Monday, January 31, 2022

New courses on public spending and price incentives for food and agriculture

A new series of free e-learning on policy monitoring for food and agriculture is now available online.
 
The series – a course on public expenditure and one on price incentives – has been developed by the Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme in collaboration with FAO's e-Learning Academy.

Monitoring public expenditure on food and agriculture: The MAFAP method

Learn how to analyse public expenditure on food and agriculture to better understand government spending patterns, priorities and gaps and how these affect agricultural development, food security and economic growth.

The course will equip you with the skills to carry out your own analysis to see how public spending has evolved, which areas are underinvested, where budget bottlenecks are, and how governments can spend their tight budgets better.

Monitoring price incentives for food and agriculture: the MAFAP method

Learn how policies influence prices at different stages of the value chain – at producer, wholesale and retail level – and how price incentives indicators can reveal if farmers and traders are "incentivised" to produce or market a commodity. 

This course will show you how to produce price incentives indicators, the data you need, and how to calculate and analyse them to shape public policy on production, price or food security. 
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Sunday, January 30, 2022

Upcoming webinars and meetings

1 February 2022 | Leap4FNSSA - Alliance Building from Model to Practice
3 February 2022 | Leap4FNSSA - AU-EU Platform Co-Development
8 February 2022 | Leap4FNSSA - Linking Research & Practice at Programme Level
10 February 2022 | Leap4FNSSA - Knowledge Management and Communication Framework
15 February2022 | Leap4FNSSA - Future AU-EU Funder’s Collaboration - For Funders Only

3 February 2022. Can agricultural policies deliver better value for money for people, the planet, and the economy? Co-Organized by IFPRI and World Bank Group

3 February 2022. Setting the scene: Nutrition Outlook 2022, by Nutrition Conversations Africa (NCAfrica) hosted by Wandieville in partnership with Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).

3 February 2022. Catalysing young African agri-entrepreneurs' investments - Catalyser les investissements des jeunes agri-entrepreneurs africains The Session Innovations N°8 jointly organised by the PAFO and COLEACP

3 February 2022. VALUE4HER Talk Corner 
with Ms. Linda K Manyeza the Founding Director of Food Masters South Africa and Ms. Jolenta Joseph the Managing Director of Sanavita Company Limited, Tanzania. 

8 February 2022. Innovation Capacities in the Latin American Agricultural Innovation Systems Capacidades para innovar en los sistemas de innovación agrícola de América Latina: Avances 2021-22 by Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture by IICA and FAO's Research and Extension, Office of Innovation (OIN) - Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers (TECA) Webinar

SCALE and PRO-WASH are hosting a webinar with Dr. Suzanne Carter from SouthSouthNorth as she shares learnings from two recently completed programs, Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) and Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER), that used a range of co-production approaches to focus on service delivery, disaster risk reduction and development, based on user needs.

8 February 2022 | Leap4FNSSA - Linking Research & Practice at Programme Level

9 February 2022. COVID-19 Impacts on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods. by APRA, Foresight4Food, and SDSN 

9 February 2022. 2022 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme. Virtual Info Session. The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) is teaming up with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to host a virtual information session on their 2022 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. African entrepreneurs with business ideas or existing businesses under 5 years, are encouraged to apply now for $5000 seed capital, mentorship, business management training and more on www.TEFConnect.net.

10 February 2022.1200 – 1330 East African time  AFSA: advancing agroecology practice/natural farming. 
  • AFSA is organizing 4 sessions in which organizations who are part of AFSA members will share how their work with farmers to advance agroecology practice/natural farming is going. 27 January, 10 February, 24 February, 10 March
  • 10/02  Presentation of work of RUCID - Mityana in Uganda, OACK from Muranga’a county in Central Kenya and the Malawi chapter of regional Scope who work with schools and communities surrounding schools around Malawi.
  • Join Zoom Meeting here / Passcode: 585005
10 February 2022. Food Systems Dialogue: Developing a Call to Action: Small-scale Farmers’ Policy Priorities co-hosted by PAFO, EAFF, SDG HUB, IISD, and WFO.

10 February 2022. AGRIBUSINESS INCUBATION AND ACCELERATION LANDSCAPE IN AFRICA This Webinar will include a presentation on key results from two recent studies on Agribusiness Incubation and Acceleration by Anne Roulin from the Agripreneurship Alliance on SME Enterprise Support Organization by Ify Umunna on Nourishing Africa.


