PAEPARD blog posts of May 2018

Please find hereunder the blog posts related to ARD activities in May 2018. 

Veuillez trouver ci-dessous les ressources du blog se relatant à la RAD pour le mois de mai 2018. Pour la traduction en français cliquez dans la colonne de droite du blog sur « automatic translation » et choisissez votre langue !

Por favor, encontre aqui os posts do blog relacionados à ARD atividades. Para a versão em Português, clique na coluna da direita do blog "tradução automática" e escolha o seu idioma!

1.       4th IAALD Africa Conference

30 May -1 June 2018. Pretoria, South Africa. The conference was hosted by the Information Training and Outreach Centre For Africa (ITOCA).

2.       Food Security Exchange 2018

28 May - 1 June 2018. The Hague. The Netherlands. This exchange brought Food and Nutrition Security policy staff and Agricultural Councillors from Dutch Embassies and UN Permanent Representations, and from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague together to facilitate knowledge exchange, learning and co-creation.

3.       Belfast Summit on Global Food Integrity – ASSET2018.

29-31 May 2018. Belfast. The Summit featured a number of high level strategic presentations on key issues by internationally recognised leaders.

4.       FoodNexus Visioning Summit

29-30 May 2018. Paris. This event targeted five aspects of our common challenges to solve, and for which new initiatives across the European food system must be taken.

5.       EU Food and Farming Forum + video

29-30 May 2018. Brussels. Since 2016, The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) has been undertaking a collaborative process of research and reflection to identify what tools would be required to deliver sustainable food systems in Europe.

6.       Renforcement des capacités aux fins de la recherche agricole new resource ** PAEPARD publication

29 May 2018. Renforcement des capacités aux fins de la recherche agricole pour le développement. PAEPARD Policy brief nr.7. May 2018. 5 pages.

7.       Unlocking the health potential of local biodiversity

28 May 2018. Busia has become the first of Kenya’s 47 counties to endorse a Biodiversity Conservation Policy.

8.       Call of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food

Deadline for letters of intent: 08 June 2018

9.       Webinar series: Scaling up of Adaptation in the Ag...

25 May 2018. KORE – Knowledge Resilience – is a knowledge sharing platform to support building resilience to food insecurity and malnutrition in the face of shocks and stresses.

10.   Engaging Uganda’s value chain agribusiness players

24 May 2018. The Applied Research Fund project “Strengthening Agribusiness Ethics, Quality standards and ICT Usage in Uganda’s Value Chains (AGRI-QUEST)” has published a documentary which shows the progress of the project implementation.

11.   Task Force Rural Africa – strengthening our partnership in food and farming

24 May 2018. First meeting of the Task Force

12.   Feed the Future Innovation Lab on Food Safety (FSIL)

23 May 2018. Public Webinar for Q and A: June 5, 2018. Closing Date for Submission of Concept Notes: June 22, 2018

13.   FIT4FOOD2030 online survey

Deadline for submitting information: 30 June 2018.

14.   Investing in and collaborating with Africa

23 May 2018. Gent. Symposium 'Network event 2018.

15.   Increased consumption of nutritious fonio and Bambara groundnut

In March 2018, stakeholders identified along the fonio and Bambara groundnut value chains were invited to crop-specific meetings to share back results of the value chain studies and discuss ways forward to overcome challenges for production, marketing and consumption of these crops.

16.   Blockchain for Agriculture and Food new resource **+ video

Wageningen University and Research and TNO. 2017, 40 pages

17.   Guide on the status and opportunities for investment in climate smart agriculture new resources ***

16 May 2018. Nairobi. Detailed guides on the status of and opportunities for investment in climate-smart agriculture in fourteen African countries have been officially launched by scientists from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) at the African Climate-Smart Agriculture Summit.

18.   Managing aflatoxin in smallholder groundnut production in Southern Asia PAEPARD support

Elsevier Crop Protection Volume 112, October 2018, Pages 18–23

19.   Financing Rural Infrastructure to End Hunger

IISD welcomed any comments in your preferred format by Friday, May 25.

