Organizer: FARA – EAFF (Forum for Agricultural research in Africa/Accra/Ghana) - (East Africa Farmers' Forum)
Description:
This session on stakeholder engagement organized by FARA and EAFF aims
at demonstrating the value-added of the AU-EU partnership in FNSSA by
focusing on lessons learnt from PAEPARD project. Specifically, the session
intends:
To share lessons learnt (successes and challenges) in building the multi-stakeholder partnership between African and European partners on FNSSA;
To showcase how PAEPARD has dealt with power relations between farmer organizations (FOs) and researchers to prioritize research in what was called Users' led process (ULP);
To mobilize African & European ARD stakeholders to support the implementation of AU-EU R&I partnership roadmap on FNSSA and the bi-continental platform.
Speakers:
Moderator: Monica Namumbya Kapiriri (Freelance Development Consultant). Monica was a key consultant to train Agricultural Innovation Facilitators (AIF) to set up multi stakeholder research consortia which involves the Farmers' organisations and Agri MSMEs (Micro & Small and Medium Enterprises)
Opening: Aggrey Agumya, Director of Research and Innovation, FARA
Closing: Philippe Petithuguenin (CIRAD) Introduction on the AU-EU Platform on FNSSA (IRC?)
Short presentation on PAEPARD: Jonas Mugabe, Lead Specialist Research, Policy & Investment. Also, Former PAEPARD Project Manager
Short video(5') on the improvement of the shelf life of soybean milk by the Association of women of Zogbodomey
Full video'(22'51") on the improvement of the shelf life of soybean milk by the Association of women of Zogbodomey
Recorded interview (4’30 minutes) with H.E. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission, Utrecht, the Netherlands 1 June 2018) (in French / en français)
Questions
asked during the interview:
·How can research be prioritized based on the needs of the
private sector?
·Could there be a conflict of interest?
·What type of European expertise would be needed for
ago-processing and packaging?
·What is the problem of food safety in Africa?
·How serious is the aflatoxin contamination?
Panel Discussion: New research needs of Farmers' organisations and Agri MSMEs (Micro & Small and Medium Enterprises)
Patrice Sewade: Coordinator of Sojagnon Benin (NGO) promoting soybeans in Benin. (in French / en français )
Dependence on calls will continue. Genuine FNSSA innovation requires consortia to translate value chain bottle necks in research questions well before a call is launched. (a) Funding is often not available for consortia inception workshops; (b) Donors don't like to invest in unpredictable "innovative" research; (c) Research institutions require, in addition, core funding to finance recurrent expenditure; finance that is almost by definition excluded from EU funding instruments. See: Mackie, J., Engel, P., Bizzotto Molina, P., Deneckere, M., Spierings, E., Tondel, F. (et al.). 2016. Evaluation of EU support to Research and Innovation for development in partner countries (2007-2013).
The
evaluation in 2016 examined the support the European Commission’s DG for
International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) provided to Research and
Innovation (R & I) in partner countries during the last EU budget period
(2007-2013).
2008: Creation of the PAEPARD Dgroup for the African research priority setting discussion for the 1st Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) which was held in Montpellier from 28 March to 1 April 2010.
2018. Integration of the PAEPARD Dgroups and blog in FARA
2020. Since COVID-19: weekly aggregation of (the high number of) FNSSA webinars
Members Dgroup: 11,660 Including, CGIAR subscribers, FAO, IFAD, international donors (AU, EC, AfDB....), bilateral donors (USAID and the majority of European Union donors, ...) Monthly views PAEPARD blog: on average 30,000 to 40,000 views per month
31/05. High-Level Opening Plenary. The FNSSA Partnership: A model for AU-EU Cooperation
Moderator: Shadrack Moephuli, Agricultural Research Council, South Africa
Philippe Petithuguenin, Coordinator of LEAP4FNSSA - Welcome & Opening Remarks
Luís Mira da Silva, ISA/CTROP University of Lisboa - Welcome & Opening Remarks
Mahama Ouedraogo, African Union Commission - The FNSSA Partnership
Anna Panagopoulou, European Commission - The FNSSA Partnership
Yemi Akinbamijo, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa - Why is a Bi-Regional Partnership Needed for FNSSA?