10 February 2022. World Pulses Day celebration. by FAO





14 – 1 7 February 2022. The AERAP Africa-Europe Science Collaboration Platform will organise side events at the AU-EU Summit
  • 14/02 11:00 CET Promoting a sustainable EU-AU partnership through university collaboration -  Convened by African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA)
  • 15/02 08:00 CET Green Deal Convened by CIFOR-ICRAF
  • 16/0214:00 CET Belmont Forum: Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress 2022
  • 16/02 16:00 CET  A presentation on the interface between Horizon Europe and NDIC/Global Europe
    Nienke Buisman is Head of Unit International Cooperation Policy in the European Commission, Directorate-General Research & Innovation - is in charge of developing and implementing the ‘Global Approach to Research and Innovation’, Europe’s strategy for international cooperation, specifically focussing on Africa, Asia
  • 16/02 17:00 CET Africa IP SME Helpdesk
  • 17/02 14:00 CET Investing in science and innovation in Africa Convened by EIB/IMF/VCs
  • 17/02 15:00 CET Industry Platform for Agri research & innovation
    Speakers of this session include: Petronella Chaminuka (Agriculture Research Council, South Africa), Jennie van der Mheen (Wageningen) Tom Arnold (Rural Taskforce Africa)
  • 17/02 16:00 CET Africa-EU collaboration on the SDGs and Local2030 - Convened by AERAP and UNDP
  • 18/02 10:00 CET South -South Science and Innovation Cooperation - Convened Professor Mammo Muchie by Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
  • 18/02 15:00 CET Ireland Africa Rural Development Committee with Tom Arnold
14-18 February 2022. Africa-Europe Week,
European Union leaders and African Union member states will meet in Brussels for the 6th European Union - African Union summit on 17 and 18 February 2022. In the run-up to the summit, the first edition of the Africa-Europe week will be a key moment to bring together young people, civil society and the private sector from Africa and Europe to discuss the aspects of the Africa-EU Partnership that matter to them the most: Youth Track + Civil Society and Local Authorities Forums
16-17 February 2022. 7th EU-AFRICA Business Forum (EABF22)
  • TAAT Investors Forum hosted by Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), a flagship program from the African Development Bank.

15 February2022 | Leap4FNSSA - Future AU-EU Funder’s Collaboration - For Funders Only

15 February 2022. 2:00 - 5:00 pm EAT. Fifth Intergovernmental Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Global Programme of Action (GPA) - by UNEP and the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities

15 February 2022. RICE-FISH INNOVATIONS: good practices for small agricultural producers. by FAO's Research and Extension, Office of Innovation (OIN) - Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers (TECA) Webinar


15 February 2022. 01:30 PM  CET GFAR Talks: UNFSS...Where next?


16 February 2022. 10 AM GMT Preparing to Trade Under the AfCFTA - for Women-Owned Business, Female Entrepreneur, or Woman Exporter

16 February 2022.  A Decade of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI): Lessons from Using Empowerment Metrics by CGIAR


17-18 February 2022. European Union - African Union summit 
  • Following topics will be debated: growth financing, health systems and vaccine production, agriculture and sustainable development, education, culture and vocational training, migration and mobility, private sector support and economic integration, peace, security and governance, climate change and energy transition, digital and transport [connectivity and infrastructure]
18 February 2022. 11:00 to 12:30 CET AgriFI, the Agriculture Financing Initiative by INTPA Infopoint

  • Showcasing European funded projects, the event will highlight: projects and other initiatives supporting sustainable farming; multi-actor and participative projects with relevant actors of the food chain; multilateral approaches for greater efficiency and dissemination of outcomes. 
  • European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development 
  • With Ms Ismahane Elouafi, FAO chief scientist
  • CGIAR, PRIMA, FARA on DeSIRA

22 February 2022. 7:00 - 8:30 am EST. Circular business models enabled by due diligence – testimonies from African textile SMEs by United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

  • The session will present on the development of the Coalition. 
  • The Director of the Food Systems Coordination Hub, Stefanos Fotiou, will join the meeting, as well as several members of the Coalition including Nancy Aburto, Deputy Director Food and Nutrition Division of FAO, Namukolo Covic, Director General’s Representative of ILRI Ethiopia, and others.
23 February 2022. Good beekeeping practices for sustainable apiculture by FAO, with the support of Apimondia, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), the Apicultural Science Association of China (ASAC) and the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Lazio e Toscana