20.   Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Summit

15-16 May 2018. Nairobi, Kenya. The objective of the Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Summit "Partnerships, Innovations and Financing for Climate Smart Agriculture"

21.   Highlight InnovAfrica: food security through smallholder adaptability

The project InnovAfrica  (2017-2021) will test, integrate, and disseminate potential sustainable agriculture intensification systems

22.   MycoSafe-South LEAP-Agri project approved

The research proposal MycoSafe-South, the “European–African partnership for safe and efficient use of mycotoxin-mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa” has been approved by the selection committee of LEAP-Agri.

23.   Le Bénin signataire de l'agenda scientifique pour l’agriculture

11 May 2018. Cotonou, Benin. The Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa

24.   Strengthening Climate Change Adaptation Capacity in Africa + video

Rather than adopt a general description of trends, this research focuses on concrete case studies from six major cities across the central, western, and eastern regions of the African continent (Douala, Lagos City, Dar-es-Salaam, Accra, Addis Ababa and Mombasa).

25.   Selected proposals under the NORFACE and Belmont Fondation

12 projects were selected for funding. These projects will start their work in 2018.

26.   Global implications of the European Food System

Wageningen Economic Research, Report 56 pp

27.   Food safety metrics relevant to low and middle income countries

Technical Brief. Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy Food Safety Working Group. Whilst there are many promising approaches to managing food safety in LMICs, few have demonstrated sustainable impact at scale.

28.   Webinar on resilience measurement and analysis + video

9 May 2018. USAID Feed the Future Webinar.

29.   Promote financing for agriculture through diaspora investment

8-10 May 2018: The Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID) discussed ways to improve financial services used by migrants and diaspora communities, and to maximize the development impact of migrants’ remittances in the Asia-Pacific region

30.   Use of ICT for Agriculture and Environment

8-10 May 2018. Lusaka, Zambia. The 10th ICT4D Conference brought together public, private and civil society organizations from across the humanitarian and international development community.

31.   Insertion et de l’installation des jeunes dans le SECTEUR agro-sylvo-pastoral et halieutique + video

8 au 10 Mai 2018 à Dakar (Sénégal). L’objectif général de l’atelier régional est de contribuer à la transformation de l’agriculture Ouest africaine par l’identification de réponses paysannes pertinentes concernant le problème de l’emploi des jeunes ruraux

32.   Building an Evidence Base on Rural Youth Employment + video

8 May 2018. Webinar.

33.   Selection of project concept notes of the Peanut INNOVATION LAB

7-8 May 2018. US. The priorities for the first projects funded by the program.

34.   Webinar Recording: AGRIS for Agricultural Information Users + video

4 May 2018.

35.   Farmer-led documentation of local innovation in Kenya

In 2017, the Farmer-Led Innovators Association of Kenya (FALIA) worked together with the 20 promising innovations addressing a range of issues from biodiversity preservation and economic empowerment to gender equality and improved food security.

36.   UPCOMING EVENTS IN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH FOR DEVELOMENT

37.   GFAR Talks: The Value of ‘Forgotten Foods’

19 April 2018. Prof. Prabhu Pingali of Cornell University talks from the field about the urgent need for a transition from a focus on staple grains to agricultural systems that promote diversity, health and nutrition as well as profitability for smallholder farmers.

38.   Drivers of Food Choice (DFC) Competitive Grants Program

11 April 2018. The second round for proposals of the Drivers of Food Choice Competitive Grants Program announced 7 new grant recipients.

Total number of page views in the month of May 2018: 39,722

Most viewed pages on PAEPARD blog over the past month:

Entry	Page views
UPCOMING EVENTS IN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT (AR4D) - MAY - DECEMBER 2018	890
Global implications of the European Food System; A food systems approach	343
Promote financing for agriculture through diaspora investment	212

More:  forthcoming ARD conferences: at the bottom of the PAEPARD wiki and PAEPARD blog

4th IAALD Africa Conference

30 May -1 June 2018. Pretoria, South Africa. IAALD – AFRICA CONFERENCE. The conference was hosted by the Information Training and Outreach Centre For Africa (ITOCA).

The conference provided a platform for agricultural information and knowledge specialists in Africa to discuss and strategize their contributions to the global 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the African Union's Agenda 2063, focusing on the conference theme and sub-themes.