Shadrack Moephuli, Agricultural Research Council, South Africa- Highlights from the FNSSA Partnership: Overview of Projects implementing the FNSSA Partnership Study on the projects funded to support the FNSSA Partnership [.pdf | 2 MB]
Ioannis Dimitriou, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Hans-Jörg Lutzeyer, European Commission, Co-Chair of the FNSSA Working Group - A Partnership with Impact: Lessons from the FNSSA Partnership
Laila Lokosang, African Union Commission, Co-Chair of the FNSSA Working Group - A Partnership with Impact: Lessons from the FNSSA Partnership
Panel Discussion: What makes the FNSSA Partnership a model for AU-EU cooperation and attractive to stakeholders?
Stefanie Lemke, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria
Maja Clausen, Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Germany
Elizabeth Nsimadala, Pan Africa Farmers Organization / Eastern Africa Farmers Federation
Moses Lubinga, National Agriculture Marketing Council, South Africa
31/05 Opportunities for AU-EU Cooperation in Horizon Europe by European Commission
In 2021, the European Union launched Horizon Europe, the EU’s ninth Research and Innovation Framework Programme. With a budget of around €95 billion, Horizon Europe will offer significant opportunities for collaborative research between African and European partners, including in topics related to Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture. The first set of calls under Horizon Europe was launched in the end of May 2021 and included in those are a large number of topics relevant for bi-regional cooperation.
01/06 Clustering of FNSSA-related projects and outcomes based on harmonised researcher-user interests
by SLU – RUFORUM
01/06 Food production, processing and safety
by North West University
01/06 Fostering multi-stakeholder partnership engagement for impact on FNSSA: Lessons learnt from PAEPARD (2007-2018).
This session on stakeholder engagement organized by FARA and EAFF demonstrated the value-added of the AU-EU partnership in FNSSA by focusing on lessons learnt from PAEPARD project. Specifically, the session:
shared lessons learnt (successes and challenges) in building the multi-stakeholder partnership between African and European partners on FNSSA;
showcased how PAEPARD has dealt with power relations between farmer organizations (FOs) and researchers to prioritize research in what was called Users' led process (ULP);
mobilized African & European ARD stakeholders to support the implementation of AU-EU R&I partnership roadmap on FNSSA and the bi-continental platform.
01/06 The landscape of knowledge platforms on agri-food systems and climate change. An overview on existing and forthcoming experiences.
By FOSC project. In the plethora of online platforms, FOSC Knowledge Platform strongly aspires to act synergically with the already existing initiatives, avoiding duplication and redundancy. To face this challenge, the most significant and impacting missing needs should be recognized and solved at a very early stage. The gathered feedbacks will be strongly taken into consideration for the set-up and launch of the FOSC Knowledge Platform.
02/06 Keeping the FNSSA Partnership ‘Fit for Purpose’: lessons from studying & monitoring the Partnership.
By LEAP4FNSSA / UniPID, WUR, Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Under the aegis of the FNSSA Partnership, substantial and varied bi-regional research and innovation cooperation has taken place, with over 390 M€ mobilized to fund research and innovation projects. Learning from the implementation of this Partnership is critical for improving coordination and cooperation in the FNSSA Partnership as well as in other areas of AU-EU research and innovation cooperation.
02/06 Sustainable and future agriculture in the African Continent.
By Durban University of Technology
02/06 Frugal innovation: A new perspective on building an agribusiness.
By EVERGROW. This session brought together young men and women who shared their unique stories on how they have built their agribusinesses through leveraging un-related ecosystem stakeholders to help bring their products to market and their growth aspirations for their journey moving forward.
02/06 Engagement of central and eastern EU countries on Africa-EU Research and Innovation partnership in FNSSA.
By CZU
03/06 ICT for Agricultural Markets for Smallholder Farmers (ICT4A for Smallholder Farmers)
By ICT4A for Smallholder Farmers. This session presented current market constraints faced by smallholder farmers across the Eastern and Southern African region that can be solved through ICT4A. It will then focus on ongoing ICT innovations that enable rural smallholder farmers to access markets. The session will set a stage for the presentation and analysis of opportunities for these innovative solutions, their upscale and will explore further engagement of various sector players like the private sector and local smallholder communities in the market and value chain.