23 February 2022. Innovation Policy: Securing Africa’s Future - how African governments can accelerate policymaking related to innovation and digital technology 

23 February 2022.  2:00 PM (EET) Positive Nutrition: Evolving Ingredient Trends in the Middle East and Africa Streaming Live organised by Food Ingredients Africa

23-24 February 2022. Global Review and Assessment of Public Agricultural Extension and Advisory Service Systems

22-23 February 2022. Dubai Expo. Food for Future Summit UN-FAO’S AGRI INNOVATION DAYS
  • 22/02: DIGITAL AGRICULTURE: POLICIES AND PATHWAYS:  by ITU)
  • 22/02: HIGH-LEVEL PANEL: TRADE, INNOVATION, AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR FOOD SECURITY IN THE MENA
  • 22/02: YOUTH DRIVING AGRIFOOD INNOVATION 
  • 22/02: BIG DATA AND ANALYTICS FOR AGRIFOOD SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION
  • 23/02: SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND FOOD: THE CUTTING EDGE IN ACADEMIC RESEARCH
  • 23/02: HIGH-LEVEL PANEL: THE COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY – FROM COMMITMENT TO ACTION - CFS Ministerial Event at the Agri-food Innovation Days at Dubai Expo
  • 23/02: FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION IN ACTION: THE CFS VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES ON FOOD SYSTEMS AND NUTRITION (VGFSN) 
  • 23/02: CFS-VGFSN: Segment 1: Achieving food systems transformation: the role of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) + 
  • 23/02: CFS-VGFSN:Segment 2: Fireside chat CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition: 
  • 23/02: CFS-VGFSN: Segment 3: National and regional actions, plans and commitments to use the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition
  • 23/02: DISRUPTIVE AGRIFOOD SOLUTIONS LED BY BUSINESSES
  • 23/02: TRAILBLAZING WOMEN AND YOUTH IN MENA AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS
23-24 February 2022. Dubai expo. Global Leaders’ Symposium - extracts
  • 23/02: AFRICA – AN AGRICULTURAL VISION MAP TO SUPPLY THE WORLD IN THE 21ST CENTURY with Agnes Kalibata (AGRA)
  • 24/02: DRIVING FOOD SECURITY WITH NUTRITION SECURITY with Dr. Lawrence Haddad (GAIN)

23-24 February 2022. Dubai expo. Food for Future – Making it Happen - extracts:
  • 23/02: REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE – THE NEXT STAGE IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS
  • 23/02: LEVERAGING FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES AND DATA TO ENABLE THE DIGITAL AGRICULTURE REVOLUTION
  • 23/02: IMPACT AND PROMISE OF DIGITAL SOLUTIONS FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
  • 23/02: BEYOND TECHNOLOGY – BEST PRACTICES IN SUSTAINABLE AND ORGANIC FARMING IN HARSH CONDITIONS
  • 24/02: BALANCING SUSTAINABILITY AND VIABILITY ACROSS FOOD PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
  • 24/02: BUSINESS MODEL REBOOT FOR RESILIENT LIVELIHOODS AND AFFORDABLE QUALITY FOOD
  • 24/02: PROTEIN POSSIBILITIES AND PROMISES – CONSUMER TRENDS AND COMMERCIAL OUTLOOKS
23-24 February 2022. 9:30 - 11:00 CET MENA Agri-Food Innovation Days

24 February 2022. 12:30 CET. CFS High Level Ministerial Event at Expo Dubai 2020

24 February 2022. 15:00 - 16:30 CET. Innovations in Rural Digital Financial Services and Remittances in Africa. This event is part of the World Bank’s “What’s Cooking” data-driven digital agriculture webinar series.
Digital Agri Hub, en partenariat avec Enabel organise un évènement sous le thème « Renforcer l'accent sur la numérisation de l'agriculture dans les pays francophones à revenu faible ou intermédiaire ».