Download the Programme
#IAALD #IAALDConference

Knowledge Generation, Management and Sharing

• Documenting experiences, lessons learned & good practices and sharing agricultural knowledge;
• Agricultural innovations systems and advisory services targeting small-holder farmers and rural communities;
• National and institutional initiatives and frameworks for agricultural knowledge sharing;
• Capacity development for agricultural knowledge generation, management and sharing.

Women, Youth and Agriculture

• Engaging and empowering women and youth in agriculture and rural development;
• Rural transformation, agribusiness, entrepreneurship and women and youth;
• Capacity development for women and youth in agriculture.

Open Data and Open Science

GODAN session

• Open data standards and software platforms;
• Regional, national and institutional open data and open science initiatives and frameworks in agriculture;
• Regional and national multi-stakeholder processes/platforms/forums for open data and open science in agriculture;
• Entrepreneur opportunities in open data and open science;
• Capacity development for open data and open science in agriculture.

ICT and Agriculture

• ICT adoption and use by smallholder farmers (especially women and youth) and rural communities;
• ICT applications in agriculture and rural development including Apps, services, etc. targeting smallholder farmers and rural communities;
• Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (drones) in agriculture and rural development – applications and services, cases, challenges, policies, research, etc.;
• Social media in agriculture and rural development;
• Capacity development for ICT in agriculture and rural development, especially for women and youth.

Extracts of the presentations:

• Prospects of Livestock Identification and Tracking Using Mobile Devices for Smallholder Farmers in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa - Pelokazi Mhlaba, Ed more Chindenga & Shewu. F.G Yusuf. 
• The Circular Knowledge Management Model for Shoring knowledge on Traditional Vegetables for Addressing Food Security- Monica Chipugahelo 
• Rural Youth are Agriculture Information Brokers - Ronald Kondwani Udedi, Florent Okry and Jeff W. Bentley
• GODAN Action within the Open Science and Open Data track - Chipo Msengezi
  
• The use of social media in dissemination of agricultural information towards realization of the African Union Agenda 2063 Obinna Paul Nwakuo (see picture)

Belfast Summit on Global Food Integrity – ASSET2018

29-31 May 2018. Belfast. ASSET 2018 brought together representatives from international and governmental agencies, the academic and industrial research community, non-governmental organisations and the commercial and technical leaders in the food industry and its supply chain to discuss, debate and provide leadership on tackling a range of serious challenges that face the integrity of our global food supply system.

The Summit featured a number of high level strategic presentations on key issues by internationally recognised leaders. It also placed a firm emphasis on harnessing the collective knowledge and experience of the delegates to address these challenges through the formulation of policy recommendations to governments and a Summit communique.

Extracts of the programme (focusing on the speakers from the EC and Africa)

• Keynote: Dr John Bell, European Commission, Future proofing the food system

The growing complexities and risks to human health from foodborne illness and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

• Prof. Kennedy Chah Teaching and Research University of Nigeria. Chah Kennedy is a Professor of Veterinary Microbiology at the University of Nigeria and a Fellow of the College of Veterinary Surgeons, Nigeria. His research interests include isolation and characterization of pathogenic bacteria of veterinary and zoonotic importance (particularly salmonellae, Escherichia coli, staphylococci, enterococci and Klebsiellae), antimicrobial resistance in pathogenic and indicator bacteria (particularly extended-spectrum beta-lactam resistant enterobacteriaceae, methicillin resistant staphylococci, vancomycin resistant enterococci) and evaluation of natural products and metal complexes as possible sources of antimicrobial agents
• Mr. Sonigitu Asibong Ekpe, Assistant Director Scientific Ministry Of International
  
  Development And Cooperation, Nigeria. Mr. Ekpe has over twenty five years work experience in government, private sector and non-profit organizations. He is currently working with the Cross River State Ministry of International Development Cooperation as an Acting Deputy Director (Scientific), where he explores relevant sources/opportunities for development assistance that the state can find leverage. He also assists in providing overall coordination and oversight in the implementation and management of donor assisted programmes/projects. He is a 2018 Global Champion for Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN)

Nutritional challenges and implications for health

• Dr. Olaniyi Odusina Lecturer And Researcher Tai Solarin University Of Education, Nigeria
• Dr. Mehroosh Tak of SOAS/London. She is a research fellow and an applied economist working on food systems and nutrition in low and middle-income countries. Her doctoral research explores how public investments can be made more nutrition-sensitive via investments in infrastructure and the agriculture route. In her work, Mehroosh focuses on both quantitative and qualitative research
  
  methods for policy and programme evaluation. Her expertise lie in impact evaluation, nutrition finance, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture for sustainable food systems.

