Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Recordings European Development Days: food, agriculture and fisheries

15-16 June 2021. European Development Days 2021 The title of this edition is "The Green Deal for a Sustainable Future".

Biodiversity loss, climate change and environmental degradation are defining challenges of our generation and require more coordinated and incisive international efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the interlinkages between human health and an healthy planet. The post COVID recovery should be an opportunity to build back greener and more inclusive societies and economies.

In this respect, the European Development Days provided a decisive moment for analysis and reflection on the road to the CBD COP15 in Kunming in October and the Glasgow COP26 in November 2021.

The European Green Deal is EU’s roadmap for a green and inclusive transition to help improve people’s well-being and secure a healthy planet for generations to come. The Green Deal goes beyond EU borders and commits the EU to engage with its partners to support the global transition.

Panels on Rural transformation and food systems 

How can we promote agricultural practices and technologies that raise rural income? How can developing farmers harvest viable products while being sustainable in terms of climate, ecosystems and other natural resource use?

The role of the private and finance sectors in increasing smallholder agricultural productivity and eradicating hunger in Africa.

In this session by energypedia and GIZ, representatives from the private & finance sector shared their experiences and recommendations for the future.

Speakers 
  • Denis KAREMA CEO SokoFresh 
  • Carla MONTESI Director EC - DG International Partnerships 
  • Boniface MUTHUSI Chief Credit & Risk Officer Juhudi Kilimo 
  • Sebastian LESCH Head of Division Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (BMZ) 
  • Lucie PLUSCHKE WE4F East Africa Hub Manager GIZ- MODERATOR 
Resources:

Diverse, local, indigenous: Pathways for food security and conservation

This High-level panel discussed policies and good practices for conservation and the preservation of biodiversity while enhancing food security and nutritious and diverse diets in developing countries, based on local varieties and production. Special attention shall be given to inputs and the role of local communities and indigenous groups in this context. Panellists will discuss how the pressure on land, from food production and other factors, can be managed locally and supported by public policy and development cooperation.

Speakers:
  • Susan DABBOUS Freelance Journalist - MODERATOR 
  • Charles GOERENS Member of the Committee on Development, European Parliament
  • Marc TARABELLA Member of the Committee on Development, European Parliament 
  • Jocelyn G. BROWN HALL Deputy Representative for Africa FAO
  • Hindou OUMAROU IBRAHIM President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad 
  • Sherine OMONDI EDD Young Leader, Kenya 
  • Nachilala NKOMBO WWF Zambia 
Resources:
Extreme weather events and climate change at large are increasingly compromising humanity’s ability to feed itself, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Resilient food value chains can mitigate the food system’s roles as both a victim and driver of climate change. As such, it can offer food security and low-carbon development pathways out of poverty for millions of poor households. However, developing these complex systems calls for collaboration among the various stakeholders in the value chain, including farmers, agribusinesses, VET providers, governments, research institutions and CSOs. 

This multi-stakeholder session explored the challenges and solutions to the many parts of the puzzle that constitute climate-resilient development for rural communities in SSA.

Speakers:
  • Florence RANSON Moderator
  • Bhahart MSUKU Programme Coordinator, GIZ Malawi 
  • Nervous NSANSAULA Partnership Director and Head of Agriculture Development Aid People to People - Zambia 
Resources:
Food is at the crossroads of some of the most critical issues of our time. Scientists and experts are calling for changes in the food-water-energy nexus in order to meet the SDGs and the terms of the Paris agreement on climate. But often, progress in one area, such as sustainability, is done at the expense of progress in another area, such as affordability and access to nutritious food. Systemic approaches help navigate these trade-offs and provide fertile ground for win-win solutions. In the Global South, some of these solutions are already in the making. 

In this session, ya policymaker, a scientist, a farmer representative and a young entrepreneur talked about on how they strive to navigate these trade-offs.