24 February 2022.1200 – 1330 East African time  AFSA: advancing agroecology practice/natural farming: Healthy Soil Healthy Food
  •  presentations from Groundswell who work with partners across West Africa, Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre in Zambia, and Chinyika in a drier part of Zimbabwe.
    • Meeting ID: 876 4519 6601,     Passcode: 585005
  • AFSA is organizing 4 sessions in which organizations who are part of AFSA members share how their work with farmers to advance agroecology practice/natural farming is going. 27 January, 10 February, 24 February, 10 March
  • This is the link to the recording of the session on February 10th in which RUCID, OACK and Scope-Malawi shared some of their experiences of putting agroecology into practice through the lenses of the natural farming principles.
24th February 2022 at 14:00hrs -16:00hrs East African Time (EAT). AfCFTA - Trade in Services.  Join the webinar via: shorturl.at/wENY3

25 February 2022. Addressing the Systemic Causes of Small-Scale Actors’ Vulnerability in Aquatic Food Systems: The CGIAR resilient aquatic food systems initiative. By CGIAR


1 March 2022 COVID-19 in Traditional Markets — Evidence of Consumer and Vendor Resilience During a Global Pandemic


3-4 March 2022. The Africa Food Sustainability Summit

3-4 March 2022. UNEP@50

9 March, 2022. Independent UNFSS Dialogue Future Foods - Johannesburg, South Africa

9-10 March 2022. Virtual Conference The Future of ICTforAg

10-13 March 2022, in Bonn, Germany International Conference for Youth in Agriculture 2022 (ICYA22)

14 March 2022 Less talk, more action: turning the soil story around A pre-ForumforAg 2022 event


Africa Agri Tech is positioned as the annual meeting point where the Southern African agricultural community can gather to explore the technological and scientific advances that will assist agribusinesses to maximise their outputs and increase their profitability in the future.

17 March 2022. BLOCKCHAIN AFRICA CONFERENCE 2022

20-23 March 2022. Farming System Design (FSD7) 

  • Webinars on Capacity Development in Systems Research for the transformation of agri-food systems to achieve Sustainable Development Goals under climate change


4 - 9 April 2022. Applying agricultural interventions and rural development strategies: Sustainable and bio-diverse agro-ecosystems for smallholder resilience.
  • The workshop is organized as part of the project “RLC Platform for Young East African Scientists – Improving the Productivity and Resilience of Smallholder Farming” which is jointly conducted by the RLC Campus Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Ger-many, the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ awarded organization Biovision Africa Trust, Nairobi, Kenya, the RLC Campus Lund, Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS), Lund University, Sweden, among other partners.
  • Who can apply? PhD students from East Africa that are currently completing their PhD at an East African university. The deadline is March 6, 2022

25 April - 8 May 2022. Convention on Biological Diversity (Part 2) - Kunming, China 

3-5 May 2022. 4th International Conference on Animal Health Surveillance - Bridging Science and Policy - Copenhagen, Denmark. 

11-13 May 2022. 15th Edition eLearning Africa Kigali, Rwanda. 

20 June - 1 July 2022. The Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy conference. The call for abstracts is now open.
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Food Plant Solutions

The Food Plant Solutions project was designed to address malnutrition through the use of readily available and local food sources. Food Plant Solutions created educational publications that help people understand the connection between plant selection and nutrition, and empower them to grow a range of highly nutritious plants with differing seasonal requirements and maturities. Food Plant Solutions identitied food plants that are potentially important for a country or region because they are suited to the environment, they are high in nutrients and they grow with minimal inputs. This is a sustainable solution that empowers people in need, not just for now, but into the future.

Food Plant Solutions does not send people in-country, but forms partnerships with existing aid providers who use the FPS publications to educate communities, and particularly women and children, on the nutrient value of their local foods. Not only does this sustainably address malnutrition and food security, it also empowers women. In many cases this will increase incomes, particularly for women, which benefits the family unit as a whole, and it safeguards and strengthens the capacity of women to provide food security, health and nutrition for their family. Most projects (whether they be housing, water, schools, maternal health, etc.), would be further enhanced by adding a Food Plant Solutions component to them. Most people who are in dire situations require a sustainable way to grow and access nutritious food.

The 11 countries recently added to the Food Plant Solutions website are:

  1. Afghanistan https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghanistan-Field-Guide-V2-1.pdf
  2. Burundi https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Burundi-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  3. Central African Republic https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Central-African-Republic-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  4. Chad https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Chad-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  5. Equatorial Guinea https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Equatorial-Guinea-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  6. Guinea Bissau https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Guinea-Bissau-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  7. Liberia https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Liberia-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  8. Malawi https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Malawi-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  9. Mali https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Mali-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  10. Niger https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Niger-Field-Guide-V2.pdf
  11. Somalia https://foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Somalia-Field-Guide-V3.pdf
Please note, each of these materials is in draft format and requires in-country review.