Techniques to quantify the risk - Lead by MultiCoop Project

• Dr Chibundu Ezekiel - Food Microbiologist/ Mycotoxicologist Babcock University. Dr. Chibundu N. Ezekiel holds BSc Microbiology (First Class Honours) from Babcock University (Nigeria), MSc Microbiology and PhD Mycology/Mycotoxicology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His research focuses on food safety, fungal diversity and taxonomy, and mycotoxins. He has contributed, through cutting-edge research, to the understanding of the recent prevalence of mycotoxins in food and feed in Africa and the underlying factors that contribute to increased mycotoxin occurrence in staple crops on the continent. As a mycologist, he led the development of technical solutions in the form of validating a low-cost microbiological medium for use in resource-scarce regions (e.g. Africa) - the medium facilitates rapid and easy identification and differentiation of aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus species commonly found in African soils and food crops.

Improving diet quality: drivers of food choice at an individual, environment and policy level

• Miss Barbara Bray Nuffield Farming Trust, Uganda. Barbara Bray is a registered UKVRN Associated Nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition. She is the Director of a food safety and nutrition consultancy, Alo Solutions Ltd, which provides food safety and nutritional labelling advice, development and training to clients who include Bakkavor, Selfridges and fresh produce growers. Barbara worked in the Ugandan agri-business sector for three years after graduation and then spent 14 years in the chilled foods sector in the UK and France, firstly in food procurement and then in the provision of technical advice and compliance information as Technical Manager with Bakkavor, an international food manufacturer. For Specific Nutritional Need’ was a study of vegetables consumption in countries including China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The project looks at national food policies and private initiatives to promote consumption of vegetables which benefit our health.

Related:

FoodIntegrity is a European five-year multi-faceted project, which will draw from a well of experience consisting of 60 partners in the EU, China and Iceland to tackle issues surround the authenticity of food.

• FoodIntegrity presents latest developments and strategies in the field of food integrity: safety, quality, authenticity and traceability!
• The project provides a focal point for the sharing and exploitation of European research aimed at protecting the integrity of food production in Europe.

Learn more on FoodIntegrity outcomes on strategies for detecting fraud and assuring the integrity of the food chain, such as analytical methods and results, end-user tools, developed standards, opinions and guides, transparency along the food chain.

• Session on FoodIntegrity Latest Research (Tuesday, 29th May 2018, 16:45 – 18:15, Hall 1A) | Programme Link
• Session on FoodIntegrity Tools and Solutions (Wednesday, 30th May 2018, 15:30 – 17:40, Hall 1A) | Programme Link

FINAL FOODINTEGRITY 2018 CONFERENCE!
14-15 November 2018, Nantes, France. More information please click here

FoodNexus Visioning Summit

29-30 May 2018. Paris. “What are the most urgent problems facing the food industry in the next 10 years, and how can we best meet these challenges?” This event targeted five aspects of our common challenges to solve, and for which new initiatives across the European food system must be taken.

1. Food security and sustainability
2. Food quality and safety
3. Food for health and wellbeing
4. The Digital agenda – Integration of novel technologies with social innovations
5. New business and innovation ecosystems

Extract of the programme: 

Keynote speeches 

• PATRICK CARON, Chair of the UN High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on Food Security and Nutrition abd International director of Montpellier University of Excellence: ‘Food system transformation: opportunity for partnership and dialogue and conditions to perform’ 
• ISABELLE ESSER, Executive Vice President, R& and D Foods Unilever: ‘The Foods system: the urgency of a different approach’ 



Keynote speeches wrap up and discussion 

@Unilever @Inra_France @umontpellier

• JEAN-FRANÇOIS SOUSSANA, Vice-President of INRA: ‘Food systems and climate change’

FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY CO-ORGANIZED with CLIMATE-KIC, the Sustainable Land Use and Agri-Food team 

• SASKIA NUIJTEN, Director of Communication at EIT Food: ‘Today’s food system fit for purpose?’ 
• WIM HAENTJENS, Policy Officer European Commission, DG R and I, Unit Agri-Food Chain: ‘A Bioeconomy Perspective on Food & Nutrition Security ’ 
• PAN PAN, Flagship Manager CSA Booster and Deputy Director, Sustainable Land Use, at Climate-KIC: ‘Presentation of the Sustainable Land Use theme’s agrifood domain including the Climate Smart Agriculture Booster programme, in the context of Climate-KIC’ 
• ALAIN VIDAL, World Business Council For Sustainable Development (WBCSD) /FReSH: ‘FReSH - science to business solutions dialogues for better health and environment’
  

FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY 

• ROBERT VAN GORCOM, Director at RIKILT: ‘The most urgent issues in food safety in the next 10 years’ 
• REBECA FERNANDEZ, Manager, FoodDrinkEurope: ‘Challenges and opportunities in food quality and safety’ 
• CATHERINE RENARD, Senior Scientist at INRA: ‘Integrating sustainability in food quality: which research challenges?’

EU Food & Farming Forum

29-30 May 2018. Brussels. Since 2016, The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) has been undertaking a collaborative process of research and reflection to identify what tools would be required to deliver sustainable food systems in Europe. The ‘Common Food Policy’ vision that emerges will offer a comprehensive and holistic plan for the EU as it considers reforming the Common Agricultural Policy and other policy frameworks.

The EU Food and Farming Forum was an event whereby key food system actors from across Europe came together to co-construct a set of policy proposals addressed to the EU for a comprehensive ‘Common Food Policy’. Taking place symbolically one year before the 2019 EU elections, the Forum yielded concrete proposals to be taken up by political parties, campaign groups and ultimately by the EU institutions.

Extract of the programme:

Building Integrated Food Policies at the National Level
Lessons learned from Canada's National Food Policy process, the UK's People's Food Policy and the Dutch Transition Coalition. What can we learn from efforts to create integrated food policies at the national level? How did these processes take place? What were their successes and setbacks? Why adopt an integrated food policy approach at the national level?

• Peter Andrée (Associate Professor & Associate Chair - Department of Political Science, Carleton University, Member of Food Secure Canada)
• Diana Bronson (Executive Director, Food Secure Canada)
• Joost De Jong (Dutch Transition Coalition)
• Deirdre 'Dee' Woods (Co-editor of UK People's Food Policy)

@robintransition @m2rfilms and 

Carlo Petrini founder of @SlowFoodHQ #EU3F

A Public Event was held the evening of May 29th, 2018

What are the necessary ingredients for a transition to sustainable food and farming systems in the EU?

• Rob Hopkins (Founder of the Transition Movement), 
• Carlo Petrini (Founder and Director of Slow Food), 
• Marie-Monique Robin (Award-winning documentary filmmaker) and 
• Sir Paul McCartney (by video address) for an evening of discussion and debate. 
• Moderator: Olivier De Schutter

Unlocking the health potential of local biodiversity

A traditional food fair in Busia County.
Credit: John Ndungu, 2015

28 May 2018. Busia has become the first of Kenya’s 47 counties to endorse a Biodiversity Conservation Policy. Emphasizing the economic and nutritional potential of underutilized crops, this policy represents the culmination of Bioversity International’s efforts bringing together farmers, public stakeholders, researchers, and government representatives to promote increased production and consumption of indigenous species.

Located in Western Kenya, Busia County is home to a range of indigenous crops typically found only in smallholder farms and household gardens. Although many of these plants are associated with local culture and traditional health practices, their cultivation is low compared to that of staple crops like maize.

However, nutrient-rich native species offer a promising solution to the region’s high rates of malnutrition (over 26%), stunting, anemia, and other dietary deficiencies. Since 2012, the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative has partnered with Kenyan universities and research institutes to conduct nutrient analyses of local crops; for example, the African nightshade (see picture), which contains 16 times more iron than kale.

