and pulses to highly concentrated in refined sugar, salt, saturated fats, animal-sourced foods, refined grains, and (ultra-)processed foods. These dietary changes, which are believed to unfold faster in urban than in rural areas, increase the risks of malnutrition in all its forms and diet-related non communicable diseases. Contributing factors include the rapid expansion of modern food retail systems, and the abundance of convenient, cheap, ultra-processed yet nutrient-poor foods. This side event will provide in-depth perspectives from research and industry on how to build food systems that provide healthy and affordable diets for the urban poor.

• Jef Leroy, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
• Corinna Hawkes, Professor of Food Policy, City University of London
• Matthew Kovac, Executive Director, Food Industry Asia

 4 pages document on the Urban Food Systems research program of IFPRI

Related:
3 December 2018. Brussels. Strengthening Rural-Urban Linkages in Africa to achieve food security.
The event will look at multiple and complex interconnections between rural and urban spaces, and how these affect poverty and food insecurity in Africa.

11 December 2018 3:30-5 pm EST. Washington. The Role of Local Governance in Urban Food Security

Please join the Global Food Security Project at the Center for Strategic on International Studies in-person or via livestream on : https://www.csis.org/events/when-city-does-feeding-role-local-governance-urban-food-security

Featured speakers include:

• Maíra Colares, Secretary of Food and Nutrition Security, City of Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Olivier de Schutter Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
• Chris Shepherd-Pratt Policy Team Lead, Bureau for Food Security, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Related FAO Publications:
Urban agriculture, poverty, and food security
Rural Income Generating Activities (RIGA) database
FAO Food for the Cities
FAO Growing Greener Cities

FAO 5 September 2018. How will we prepare our towns and cities for a sustainable future?

REDUCING STUNTING TROUGH MULTISECTORAL EFFORTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

28-30 November 2018. Bangkok, Thailand. The IFPRI-FAO Global Event: Accelerating the end of hunger.

29 November Side event LAUNCH OF THE REPORT “ALL HANDS ON DECK: REDUCING STUNTING TROUGH MULTISECTORAL EFFORTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA”
Organized by: The World Bank

The report “All Hands on Deck: Reducing Stunting through Multisectoral Efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa” lays the groundwork for more effective multisectoral action on reducing stunting by analyzing and generating empirical evidence useful for informing the joint targeting and, if necessary, the sequencing of sector-specific interventions in countries in SSA.

• Dr. Purnima Menon (Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI)
• Dr. Emmanuel Skoufias (Lead Economist, The World Bank)
• Elan Satriawan (Head of Policy Working Group TNP2K, Office of the Vice President, Republic of Indonesia)
• Harold Alderman (Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI, USA)

Main Report
Report Annex

Launch of the Global Nutrition Report 2018

28-30 November 2018. Bangkok, Thailand. The IFPRI-FAO Global Event: Accelerating the end of hunger.

29 November Launch of the Global Nutrition Report 2018

We need young people to be going out with the report
and spreading the messages and the data.”
@CorinnaHawkes speaking @IFPRI

The 2018 Global Nutrition Report shares insights into the current state of global nutrition, highlighting the unacceptably high burden of malnutrition in the world. It identifies areas where progress has been made in recent years but argues that it is too slow and too inconsistent. It puts forward five critical steps that are needed to speed up progress to end malnutrition in all its forms and argues that, if we act now, it is not too late to achieve this goal. In fact, we have an unprecedented opportunity to do so.

DOWNLOAD THE SUMMARY

• ENGLISHPDF 3.1MB
• FRENCHPDF 3.2MB
• SPANISHPDF 3.2MB
• JAPANESEPDF 3.4MB
• FULL REPORTPDF 29.3MB