Adapted Crops and Soil (VACS)

28 -  29 November 2023. New York. Rockefeller Foundation. Phase2 Technical workshop of the  Vision for Adapted Crops and Soil (VACS) 

This the latest wave in the development thought for Africa’s agriculture, food, and nutrition security. The brain behind VACS is Dr. Carry Fowler, the US special envoy for global food security. Since the beginning of his thoughts, he has aligned it with the thoughts and actions of the Africa Union Commission (AU) and FAO. The VACS has also drawn inputs from several other organizations such as the FARA, the CGIAR, AGRA, the Rockefeller Foundation, universities in the US and Africa, and ancillary organizations.

The objectives of VACS are to foster sustainable and resilient food systems in Africa and other parts of the world. VACS seeks to boost agricultural productivity and nutrition by developing diverse, climate-resilient crop varieties and building healthy soils.

Fulfilling this vision will certainly require identifying indigenous or adapted food crop commodities with highly competitive nutrient content and the capacity to adapt to the known and projected vagaries of climate change as well as having the potential to contribute to the desired food systems transformation in Africa. 

1. In the Phase 1 Technical Workshop to operationalize VACS held in Rome in May 2023, the need for data and evidence for the selection of crops was highlighted as well as having robust evidence for consumption patterns for food made from the commodities. The first workshop commissioned a series of studies including smart modeling to inform the choice of commodities with the required potential.
2. FARA participated in the Phase 2 Technical workshop. It had more than 71 high-level researchers and thought leaders in agricultural subjects especially, plant breeding, modeling, climate change, agronomy, and policies.

The starting point of VACS is the mainstreaming of the opportunity crops; this will embrace the development of breeding programs and seed systems. It will also include research and development efforts to create new food products to drive a commercial demand for the commodities and research outputs. 

The next in line should be a set of systematic actions on soil management; this should be built on the existing continental framework in Africa. The Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) is the long-term framework, its 10-year implementation is structured into the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP). The core element should include halting land and soil degradation, promoting soil health, developing an Africa soil information system to drive the sustainable use of Africa soils as a vital production asset. These efforts will align together to ensure concurrent adaptation and mitigation of climate change.

Related:

21 September 2023. The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils: Global Solutions for Food Security