 
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Friday, January 28, 2022

DiverIMPACTS - Diversification through Rotation, Intercropping, Multiple Cropping

DiverIMPACTS project

The overall goal of DiverIMPACTS -  Diversification through Rotation, Intercropping, Multiple Cropping, Promoted with Actors and value-Chains towards Sustainability -  is to achieve the full potential of diversification of cropping systems for improved productivity, delivery of ecosystem services and resource-efficient and sustainable value chains by

  • assessing performances of crop diversification through rotation, intercropping and multiple cropping,
  • providing rural areas actors with those key enablers and innovations that would remove existing barriers and ensure actual uptake of benefits of crop diversification at farm, value chain and territory levels and
  • making recommendations to policy-makers to facilitate the coordination of all relevant actors within the value chain.

 

So far, the project has published two policy briefs:

 

The project will develop more policy briefs and publication on crop diversification in the coming months.

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Climate and Energy in the Africa-Europe partnership: Leading the way to the AU-EU summit

20 January 2022. Africa-Europe Foundation High-Level Special Dialogue 

Energy and Climate in the Africa-Europe Partnership: Leading the way to the AU-EU Summit

This debate built on the aftermath of COP 26, which have left unhappy both climate activists and made African partners keen to address the key challenge of insufficient access to energy on their own continent.  

By addressing the best ways to take care of ensuring energy transition for all, this debate fostered a dialogue about the best pathways to energy transition for the two continents and its people, that ensures both access to energy for all and climate concern.

"The whole continent of Africa consumes the same amount of energy as the island of Manhattan with around 25 countries consuming less than 500 megawatts and the largest just below 2000."

See the report of this meeting

Speakers

  • Thierry Breton - European Commissioner for the Internal Market Ambroise Fayolle - Vice-President at the European Investment Bank (EIB) 
  • Tanja Gönner - Chair of the Management Board at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) 
  • Mo Ibrahim - Founder and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation 
  • Uzodinma Iweala - CEO of The Africa Center 
  • Wanjira Mathai - Vice-President and Regional Director for Africa at the World Resource Institute 
  • Charles Michel - President of the European Council 
  • Damilola Ogunbiyi - Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy 
  • Benedict O. Oramah - President of Afreximbank 
  • Mary Robinson - Honorary President of the Africa-Europe Foundation, Chair of the Elders and former president of the Republic of Ireland 
  • HE Mr. Macky Sall - President of Senegal and forthcoming Chairperson of the African Union starting in February 2022 
  • Vera Songwe - Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA 
  • Frans Timmermans - European Commission Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal 
  • Laurence Tubiana - CEO at the European Climate Foundation 
  • Kandeh Yumkella - Co-Chair of the Africa-Europe Foundation Strategy Group on Energy, Member of Parliament in Sierra Leone, and former CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) and Director-General of UNIDO

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Collaboration between Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean for food systems transformation

19 January 2022 (IICA). Ministers of Agriculture of Africa and the Americas committed to working together to develop a cooperation agenda, and agreed that the two continents face common challenges and opportunities with respect to transforming their agrifood systems to make them more sustainable and inclusive.

The agreement was reached during the First High-Level Roundtable between Africa and the Americas, convened and organized by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), entitled “Building Bridges for Future Cooperation in Agrifood Systems”.

The high-ranking officials who participated in the virtual event agreed that, beyond the cultural and historical similarities and differences between the Americas and Africa, the continents face a unique and common challenge: that of building knowledge-intensive agriculture, with a human face, while caring for the environment and considering the areas of nutrition and health, which, they agreed, is necessary in order to produce more and higher quality food.

To this end, they agreed to develop agendas throughout the year to link technical assistance institutions
for agriculture – such as Brazil’s Embrapa, Argentina’s INTA and all national research organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, which play a key role – and their scientists and professionals, in order to deepen exchanges. They also proposed holding a ministerial summit on agriculture in Africa and the Americas in the second half of 2022.

Among the participants in the dialogue were Zulfikar Mustapha, Minister of Agriculture of Guyana; Agnes Kalibata, former Minister of Agriculture of Rwanda, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit and President of AGRA; Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA; Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Ethiopia and President of AGRA’s Board of Directors; Tereza Cristina, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply of Brazil; Modibo Keita, Minister of Rural Development of Mali; Julián Domínguez, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina; Eric Gatera, Chief Technical Advisor of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources of Rwanda; Luis Muñoz, Deputy Minister of Rural Development of Ecuador; Renato Alvarado, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica; Renato Gumbs, Director of Agriculture of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Fadel Ndiame, Deputy President of AGRA; Beverly Best, Director of External and Institutional Relations of IICA; and Ariel Martínez, Undersecretary for Policy Coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina.