03/06 Partnerships and multistakeholder approaches for impact.
By ColeACP
03/06 Imperative for a Soil Information System to inform decision making for Sustainable intensification (Soils4Africa)
By Soils4Africa. The Soil Information System (SIS) will contain data that are underpinned by rigorously selected soil quality indicators and a sound uniform methodology. The data sets will be updateable and interoperable with other relevant databases. It will have a user-friendly presentation to respond to the soil data needs of the broad stakeholder group such as researchers, farmers, other land users, fertilizer manufacturers, extension and advisory service providers, policymakers, among others.
03/06 Leveraging the DeSIRA initiative for agri-food systems transformation: building on and with your experience and lessons learnt (WUR – DESIRA LIFT).
by WUR – DESIRA LIFT.
04/06 How research can better support innovation for the transformation of the agrifood systems in Africa?
By EC/INTPA. The EU supports the DeSIRA initiative (https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/desira) with the objective to contribute to climate-relevant, productive and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems in low and middle-incomes countries. DeSIRA initiative aims to put more science into development considering that the solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals are knowledge-intensive but context-specific. It puts special emphasis on multi-stakeholder approach and capacity strengthening to support innovation. The objective of the session was to discuss the different innovation models which are under debate to support innovation in food systems in Africa and how research can make a contribution. This reflection is useful for improving innovation policies building on efficient partnerships and for improving research and innovation interventions to contribute to impacts.
04/06 Diversity Management for Future R&I and Capacity Building Cooperation in FNSSA.
By LEAP4FNSSA, Working Group: Actors, Alliances, and Policies. The envisaged AU-EU Platform for R&I on FNSSA, should refer to the big diversity of actors in the field of FNSSA in its design and adaptable maintenance of operations.
How can we design, manage and govern cyclic collaboration processes in networks of actors, without reducing complexity?
Which elements are required for a future platform infrastructure to benefit from the diversity of actors in R&I programme cycles?
What services would such a platform offer?
04/06 Future orientations of the Partnership.
The high-level closing plenary will reflect on key messages emerging from the Stakeholder Engagement Week, focusing on what can be learned for future bi-regional collaboration in FNSSA and for the upcoming AU-EU Summit. The closing plenary will bring together representatives of different sectors to discuss a vision for how long-term, bi-regional research and innovation collaboration in FNSSA might look.
InnoFoodAfrica will explore climate-smart African crops in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. It will develop and demonstrate optimal solutions for cropping practices, processing and productisation of crops to foodstuffs and bio-packagings via new value chains to markets. It will enhance adoption of nutritionally balanced food consumption in urban Africa and create opportunities to launch the new foodstuffs to international markets.
Funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union, Soils4Africa will put in place by 2024 an Open-data Soil Information System (SIS). The SIS will enable farmers, agri-businesses, scientists, and policymakers in their efforts towards sustainable intensification of agriculture and boosting food security; by improving the quality and availability of African soil data.
SEACRIFOG: Supporting EU-African Cooperation on Research Infrastructures for Food Security and Greenhouse Gas Observations.
WAGRINNOVA - (Co-innovations across scales to enhance sustainable intensification,resilience, and food and nutritional security in water-managed agriculturalsystems in West Africa) envisions SI as the springboard that will transform irrigation and lowland communities into resilient,food-secure communities improving their wellbeing through economic growth.
Pest-Free-Fruit - Sustainable intensification of fruit production systems throughinnovative pest bio-control technologies
SafeFish: Development of bacteriophage cocktails as disease biocontrol agents for improved aquaculture productivity, food and nutrition safety in Ghana and Uganda
Our today’s food systems are not functioning well. They’re plague by numerous challenges; most being related to unequal access to healthy and nutritious food, ecosystems depletion and climate change. The majority of persons being affected by these challenges are mostly the poor and the marginalized communities. Objective of dialogue is to discuss, conceive and promote a right-based approach by identifying priorities for action that would strengthen the most vulnerable, safeguard the environment and ensure equitable Food Systems for the future.
