MENA Agri-Food Innovation Days

23-24 February 2022. MENA Agri-Food Innovation Days was organized by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and held during the “Food for Future Summit” 

See the programme #12 p.

Knowledge sharing and awareness raising play an important role in fostering the necessary changes. To that, The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) AgriFood Innovation Days fostered engagement between the public and private sector, cities and municipalities, academia and civil society to discuss action, key vulnerabilities and challenges from a distinct MENA perspective with the common goal of transforming the region’s agrifood systems.

23/02 High-level Panel: Trade, Innovation, and Technologies for Food Security in the MENA

• See presentations of the first day

The main objective of this Panel was to recognize and promote the need for a use of trade, innovation and technology as enablers for transforming agrifood systems and achieving food security in the MENA region. The following specific outcome is expected from this Panel.

• H.E. Mariam AlMheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment – Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, The United Arab Emirates. 
• H.E Abbas AlHajj Hasan, Minister of Agriculture – Ministry of Agriculture, The Republic of Lebanon. 
• H.E Salem Abdullah Issa Al-Soqtari, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation and Fish Wealth – Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and Fish Wealth, The Republic of Yemen. 
• Ms. Anabel González, Deputy Director-General – World Trade Organization (WTO), Switzerland. 
• Mr. Ayman Amin Sejiny, CEO of Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector – Islamic Development Bank Group, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
• Mr. Máximo Torrero Cullen, Chief Economist – FAO
• Ms. Ismahane Elouafi, Chief Scientist – FAO
• Ms. Daria Zinovieva, Head of International Department – Agro Export, Russia. 
• Moderator: Dr. AbdulHakim Elwaer, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative – FAO.

24/02 The Committee on World Food Security – from Commitment to Action

• See presentations of the second day

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) formally adopted “Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition” on 10 February 2021 during its 47th plenary session. 

Resulting from a five-year inclusive multi-stakeholder consultation and negotiation process informed by the scientific evidence of the CFS High Level Panel of Experts, these Guidelines represent a concrete tool in the hands of governments, UN agencies, civil society, private sector, financial institutions and other development actors to provide guidance on policies and interventions to address malnutrition in all its forms through a holistic ‘food systems’ perspective.

The event raised awareness about the CFS Voluntary Guidelines, its substantive content and priority areas, and actions to advance sustainable food systems that deliver healthy diets. The event also showcased UAE leadership on sustainable food systems, both at home and in the broader region, including how efforts to implement the CFS Voluntary Guidelines can help countries achieve their national food security plans and achieve the relevant Sustainable Development Goals – especially SDG-2 on hunger and nutrition.

Segment 1: Welcoming and framing remarks

• Moderator: H.E. Gabriel Ferrero y de Loma-Osorio, Chairperson – the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
• H.E. Mariam AlMheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment – Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, The United Arab Emirates. 

Segment 2: The CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition: a global tool to inform policy formulation, promote cross-sectoral coordination and support the work of national stakeholders towards sustainable food systems that deliver healthy diets

• 
  Ms. Jessica Fanzo, Bloomberg distinguished professor of Global Food Policy and Ethics – John Hopkins University, US. 
  Jessica presented among others the SDC funded project: People centered food systems: fostering human rights based approaches. Initial project activities will take place in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Honduras, and Uganda with the intention of scaling up the approach to other countries in later phases and producing global guidance on this issue.
  
  [The $3.8 million award supports the first phase of a ten-year project to strengthen the capacity of governments, peasants, and other people living in rural areas to adopt and incorporate human rights frameworks such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) into food policy and food systems action. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation will contribute half of the grant funding, with the remainder funded jointly by the consortium’s member organisations. The consortium includes Johns Hopkins University, CIAT on behalf of the Alliance of Bioversity International, The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), and Rikolto.]
  
  
• Mr. Máximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist – FAO

Segment 3: Panel discussion on national and regional actions, plans and commitments toward sustainable food systems that deliver healthy diets: the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition in action

• H.E Bwino Fred Kyakulaga, Minister of State for Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Uganda. 
• H.E Ambassador Pio Wennubst, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to United Nations Organizations in Rome, Italy. 
• Mr. AbdulHakim Elwaer, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative – FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa. 
• Ms. Anna Scavuzzo, Deputy Mayor of Milan. 
• 
  Dr Martien van Nieuwkoop, Global Director Agriculture and Food Global Practice, The World
  Bank. 
• Moderator: Mr. Christopher Hegadorn Secretary, Committee on World Food Security (CFS).

24/02 TECHNICAL SESSIONS 

Science, Innovation and Food: The Cutting Edge in Academic Research

A closer look at the latest research findings coming out of the region’s best academic and research institutions and how they can be better leveraged in the development of policies, programmes, technologies and products. 

• Ms. Ismahane Elouafi, Chief Scientist – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 
• Dr. Ismail Serageldin, ex vice-president of the World Bank and founder director Emeritus Library of Alexandria. 
• Dr. Rachid Serraj, Director of Strategy at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco.
• Dr. Luis Augusto Becerra, Chief Scientist, ICBA, UAE.
• Mr. Michael Baum, Deputy Director-General, ICARDA.
• Mr. Mark Tester, Professor of Plant Science, KAUST, Saudi Arabia. 
• Moderator: Mr. Jean-Marc Faurès, Regional Programme Leader, FAO.

Digital Agriculture: Policies and Pathways In partnership with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Disruptive AgriFood Solutions led by Businesses 

Representing public and private sector agri-business companies, the panelists will showcase their experience in applying disruptive solutions in improving their business models and share their views on the ways to make disruptive technologies sustainable and inclusive.

Big Data and Analytics for AgriFood System Transformation 

Trailblazing women in MENA AgriFood Systems 

• Dr. Tarifa AlZaabi, Acting Director-General, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), UAE.
• Ms. Ismahane Elouafi, Chief Scientist – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 
• Ms. Ghada Haider, GAIA, Lebanon. 
• Ms. Habiba Al Marashi, Emirates Environmental Group, UAE. 
• Moderator: Ms. Maryam Rezaie, Agro-Industry Officer, FAO.