Resource:

Fanzo J. et. al (2021) Viewpoint: Rigorous monitoring is necessary to guide food system transformation in the countdown to the 2030 global goals Food Policy 104 (2021) 102163, 20 p.

A rigorous, science-based monitoring framework can support evidence-based policymaking and the work of those who hold key actors accountable in this transformation process. Monitoring can illustrate current performance, facilitate comparisons across geographies and over time, and track progress.

Related:
20 October 2021. Measuring Food System: Transformation and Performance Post-Summit. This webinar was hosted by IICA & McGill University’s M.A. Gilliam Institute for Global Food Security to celebrate World Food Day.
 

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Thursday, January 27, 2022

Co-inquiry in agroecology research with farmers

Co-inquiry in agroecology research with farmers: transdisciplinary co-creation of contextualized and actionable knowledge
Markus Frank, Mariano M. Amoroso, Martina Propedo & Brigitte Kaufmann
Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2021.2020948 - Published online: 11 Jan 2022.

The transformative claim of agroecology research draws on transdisciplinarity and participatory action research to operationalize horizontal learning and experimentation for knowledge co-creation and change in action. Drawbacks to recent research strategies in this field are lack of action orientation, and limited roles and low level of control attributed to farmers, particularly in defining scope and methods for collaboration and joint experimentation.

In response, in this article the authors conceptualize a co-inquiry approach for agroecology research adopted from participatory action research and explore its operationalization and outcomes with a group of organic horticultural farmers in Argentina.

The authors assess how co-inquiry considers farmers’ experience in the knowledge co-creation process to achieve contextualized research questions and actionable results, and reflect on potentials and constraints of extended roles attributed to farmers and their increased control over inquiry process and contents.

The authors found that co-inquiry facilitates extended roles of farmers as co-researchers and thereby encourages horizontal learning based on systems thinking, through a joint explorative assessment of the systems operators’ purposes, context, and experience, and through joint choice of methodology, experimentation and reflection.

Related:

Farmers’ experiments and scientific methodology
Sven Ove Hansson

European Journal for Philosophy of Science (2019) 9:32

Abstract
Farmers all over the world perform experiments, and have done so since long before modern experimental science and its recognized forerunners. There is a rich anthropological literature on these experiments, but the philosophical issues that they give rise to have not received much attention. Based on the anthropological literature, this study investigates methodological and philosophical issues pertaining to farmers’ experiments, including the choice of interventions (work methods etc.) to be tested, the planning of experiments, and the use of control fields and other means to deal with confounding factors. Farmers’ experiments have some advantages over the field trials of agricultural scientists (more replications, studies performed under the relevant local conditions), but also some comparative disadvantages (less stringent controls, less precise evaluations). The two experimental traditions are complementary, and neither of them can replace the other. Several aspects of farmers’ experiments are shown to have a direct bearing on central topics in the philosophy of science
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Enabling extension and advisory services to promote agroecology

FAO (2022) Enabling extension and advisory services to promote agroecology' prepared by FAO’s Research and Extension Unit, 4 p.

The world is realizing that unsustainable high external inputs and resource-intensive industrialized systems pose a real danger of biodiversity loss, increased greenhouse gas emissions, shortages of healthy food, and the impoverishment of dispossessed peasants around the world. 

Why should extension and advisory services promote agroecology?

There is global consensus on the urgent need for a transition to agri-food systems that ensure food and nutrition security, social and economic equity, and sustain the ecosystem on which all these elements depend. Agroecology provides a crucial pathway towards this objective. Making extension and advisory services (EAS) demand-driven is not an end in itself but a means to improve their relevance and impact.

Adopt the FFS approach, which sees agroecology is an intrinsic cornerstone in facilitating a paradigm shift, empowering FFS groups to participate in multi-stakeholder dialogues and frame collective policies.

To read the brief, please click here.


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Partnerships between producers organizations and enterprises

IFAD, Inter-réseaux. (2022) Partnerships between producer organizations (POs) and enterprises. Lessons learned from recentexperiences in West and East Africa. 60 p.