In addition, locally-adapted crops can tolerate harsh environmental conditions (finger millet and Bambara groundnut are pest and drought-resistant), making them sustainable growing choices that build smallholder farmer resilience.

Background
The GEF 'Mainstreaming biodiversity for nutrition and health' initiative is led by Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey and coordinated by Bioversity International, with implementation support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and additional support from the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.

It was launched in April 2012 to address growing concerns over the rapid disappearance of agricultural biodiversity, particularly traditional crops and wild species with nutritional potential.

In Kenya, the initiative has been supported by The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and partnerships with local farmer group Sustainable Income and Generating Investment (SINGI) and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). For more details visit: www.b4fn.org

Renforcement des capacités aux fins de la recherche agricole pour le développement.

29 May 2018. Renforcement des capacités aux fins de la recherche agricole pour le développement.
PAEPARD Policy brief nr.7. May 2018. 5 pages.
See the English version (April 2018)

Une nouvelle policy brief @PAEPARD est disponible en français : Renforcement des capacités aux fins de la recherche agricole pour le développement. A lire ici.

Recommandations:

Pour une collaboration multi-acteurs qui produise de l’impact La création de partenariats multi-acteurs efficaces pour mener des activités de recherche agricole pour le développement (RAD) requiert une stratégie de renforcement des capacités cohérente et flexible qui soutient la co-création de connaissances, l’apprentissage et l’innovation. De cette façon, les partenariats peuvent avoir des retombées positives pour les bénéficiaires visés par les résultats des recherches, pour autant que les conditions suivantes soient respectées : 

• Qu’une stratégie de renforcement des capacités itérative et réactive soit élaborée pour soutenir les partenariats multi-acteurs de RAD. Il importe de reconnaître que les besoins des partenariats en renforcement des capacités évoluent à mesure que chaque partenariat se développe et rencontre de nouveaux problèmes. Le renforcement des capacités devrait donc être vu comme un processus continu, qui doit régulièrement faire l’objet d’examens et d’adaptations. 
• Que suffisamment de temps soit consacré à la consolidation des partenariats multi-acteurs et à la définition des différents rôles et capacités des partenaires impliqués. Il est nécessaire de réunir les parties prenantes dans le cadre d’ateliers animés dans le but de garantir la bonne compréhension de la notion de RAD, de stimuler les interactions entre les partenaires et d’attribuer des rôles clairement définis en fonction des capacités des différents partenaires. > Que chaque partenariat multiacteurs bénéficie d’un soutien pour élaborer un plan d’action à la fois stratégique et flexible afin de maximiser l’impact de la RAD. Les parties prenantes ont besoin d’aide pour réfléchir de manière stratégique aux différentes approches menant à l’innovation, de façon à ce que les capacités de chaque partenaire soient pleinement exploitées et à ce que le partenariat puisse s’adapter aux nouveaux obstacles qui se présentent. 
• Que les capacités des acteurs en matière de formulation de propositions soient renforcées pour aider les partenariats de RAD à obtenir des financements. Les ateliers, ou « ateliers d’écriture », visant à aider les partenariats multiacteurs à élaborer des propositions solides sont essentiels pour permettre aux consortiums d’être compétitifs et de tirer profit des possibilités de financement offertes. 
• Que des offres de financement supplémentaires pour les partenariats multi-acteurs de RAD soient créées. Il existe très peu de possibilités de financement pour les partenariats de RAD AfriqueEurope impliquant à la fois des organismes de recherche et des organismes « non chercheurs ». 
• Que les partenaires bénéficient de services de facilitation pour acquérir de nouvelles compétences et capacités dans les domaines qu’ils connaissent moins afin d’améliorer le fonctionnement du partenariat. Cela inclut des compétences d’analyse, de planification et de gestion de projet, ainsi que de collaboration. 
• Il est reconnu qu’une facilitation externe est nécessaire pour garantir l’efficacité des activités de réflexion et d’apprentissage lorsque les partenariats mettent en œuvre des projets de RAD. Il convient de mettre en place un mécanisme fonctionnel de financement des facilitateurs externes pour que les partenariats puissent bénéficier d’un soutien dans la documentation du processus de changement et le recensement des enseignements tirés. 
• Que les capacités des facilitateurs internes ou externes soient renforcées pour permettre à ceux-ci de répondre efficacement aux besoins des partenariats. Il importe également de veiller à ce que le rôle des facilitateurs soit clairement défini et compris par tous les partenaires. 
• Que les partenaires africains bénéficient de services de facilitation pour identifier des organisations européennes et les inciter à prendre part aux activités du partenariat. Une solution consiste à établir et entretenir une base de données sur les partenaires européens potentiels