31/05 10:00 - 12:00 PM. The FNSSA Partnership: A model for AU-EU Cooperation
31/05 14:00 - 15:30 PM . Opportunities for AU-EU Cooperation in Horizon Europe by European Commission
01/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM. Clustering of FNSSA-related projects and outcomes based on harmonised researcher-user interests by SLU – RUFORUM
01/06 11:00 AM - 13:00 PM .Food production, processing and safety by North West University
01/06 13:00-15:00 PM. Fostering multi-stakeholder partnership engagement for impact on FNSSA: Lessons learnt from PAEPARD (2007-2018). By FARA-EAFF
01/06 15:00-17:00 PM. The landscape of knowledge platforms on agri-food systems and climate change. An overview on existing and forthcoming experiences. By FOSC project
02/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM. Keeping the FNSSA Partnership ‘Fit for Purpose’: lessons from studying & monitoring the Partnership. By LEAP4FNSSA / UniPID, WUR, Association of Commonwealth Universities
02/06 11:00 AM - 13:00 PM. Sustainable and future agriculture in the African Continent. Durban University of Technology
02/06 13:00 - 15:00 PM. Frugal innovation: A new perspective on building an agribusiness. By EVERGROW
02/06 15:00 - 17:00 PM. Engagement of central and eastern EU countries on Africa-EU Research and Innovation partnership in FNSSA. By CZU
03/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM. ICT for Agricultural Markets for Smallholder Farmers (ICT4A for Smallholder Farmers) By ICT4A for Smallholder Farmers
03/06 11:00 AM - 13:00 PM. Partnerships and multistakeholder approaches for impact. By ColeACP
03/06 13:00 - 15:00 PM. Imperative for a Soil Information System to inform decision making for Sustainable intensification (Soils4Africa) By Soils4Africa
03/06 15:00 - 17:00 PM. Leveraging the DeSIRA initiative for agri-food systems transformation: building on and with your experience and lessons learnt (WUR – DESIRA LIFT). by WUR – DESIRA LIFT
04/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM. How research can better support innovation for the transformation of the agrifood systems in Africa? By European Commission
04/06 11:00 AM – 13:00 PM. Diversity Management for Future R&I and Capacity Building Cooperation in FNSSA. By LEAP4FNSSA, Working Group: Actors, Alliances, and Policies
04/06 13:00-15:00 PM. Future orientations of the Partnership.
1 June 2021. Launch of The African Animal Breeders’ Network (AABNet).The AABNet (The African Animal Breeding Network) is a newly established pan African initiative to focus on capacity development and knowledge transfer for animal breeding, and creating innovations to support livestock genetic improvement in Africa.Incl. H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture and Dr Jimmy Smith DG ILRI. For more information, please visit www. African Animal Breeding Network (animalbreeding-africa.org)
Stand 18: "Protecting Rain Forest in Democratic Republic of Congo (carbon sequestration) - The Shabunda Project" by GIERI Groupe d'Intervention pour l'Encadrement et la Réhabilitation Intégrale (Intervention Group for Supervision and Integral Rehabilitation).
Stand 59: "Regeneration of Nature through Income Generation for Local Communities in Malawi" by the Simpson foundation.
Table is a collaboration between the University of Oxford, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Wageningen University and Research, and it builds upon the work of the Food Climate Research Network. Incl Maryam Rahmanian, an international consultant on biodiversity and agroecology and member of the IPES Food Expert Panel, and Prof Sir Charles Godfray, director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford.
Listen to the first episode of the podcast Restoration of the African Drylands Series Trailer - in this first podcast, Sophie Mbugua has an engaging conversation with Lalisa Duguma, a scientist with the World Agroforestry.
The webinar will highlight the interlinked challenges of food security and accelerating climate change as well as showcase climate smart initiatives by awardees in the EC funded AgriFI portfolio. The webinar will entail discussions on the net effect of collaborations within government, SME's and other actors while exemplifying potential in different value chains.
04 June 2021 Committee on World Food Security (CFS) The Special Session of the 48th Plenary of CFS will take place virtually on Friday, 4 June 2021 to endorse the CFS Policy Recommendations on Agroecological and Other Innovative Approaches.
This dialogue is being convened by the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD Africa), CAADP Youth Network, and The African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) supported by Policy Link and SEI - Stockholm Environment Institute.