Speakers
  • Hannelore BEERLANDT CEO AgriCord - MODERATOR 
  • Maryam ABEIDERRAHMANE Administrator Tiviski Dairy 
  • Abouba A. SAIDOU Advisor to the High Commissioner Nigeriens Nourishing Nigeriens 3N 
  • Christine KIRIA CHEGE Researcher International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Geographical Indications (GI) combine the market approach with the management and preservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage in a unique manner, particularly when developed together with local producers. The promotion of GI products benefit the local economy, while also preventing the disappearance of habitat and biodiversity resources, while often having a lesser environmental impact than industrial methods. This session presented two specific cases of GI closely linked with biodiversity preservation in Africa: Ziama Macenta coffee from Guinea and Madd from Casamance, a forest fruit from Senegal.

Speakers
  • Florence RANSON Moderator 
  • Maimouna SAMBOU President GIE Casa Ecologie & APPIGMAC, Senegal 
  • Mory HABA Centre de recherche agronomique pour la Guinée forestière, Guinee Conakry

Resources: 
Related: Researchers looking at the specific effects climate change has on Ethiopia have found that areas suitable for producing high quality specialty coffee are likely to shrink. This could have dramatic impacts for smallholder farmers living in a country whose coffee exports account for roughly a third of all agricultural exports. Production areas for high-quality specialty coffee likely to shrink

Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems

This session generated an exchange of knowledge on how to preserve Indigenous Peoples’ Food systems and recognize their contribution to the global debate on sustainable food systems and climate change.
  • Yon Fernández De Larrinoa Session Moderator, Chief FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit 
  • Anandi Soans Indigenous Youth Specialist FAO  
  • Anne Brunel Indigenous Peoples' Food Systems Specialist FAO 
  • Tania Martínez Postdoctoral researcher University of Greenwich 
  • Luisa Castaneda-Quintana Indigenous Peoples Rights Specialist FAO  
  • Sara Casallas Forest and Water expert FAO  
  • Edmond Dounias Research Director Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) 
  • Mikaela Gavas Session Moderator, Co-Director & Senior Policy Fellow Center for Global Development 
  • Inka Saara Arttijeff Secretary of International Affairs Sami Parliament Finland 
  • Phrang Roy The Indigenous Partnership Coordinator

Regreening Africa: restoring degraded lands for people and nature

This session brought together key stakeholders to discuss practical steps to implement land restoration with examples from the EU-funded project, Regreening Africa, operating in 8 countries in the Sahel and East Africa. As the UN declared 2021-2030 the ‘decade of ecosystem restoration’, practical examples of where restoration is happening is urgently needed.

The session discussed key approaches such selecting locally relevant options to suit agro-ecological niches, implementing farmer-centered approaches to encourage innovation to meet farmer needs; generating livelihood benefits; and innovative monitoring to track restoration over time.
It discussed policy barriers and how they can be overcome to scale restoration to millions of smallholder farmers and reach global targets.

Speakers:
  • Leigh WINOWIECKI - MODERATOR
  • Bernard CRABBÉ Head of sector EC - DG International Partnerships 
  • Mieke BOURNE Programme Manager World Agroforestry Centre ICRAF
  • Hamed TCHIBOZO Regreening Africa Project Coordinator for Niger
Resources:

Panels on Forestry and landscape management

Managing landscapes sustainably combines environmental, climate and livelihood/development considerations, and is therefore an effective way of sustainably managing natural resources. How can these three dimensions be balanced to ensure productivity, efficient use of resources, and ecosystem and people resilience?

Forests are too precious to lose: halting deforestation & enhancing biodiversity

This event offered a dynamic debate around the key challenges and opportunities to turn the tide on deforestation and transform food systems so countries can feed the ever-growing populations without losing precious forests. The speakers will reflect on working with triggers for such win-win solutions and share lessons learnt from scaling up on-the-ground actions and modernizing policies and regulations.

Speakers 
  • Maria-Helena SEMEDO Deputy Director-General FAO  
  • Richard WAMBUA EDD Young Leader, Kenya 
  • Rosalie MATONDO Minister of the Forest Economy, Republic of the Congo 
  • Marjeta JAGER Deputy Director-General EC - DG International Partnerships 
  • MODERATOR Mario BOCCUCCI Head UN-REDD Programme
Resources:

Panels on climate change: natural resources, food and mobility

Some suggest promoting indigenous and locally-adapted plants and animals as well as the selection and multiplication of varieties and autochthonous races adapted or resistant to adverse conditions. But are these so-called nature-based solutions the best way to address climate change and protect the planet?