Call of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food

The Global Alliance announced a Call for Ideas – 2050: Visions for Global Food Systems Transformation. It invites vast and diverse networks across borders and disciplines to help craft innovative, inspiring, bold, transformative visions for a healthy, equitable, renewable, resilient, and culturally diverse future of food shaped by people, communities, and their institutions.

Deadline for letters of intent: Friday 08 June 2018

The Global Alliance for the Future of Food is a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations working together and with others to transform global food systems now and for future generations.

THE OPPORTUNITY
Through this initiative the Global Alliance seeks to:

1. Foster collaboration among diverse “system actors” and collaborate with them by nurturing deep and trusting relationships as the basis for long-term, creative, and productive collaborations;
2. Contribute to the global discourse on the future of food by advancing transformational aspirations for systems change; and,
3. Employ 2050: Visions for Global Food Systems Transformation to stimulate local and global action on food systems reform within its member organizations, the broader world of philanthropy, and with partners and allies, so that we collectively accelerate food systems transformation across sectors, scales, and geographies.

PROJECT PARAMETERS

2050: Visions for Global Food Systems Transformation will be an open call, crowd-sourced from around the globe with the intention of soliciting a diverse array of innovative, inspiring, bold, transformative visions for a healthy, equitable, renewable, resilient, and culturally diverse future of food shaped by people, communities, and their institutions.

As a strategic alliance guided by both a) a set of principles, and b) a global systems transformation approach, we ask that submissions explicitly take into consideration how their vision responds to:

Global Alliance Principles as a comprehensive and interconnected whole:

• Renewability: Address the integrity of natural and social resources that are the foundation of a healthy planet and future generations in the face of changing global and local demands
• Resilience: Support regenerative, durable, and economically adaptive systems in the face of a changing planet
• Equity: Promote sustainable livelihoods and access to nutritious and just food systems for all
• Diversity: Value our rich and diverse agricultural, ecological, and cultural heritage
• Healthfulness: Advance the health and well-being of people, animals, the environment, and the societies that depend on all three
• Interconnectedness: Understand the implications of the interdependence of food, people, and the planet in a transition to more sustainable food systems

Global Systems Transformation (Blue Marble) Approach as a comprehensive and interconnected whole:

• Global Systems Thinking – Apply global systems thinking to any and all aspects of global systems change, including: target change globally; connect global and local perspectives, knowledge, and understandings; integrate and coordinate interventions across sectors, issues, problems, and traditional program areas
• Globalization Knowledge – Design and implement global initiatives with an understanding of globalization history, patterns, dynamics, issues, and realities, including: know and take into account historical attempts at global systems change and how they inform present and future interventions; know and take into consideration diverse perspectives on globalization history, patterns, dynamics, issues and realities; and design and implement global initiatives with attention to both formal and informal structures and relationships
• Transformational Change – Ensure that what is called transformational is transformational in degree, nature, scope, speed, and magnitude of change, including: base interventions on an evidence-based transformational theory of change; catalyze and connect multiple initiatives worldwide; and apply systems thinking and complexity theory to transformational change initiatives globally

Inclusion of ideas and evidence found in significant global reports, including but not limited to IAASTD, IPCC, The Lancet, and others, is not required, but is welcomed and should be referenced.

Guiding questions could include: What will truly sustainable, equitable, secure food systems look like in 2050 if our principles are realized? What will their outcomes be? What transformational changes will be needed to get us there? Who are the key stakeholders and what is their role in this transformation agenda?

For further details, you can find FAQs here.

Food Security Exchange 2018

28 May - 1 June 2018. The Hague. The Netherlands. The Food Security Exchange (FSE) was a four-day event.

This exchange brought Food and Nutrition Security policy staff and Agricultural Councillors from Dutch Embassies and UN Permanent Representations, and from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague together to facilitate knowledge exchange, learning and co-creation.