This publication is based mainly on lessons learned from four experiences capitalized by Inter-reseaux (in Benin, Burkina Faso, Kenya and Senegal). 

Such partnerships are promoted as a model for structuring value chains to integrate small producers more equitably and sustainably. They offer attractive opportunities, especially for smallholder producers and their organizations. However, they also pose risks, and failures still occur frequently. The lessons learned from capitalizing on recent experiences provide food for thought to improve the design and implementation of partnerships between POs and enterprises that are genuinely win-win for both parties.

This publication was enriched by observations from a review of documentation and contributions by a working group on private sector coordinated by Inter-réseaux Développement rural.

This capitalization is part of the cycle of reflection and work coordinated by Inter-réseaux on the topic of private sector involvement in African agriculture. You can read about all the Inter-réseaux activities on this topic HERE.

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UN Climate Change Innovation Compendium


Climate change is on of the biggest challenges of our times. To respond to it, UN Entities are increasingly using innovative approaches, new and existing technologies combined with nature-based solutions. 

The UN Climate Change Innovation Compendium (21 p.) and linked living library showcase initiatives, programmes and policies launched by UN Entities that are using innovative approaches to respond to climate change.

All innovations featured are also included in a living Climate Change Innovation Library. It is possible to add an innovative approaches to feed the shared knowledge base, inspire others and spark new collaboration. It already features several FAO, IFAD, WFP case studies.

This compendium explores these innovative approaches leveraged in the following areas: 
  1. AIR 
  2. ENERGY 
  3. FORESTS 
  4. LAND 
  5. WATER 
  6. FOOD SYSTEMS 
  7. CITIES & LIFESTYLES 
  8. GREEN ECONOMY 
  9. DISASTERS & CONFLICTS 
  10. CAPACITY STRENGTHENING 
  11. ADVOCACY


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The Use of Smart Subsidy in Impact-Linked Agricultural Finance

27 January 2022. The Use of Smart Subsidy in Impact-Linked Agricultural Finance

A webinar on how donors and development finance institutions (DFIs) approach impact-linked finance in the agriculture sector. Featuring representatives from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and the German Development bank (KfW) . With new models emerging and learnings from approaches that have been running for a few years, we want to have an open discussion about where (public) financing is needed and how to target it to optimize impact.

SPEAKERS

songbae
HOST
Songbae Lee
Agricultural Finance Team Lead, USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS)

Songbae joined RFS in 2020 as Agricultural Finance Team Lead, supporting USAID in its efforts to mobilize capital for agriculture. Before this role, he spent eight years at Calvert Impact Capital, a non-profit impact investing... more

aarts
Anouk Aarts
Policy Advisor, Financial Sector Development, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)

Anouk is Policy Advisor at the Sustainable Economic Development Department, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has over 10 years of experience in the Dutch financial sector and has been working for the Netherlands... more

Peter
Dr. Peter Beez
Programme Manager and Senior Policy Advisor, Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC)

Peter is an economist who studied at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His private sector experience includes working with SMEs, banks, consulting, and the World Economic Forum. His public sector experience includes working... more

Albin
Alexandra Albin
Head of Division, Equity and Regional Funds, Sub-Sahara Africa and Latin America, KfW Development Bank

Alexandra is the Agricultural Finance Team Lead in KfW´s equity and regional funds department. In that capacity she is responsible for overseeing the structuring and financing a wide variety of Agrifinance and Biodiversity Funds... more

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Wednesday, January 26, 2022

AFSA: advancing agroecology practice/natural farming

AFSA is organizing 4 sessions in which organizations who are part of AFSA members will share how their work with farmers to advance agroecology practice/natural farming is going. The sessions will be from 1200 – 1330 East African time (1100 – 1230 SAT, 0900 – 1030 much of West Africa/UTC/GMT):
  1. 27 January 
  2. 10 February 
  3. 24 February 
  4. 10 March 
Objectives:
  • Looking at the 9 principles of Natural Farming as developed by the Community Natural Farming programme in Andhra Pradesh from their experience, which are the two principles you would say you and the farmers you are working with are most effectively putting into practice? 
  • Which two principles are you NOT addressing currently or if you are addressing all in some way, which two are you finding most challenging to address? Why?
  • As a result of the sessions from the CNF in Andhra Pradesh, what have you started doing differently or more of? How has this been working out? What else are you planning to do, coming out of these sessions?