8 June 2021. FAO, WHO and the WFP are working with the Codex Alimentarius Secretariat and the Codex Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) to organize a 2-hour webinar for World Food Safety Day, entitled “Acting across national borders in the Region for ensuring safe food for a healthier tomorrow.”
The event is aimed particularly at food safety professionals and students, food scientists and technologists, risk managers, quality control and quality assurance managers and regulators.
Including: Prof David Miller: Mycotoxins: still with us after all these years
This e-dialogue/consultation shall discuss knowledge and experiences to mainstream the contributions of organic agriculture towards sustainable resilient community food systems that ultimately shall contribute to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This Global Dialogue will be convened by the UNFSS Secretariat and the United Nations Environment Programme to encourage discussions and foster a greater understanding and ownership of food systems issues amongst key decision-makers and stakeholders in the environment sector, and of environmental concerns amongst food and agriculture systems stakeholders. Watch on UN Web TV from 13:00 CEST.
The event will be part of the WHO Health talks in contribution to the Food Systems Summit Dialogues. Speakers from various UN agencies as well as ILRI, Washington University, UN Food Systems Summit Action Track 2 and the private sector will share their views and react to the main findings of the discussion paper.
The title of this edition is "The Green Deal for a Sustainable Future". The 14th edition of the European Development Days will be fully digital. The agenda of EDD 2021 is now online: https://eudevdays.eu/community/agenda
17 June 2021: 1400 – 1600 CEST/CAT. Presentation on the findings of the research/mapping exercise of existing African Agroecological Enterprises (AAEs) and their service providers in Africa. By The Agroecology Fund (AEF) and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). This project falls under Citizens and Agroecology Working Group (CAEWG). A two-hour call with the two leads on this programme, Jen Astone and Charles Mulozi.
17 June 2021 - Desertification and drought day - Launch of the Global Soil Salinity Map (GSSmap)
Session 10: Supporting Water-Energy-Food Nexus research and innovation in the EU-MPC region, within the framework of the Water Scarcity Initiative of the FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa.
17 June 2021. 10:00 - 12:30 EET. REGREENING THE DESERTS: A SOLUTION. Organised by ICARDA Including: Ms. Camilla Nordheim-Larsen, Representative of the Great Green Wall Project and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNCCD)
The ANH Academy Week is a series of annual events that bring together the community of researchers, practitioners and policymakers working at the intersection of agriculture, food systems, nutrition and health. The objective of the ANH Academy Week is to foster knowledge exchange, innovation and learning around interdisciplinary ANH research. This year’s conference, ANH2021, consists of:
Learning Labs: Monday 21 – Thursday 24 June 2021
Research Conference: Tuesday 29 June - Thursday 1 July 2021
The Preliminary Programme for ANH2021 is now available here under the "Programme"
The CIHEAM; the FAO; the UfMs; the UN One Planet Network Sustainable Food Systems Programme and the PRIMA Foundation, co-organised two Food Systems Summit Dialogues aiming at advancing a common understanding of the complex environment of Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean region (SFS MED).
21 June 2021. Rwanda Young Entrepreneurs Challenge Fund. Access Agriculture in partnership with Rwanda Organic Agriculture Movement (ROAM) and Youth Engagement in Agriculture Network (YEAN) Rwanda
23 June 2021. To mark the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, this event in the margins of twenty-fifth anniversary of UN Bonn will bring together UNCCD, Global Landscapes Forum, IFOAM and Fairtrade will discuss land restoration and land–nature–climate–agriculture–consumption nexus
THEME-1
Disruption in Agricultural Value Chain in the Pandemic and probable
measures to be taken to restore the Socio-economic status of people
associated with Agriculture.
THEME-2
Climate Change, Gender Bias and Role of Women in Sustainable
Farming : A step towards Global Food Security and Zero Hunger
THEME-3
Engaging Youth in Climate Smart Agriculture : Challenges and
opportunities towards Sustainable Agroecosystem and Aquatic
Ecosystem.
