Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Monday, October 24, 2022

FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022 (4)

17 - 21 October 2022 FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022 

The forum highlighted the centrality of science, technology and innovation for agrifood systems transformation.

Day 4 Extracts of the programme

21/10 Levelling the playing field: Eliminating inequalities in accessing science, technology and innovation across value chains

AGENDA | Webcast | UN WebTV

Smallholder farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly those headed by women, face huge challenges in accessing appropriate scientific knowledge and technologies.

The session highlighted the barriers for accessing technologies, innovation and information services and present the ways and means to eliminate inequalities. 

  • HE Gabriel Ferrero de Loma-Osorio UN Committee on World Food Security Chairperson & Ambassador at Large for Global Food Security Spain - Opening Remarks
  • Emmanuel Charles Minister Counsellor, Ambassade de la République d'Haïti
  • Amit Roy Vice-Chair Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) Derwood, USA
  • Nitya Rao Director, Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development School of International Development , University of East Anglia Norwich, UK
  • Oluyemisi Iranloye Managing Director & CEO Psaltry International Company Limited
  • Ruramiso Mashumba Chief Executive Officer Mnandi Africa

21/10 09:00 – 10:45 Gene editing techniques and agrifood systems. 


This event discussed, from national and regional perspectives, the potential benefits, food safety related issues, and unintended consequences of gene-editing technologies, as well as the barriers to adoption and diffusion, implications for small-scale producers, and ethical, regulatory and policy issues in the context of agrifood systems.
  • Magdalena Skipper Editor in Chief, Nature - Moderator
  • Ismahane Elouafi Chief Scientist, FAO
  • Sonja Vermeulen Managing Director, Genetic Innovation, CGIAR - Setting the scene
    Half of the cost of gene editing research is related to meeting the regulations while gene editing research does not require expensive labs
  • Hiroshi Ezura Professor, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba Japan
  • Ihuoma Okwuonu Plant biotechnologist, National Root Crops Research Institute Nigeria
    "We are applying gene editing research for producing Glyphosate tolerant cassava, reducing cassava brown streak disease and toxicity, or improve the starch content for processing?"
  • Irene Sacristán Sánchez Head of Unit E3, Biotechnology, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
  • Rob Bertram Chief Scientist, USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security USA
  • Babafemi Oyewole CEO, Pan African Farmers’ Organisation PAFO
    PAFO is willing to organise a public debate for a better understanding of the potentialities of gene editing research
  • Gabriel Vichera Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Kheiron Biotech Argentina

21/10 11:00 – 12:45 Putting science and innovation on fast track to enhance climate action across agrifood systems 

  • Ms. Maria Helena Semedo Deputy Director-General, FAO
  • Dr. Rabi H. Mohtar Professor,  Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University 
  • Mr. Juan Lucas Restrepo Global Director for Partnerships & Advocacy, CGIAR and Director General, Alliance of Biodiversity International and CIAT
Panel
  • H.E. Miguel García Winder Ambassador and Permanent Representative from Mexico to the UN Agencies Based in Rome 
  • Dr. Ulrich Kuhlmann Executive Director, Global Operations, CABI 
  • Ms. Cécile Martin-Phipps President, Francophonie Institute for Sustainable Development, Québec, Canada

21/10 Enhancing resilience in marginal agricultural areas: Can Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) play a meaningful role? 


This event presented the problems faced by the marginal agricultural areas and highlight the role of science, technology and innovation in enhancing the resilience of marginal agricultural areas.
  • Ousmane Badiane Executive Chairperson Akademiya2063 Rwanda - Keynote speech: Enhancing resilience in marginal agricultural areas: Can Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) play a meaningful role?
  • Sanwen Huang President, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) Hainan Province China
  • Pema Gyamtsho Director General, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) Nepal
  • Rita H Mumm Director, African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC) Director, UC Davis African Plant Breeding Academy University of Illinois, USA
    We will now also train plant breeders in gene editing
  • H.E Jean-Paul Carteron Permanent Representation of Solomon Islands to FAO
  • Jacqueline McGlade Chief Scientist and Co-Founder, Downforce Technologies United Kingdom
  • Rakesh Kumar Singh Principal Scientist - Plant Breeding International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) United Arab Emirates (UAE)
  • Jean Luc Chotte Directeur de Recherche, Président du Comité scientifique français sur la désertification (CSFD) Institutes de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) France

21/10 Digitalization of agrifood systems

AGENDA | Webcast | UN WebTV

The event brought forward discussions on key topics about Digitalization of Agrifood Systems, through concrete examples of FAO's Digital capabilities as accelerators to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and FAO's Four Betters.
  • Dejan Jakovljevic, Director and CIO, Digitalization and Informatics Division, FAO - FAO Digital capabilities to target interventions 
  • Agustin Zimmermann, FAO Representative in Ecuador, FAO - Digital territorial ecosystems for innovation in agri-food systems in the LAC region 
  • Coumba Sow, FAO Representative in Rwanda, FAO - Senegal/Rwanda: Challenges and opportunities of the Digital Services Portfolio (DSP) in the field 
  • Temesgen Gebeyehu, Director for Digital Agriculture, Ethiopia - Scaling up Digital Agriculture Solutions to Harness the Agricultural Transformation: Ethiopia ATI Experience 
  • Francis Mwesigye, Chief Economist, Uganda Development Bank - Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) How digital finance can expand outreach of a National Development Bank: the case of UDB 
  • Gerd Dercon, Laboratories Head, Soil and Water management and crop nutrition section, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - Nuclear and digital techniques: enhancing the use and conservation of natural resources
  • Somil Aggarwal, Cornell University, Transformative Research Challenge, World Food Forum - Best Practices for Technological Adoption among Smallholder Farmers: A Case Study in Kenya for Application in the United States 

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