How to achieve a Green Deal for Africa?

Climate change shows how important it is to rethink the global economy and how it should function. Degradation of land and water resources, closely tied to climate change, is a critical issue that can be mitigated by a more sustainable approach to economic growth. African countries will continue to be particularly affected by these issues, amongst other challenges, such as rising youth unemployment and inequality within general populations. How can a more sustainable and “green” organization of the economy offer long-term solutions to these challenges in Africa, and how should it be achieved? 

This panel explored the perspective and roles of different actors: European politicians and development cooperation agencies, as well as African youth, entrepreneurs, the private sector and academia.
  • Mikaela Gavas Session Moderator, Co-Director & Senior Policy Fellow Center for Global Development 
  • Tanja Gönner Chair of the Management Board GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) 
  • Koen Doens Director-General European Commission - Directorate-General for International Partnerships 
  • David Watson Mwabila EDD Young Leader Zambia 
  • Mamadou Moussa Diakhitéé Acting Head of Environmental Sustainability Division (ESD) African Union Development Agency

High Level Panel - ITC + UNEP

Panels on sustainable blue economy

How can developing countries overcome challenges like unsustainable extraction, destruction of marine and coastal habitats, climate change, rising sea levels and marine pollution? How can we bring our seas back to health so they can exist in harmony with humanity?

Harnessing the Blue Economy for Sustainable Economic Development of ACP States

Oceans cover 72% of the surface of our blue planet and constitute more than 95% of the biosphere. The world’s oceans, seas, and coastal areas are vital to the livelihoods and food security of billions of people around the world, and to the economic prosperity of many nations.

The blue economy resource base in the ACP Group is more than twice of its land mass; three times larger than their land mass for the Caribbean ACP States, and over 40 times larger than the Pacific region’s land mass. The ACP countries have a great potential to exploit the maritime resources and deep-sea minerals and pharmaceuticals, and alternative renewable energy resources for sustainable expansion and intensification of, inter alia, inshore and oceanic fish production, recreation, tourism, and transport sectors.

Speakers:
  • MODERATOR Cristelle PRATT Assistant Secretary General - Environment & Climate Action Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States 
  • Jacqueline EMMANUEL FLOOD Director of the Division of Economic Affairs and Regional Integration Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States 
  • Jean-Paul ADAM Director, Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources United Nations 
  • Salome TAUFA Resource Economist PIFS (Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat)
Resources:

Transparency and inclusive management for sustainable fisheries in Africa

Fisheries play a key role in many East and West African countries, providing livelihoods and food security. Yet these waters face unprecedented challenges: Decades of over-exploitation have pushed fish populations to the brink and illegal fishing is widespread, causing irreparable damage to the marine environment. Transparency and community co-management are both crucial tools in eradicating illegal fishing and setting fisheries on a sustainable path. Key transparency measures are low-cost and within reach of all nations, and inclusive management is the only way to ensure long-term sustainability.

Speakers
  • Jobst VON KIRCHMANN Ambassador Delegation of the European Union to Ivory Coast 
  • Suneha JAGANNATHAN EDD Young Leader, India 
  • Jojo SOLOMON President Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council 
  • Alice RUHWEZA Africa Regional Director WWF 
  • MODERATOR Steve TRENT Director Environmental Justice Foundation
Resources:

Panels on green finance

How can tax policies, public procurement, spending rules and financial regulations support green finance? What needs to change for capital flows to shift towards green economic activities all along the value chains? What could be the role of public funding? How can civil society and national oversight bodies call both public and private sectors to account on their claims for green or ethical financing?

Green Finance High Level Panel (HLP) African Climate Finance Hub



Closing ceremony

  • Sam Fleming Moderator Financial Times 
  • Jutta Urpilainen EU Commissioner for International Partnerships European Commission Ambassador 
  • Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu Lead Climate Change Specialist DRC
  • Idris Elba Actor and Member of the Board Conservation International 
  • Robert Nasi Director General Center for International Forestry Research 
  • Inna Modja Artist 
  • Suneha Jagannathan EDD Young Leader India 
  • Bart Vandewaetere Vice President Corporate Communications and Government Relations Nestlé Europe, Middle East and North Africa
  • Christian Schwarzer Founding member Global Youth Biodiversity Network
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