THEME-4
Sustainable Agriculture : Critical Knowledge gaps, Accessibility to
improved Technology and Future Research Priorities towards
achievement of SDG 2030
26 June 2021. SEED IS POWER campaign, a collaboration between AFSA’s Seed Working Group and A Growing Culture, is a Pan-African grassroots campaign to assert African seed sovereignty and resist the corporatization of African agriculture. SIGN UP FOR THE RALLY-EN / SIGN UP FOR THE RALLY-FR
Following the policy-related discussions during the European Research and Innovation Days 2021 (23 & 24 June), the 10-day event of Horizon Europe Info Days will give prospective applicants and other stakeholders of EU research and innovation the opportunity to get information and ask questions about the main funding instruments, processes of Horizon Europe and what is new.
02 July 12:30 - 14:00 CEST. The Effects of Agroecology. Why are Metrics Needed? INTPA InfoPoint Virtual Conference. Speaker: Willem Olthof, Deputy Head of Unit INTPA F3, Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Fisheries, DG INTPA, European Commission
This Global Dialogue on Trade will be co-organised by the Special Envoy of the UN Food Systems Summit, Dr. Agnes Kalibata and the World Trade Organisation. The Dialogue will discuss how the trading system can best be reformed to address the food needs of tomorrow, and support sustainable development as called for by the Preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO. Watch from 14:00 CEST - follow the Summit's social media for updates.
6 July 2021 | 2pm CAT. African City food Exchange Part 1: What have we learnt from the UNFSS independent food dialogues process in 16 cities? Registration Link
13 July 2021 | 12pm CAT. African City food Exchange Part 2: A city-to-city workshop on achieving sustainable urban food systems. Registration Link
20 July 2021 | 2pm CAT. Sustainable food cultures: How our appetites can transform our cities. Registration Link
27 July 2021 | 2pm CAT. Where Chemistry, Storytelling and Policy Collide: Lessons from the Inclusive Metabolism Project. Registration Link
Now that the need for food system transformation is more urgent than ever, especially with the forthcoming 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, policy makers can take this debate to a new level.
parallel sessions Day 1: Unlocking The Potential Of STI for the Transformation Of Food Systems: (a) Achieving more healthy diets in food systems; (b) Achieving more inclusive food systems; (c) Achieving more sustainable and resilient food systems
parallel sessions Day 1: Putting Science to Work: Science, People and PolicyStrengthening the science-policy interfaceInvesting in institutional and human capacity for science and innovationCapitalizing on models, data, and communications revolutions, and new methods
parallel sessions Day 2: Empowering and Engaging Key Players in Food System Innovation: (a) Youth; (b) Traditional and indigenous knowledge; (c) Science in and by food industry and start-ups; (d) Women
parallel sessions Day 2: Brave New World: Pushing the Frontiers of Science for Food Systems: (a) Bio-science innovations; (b) Digital innovations; (c) Policy and institutional innovations
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 (SOFI 2021) report presents the first evidence-based global assessment of chronic food insecurity in the year the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and spread across the globe. The report will also focus on complementary food system solutions that address the key drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition, and will be presented by the FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. Join in from 10:00 EDT.
2-4 August 2021. Cairo, Egypt FI Africa 2021 Conference organised by MEFOSA - MENA Food Safety Associates for professionals from across the ingredients and packaging & processing technology spectrum, including those from F&B manufacturing, researchers, trade chancellors
15-17 September 2021. Tropentag is the largest interdisciplinary annual conference in Europe on development oriented research in the fields of sub-/tropical agriculture, food security, natural re- source management and rural development. This years theme of the conference is: Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future
September 2021 - Second Plenary meeting on soil spectroscopy (date tbc)
28-30 September 2021. Agri4D Online Conference 2021. Food Systems for New Realities. by SLU/Sweden. Registration is free of charge and will open in June 2021. Call for abstracts closes 31/05.
Theme 2 of the Agri4D conference focuses on the role for smallholders within inclusive food systems that will enable rural and urban (producer and consumer) food and nutrition security. There is tremendous potential for smallholders to benefit from the current changes occurring within rural-urban food systems as greater proportions of developing country populations shift to being net purchasers of food, and as rural populations increasingly consolidate into new small towns, and as existing urban populations grow. There are also high risks and many barriers, particularly in the face of changing land markets, declining plot sizes, rising agribusiness-Big Food industry interactions and changing dietary needs and preferences, not to mention changing climatic and environmental conditions, or disruptive pandemic health threats.