27 January 2022. AFSA: advancing agroecology practice/natural farming. 


Webinar

The nine principles of natural farming as developed by the Community Natural Farming programme in Andhra Pradesh:

  1. Crop cover – aim towards having 365-day green cover
  2. Crop diversity (including trees) – include at least 8 – 12 species in any one cropping area.
  3. No/low till – keep tillage disturbance to a minimum, ideally not at all.
  4. Integrate animals – have livestock as an integral part of the farming system
  5. Use of bio-stimulants – select and use appropriate bio-stimulants to speed up life returning to soils
  6. Organic matter addition – Increase OM through addition of dry mulches.
  7. Local seeds – use only local/traditional seeds
  8. Pest management (prevention/monitoring/curative/no pesticides) – understand pest life cycles and use non-poisonous methods to address the weakest link in pest life cycle.
  9. No chemical stress – avoid all chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.
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The United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS): Where next?

26 January 2022. GFAR talks. The United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS): Where next?”

Organized in collaboration with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development and moderated by Prof. Sayed Azim-Ali Obe, the first GFAR Talks gave the floor to two eminent and engaging speakers.

Recording forthcoming (the recording was interrupted due to hacking)

Resource: All hat and no cattle: Accountability following the UN food systems summit
The agenda and discussions at the UNFSS need to be driven by LMICs and other voices that are often given a back seat, including citizens, consumers, and other civil society actors. While many experts have been called upon or have simply stepped up to organize and be present at the UNFSS, others may purposely stay away due to legitimacy concerns. This exclusion is a considerable loss of a critical opportunity to bring much-needed change to global food systems.


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Embracing Complexity: How to Implement Integrated Land-Use Initiatives for Sustainable Development

26 January 2022. Embracing Complexity: How to Implement Integrated Land-Use Initiatives for Sustainable Development

Integrated land-use initiatives challenge practitioners to look beyond traditional sectoral development projects and engage with the complexity of entire landscapes to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time: poverty, climate change, biodiversity loss, and deforestation, among others. Reflecting the promise of this approach, the number of initiatives has grown substantially over the last decade or so, leading to a wide range of approaches and a large amount of innovation. However, there is limited consensus on best practice in integrated land use.

To fill these gaps, the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) has taken stock of best practices and lessons learned from more than 150 initiatives implemented globally in a new report, “Toward a Holistic Approach to Sustainable Development: A Guide to Integrated Land-Use Initiatives” and accompanying “Resource and Case Studies Booklet.”

This event, marking the launch of the report, seeks to open this conversation by convening practitioners, academics, and other experts around the world to share insights and discuss the way forward. The launch will take place over two virtual sessions, each focusing on four of the eight themes identified in the report.
  • Why these initiatives represent promising solutions to local and global challenges
  • How integrated land-use initiatives have been implemented around the world, including key challenges practitioners have faced and lessons learned
  • In what ways each of the eight themes are key to the success of these initiatives
  • The future of integrated land useSession 1: Multistakeholder Engagement, Environmental Focus, Economic Focus, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

Session 1: January 19, 2022 | Multistakeholder Engagement, Environmental Focus, Economic Focus, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

Session 2: January 26, 2022 | Boundary Setting, Land Tenure, Financing Strategies, Cross-Sectoral Coordination

Speakers:
  • Dr. Jeffry Sayer, University of British Colombia
  • Semaly Kisamo, USAID Tanzania
  • Paolo Cerruti of CIFOR. Toward a Holistic Approach to Sustainable Development: a guide to integrated Land-use initiatives. Yangambi, DRC, supported by the European Union 
  • Tuuli Johanna Bernadini (World Bank) - Sustainable low carbon development - Orinoquia Region Colombia
Resource:
New financial solutions for farmers

In November, the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and ISFL wrapped up an innovative Sustainable Agricultural Banking Program that worked with banks from seven African countries to scale up sustainable value-chain financing in the agricultural sector.

During this five-week online program, participants – including lending staff and senior bank managers – worked with leading financial experts and mentors with decades of experience in the agricultural banking sector. Under their guidance, participants conducted in-depth value-chain analyses and developed new types of financial products tailored to existing or potential agricultural clients.

Through interactive sessions and hands-on, practical assignments, the program’s four modules explored the principles of agricultural value-chain financing, product development, client assessment and credit policy for sustainable lending, as well as loan monitoring and administration for climate-smart agriculture.
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