31 May 2018. Wageningen. The Netherlands. A public dialogue around the recently published IOB review of Dutch food security policy in the period 2012-2016.

• 25 food security specialists and Agricultural Councillors of Netherlands’ Embassies will be joining the programme as well.
• Please find the report here (in English) and here (in Dutch). A policy response by the Dutch minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation can be found here (in Dutch).

This multi-stakeholder dialogue will be a space to understand the success factors and challenges of policy implementation by the Netherlands through its bilateral, multilateral and civilateral programmes in low and middle income countries, in collaboration with an extensive range of
partners. Many of these partners will have the opportunity to discuss the review’s findings and their translation into practice. The results of these discussions are in particular expected to help shaping the future Dutch food security policy, in the context of the adapted policy for International Trade and Development Cooperation.

Parallel sessions 

Session 1 – Food and nutrition security (and inclusiveness) 

• Facilitator: Ferko Bodnár, IOB
• Peter Oosterveer, Wageningen UR/A4NH; Marijke de Graaf, ICCO; 
• Saskia Osendarp, NWGN; private sector representative (tbc). 

Session 2 – Inclusive agricultural transformation and rural transition 

• Facilitator: Hilke Jansen, Consultant/AgriProFocus. 
• Marleen Dekker, INCLUDE Platform; 
• Nout van der Vaart, Hivos; 
• academic or private sector representatives (tbc). 

Session 3 – Public-private partnerships 

• Facilitator: Jan Ubels, PPPLab. 
• Jetske Bouwma, PBL; 
• Sietze Vellema, PPPLab/Wageningen UR; 
• Peter Jens, Koppert; 
• Guus van Westen, University of Utrecht (tbc). 

Session 4 – Environmental sustainability of food systems (and inclusiveness) 

• Facilitator: Nicole Metz, Food & Business Knowledge Platform. 
• Martin van Ittersum, Wageningen UR; 
• private sector and civil society sector representatives (tbc).

Findings of the policy review

IOB review of Dutch food security policy in the period 2012-2016. May 2018, 221 pages

The IOB review analyses the food security policy’s effectiveness, discusses its efficiency and coherence and concludes with recommendations. It is based on an inventory of food security activities and available evaluations, complemented by the broader literature. It also integrates quantitative and qualitative findings from four country case studies (in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda).

• Dutch food security policy is relevant, given the global challenges of eliminating hunger and malnutrition, and to feed the world also in the long-term.
• Many agricultural projects, especially in research and extension, have contributed to higher production and income.
• Projects that worked on nutrition through social safety nets, food fortification, and nutritional awareness, were successful in reaching vulnerable groups.
• Projects that improved the enabling business environment, especially investments in rural roads, have contributed to agricultural development and food security.
• Dutch food security policy has contributed only to a limited extent to reduced malnutrition, because most agricultural projects did not have nutrition as their primary objective, nor were food insecure people their primary target group.
• Little is known about cost-effectiveness, about upscaling of pilots, and about the conditions under which public private partnerships contribute to development objectives.
• Dutch embassies in partner countries play an important role in assuring the relevance of the food security programme, and could play a larger role in enhancing synergy in the programme.

Agricultural research supported by the Netherlands is likely to pay off substantially. A good link between research and extension is crucial, however, and part of the success claimed by research should also be credited to farmer extension and the input value chain development needed for distributing new innovations. (page 9)

An IOB study in southwest Uganda showed that knowledge about healthy food was not always the main constraint to improving nutritional intake: people were aware of the importance of a healthy diet and diet diversity, but were often unaware whether children were stunted, and they had misconceptions about adult overweight. Other factors that affected household food choices include social and cultural habits. Reducing child stunting requires an approach that specifically addresses young child feeding practices. (page 20)

Projects working on the enabling business environment have facilitated agricultural development to different degrees.   Strengthening farmer organisations has had positive effects for the more commercially oriented organisations of slightly better-off farmers. Finally, multistakeholder policy dialogue has contributed to better policies and donor investment in the agricultural sector, and to private sector codes of practice and standards. (page 112)

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