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

19 & 26 January 2023. Webinar Resources: 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:

World Bank (2021) Toward a Holistic Approach to Sustainable Development: A Guide to Integrated Land-Use Initiatives # 37 p.

and accompanying 

World Bank (2021) Resource and Case Studies Booklet # 23 p.

The objective of this report is to take stock of lessons learned, document best practices from a range of integrated land use initiatives, facilitate knowledge sharing, and provide a guide for practitioners who are looking to implement this approach. This report provides a basic toolkit for practitioners and raises awareness of the cutting-edge work happening in this space.

This webinar series, marking the launch of the Guide to Integrated Land-Use Initiatives, sought to open the conversation by convening practitioners, academics, and other experts around the world to share their insights and discuss the way forward. The webinars were designed to cover the eight main themes identified in ISFL’s report through the presentation and analysis of promising case studies from around the world.

The first webinar on January 19th focused on multistakeholder engagement, environmental and economic dynamics of integrated land use, as well as monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Presenters and panelists included policy experts and academics from Scotland and Taiwan, along with representatives from FAO, EcoAgriculture Partners and Rainforest Alliance. 

The second webinar on January 26th covered the broad strokes of boundary setting, land tenure, financing strategies and cross-sectoral coordination of integrated land-use initiatives. Presenters and panelists discussed case studies from Colombia, the DRC, Indonesia, and Tanzania, and represented organizations including CIFOR and the World Bank.

Extracts: 

• Land Tenure Assistance (Mobile Technology and Land Administration) Iringa and Mbeya District, Tanzania Semaly Kisamo, Project Management Specialist - Policy, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Tanzania 
• The Yangambi Engagement Landscape: Examples of Cross-Sectoral Coordination and Boundary Setting in the Democratic Republic of Congo Dr. Paolo Cerutti, Senior Scientist and Interim Hub Leader - Nairobi, CIFOR  

 

Digitally Enabled Resilience and Nutrition Policy Innovations

22 February 2023. Launch Event of the Digitally Enabled Resilience and Nutrition Policy Innovations (DERPIn) Project

In order to support improved planning and decision-making across food systems, AKADEMIYA2063 has recently been awarded a grant by Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to implement the “Digitally Enabled Resilience and Nutrition Policy Innovations (DERPIn) project” over a three-year period in five African countries – Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, and Senegal – jointly with the Pan-African Farmers’ Organization (PAFO) and invited local partners.

The DERPIn project aims to foster the capacity and agility of government planners and private sector operators, including smallholder farmers and their organizations, to craft adapted, gender-sensitive, and impactful policies and programs to advance food systems transformation and enhance resilience to shocks. It does so through a combination of digitally-enabled, customizable tools, data, and analytical products to cater to the needs of a broad range of stakeholders including government, the private sector, and most crucially food systems actors including smallholder farmers.

Moreover, it will harness the synergies across several lines of work at AKADEMIYA2063, drawing from the wealth of data, evidence tools from concluded, ongoing as well as new projects in the areas of growth, poverty reduction, nutrition, vulnerability, trade, gender, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence, including the Malabo Montpellier Panel and Africa Agriculture Watch (AAgWa).

• Welcome Dr. Ousmane Badiane, AKADEMIYA2063 
• Opening Remarks Dr. Olivier Kamana, Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Rwanda 
• Innovation for sustainable food systems transformation Ms. Barbara Krause, GIZ 
• Introduction to the DERPIn project Dr. Katrin Glatzel, AKADEMIYA2063 
• Moving from re-building to withstanding crises: the farmers’ perspectives Dr. Babafemi Oyewole, PAFO 

The country-specific context 

• Nestor Ahoyo Adjovi - National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRAB) 
• Prof. Amos Laar – University of Ghana 
• Prof. Charles Jumbe - Center for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD) 
• Dr. Isaac Shinyekwa - Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) 
• Dr. Cheikh Sadibou Fall - Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (BAME-ISRA) 
• Representatives of regional (SACAU, ROPPA, EAFF) and national PAFO members

Digital platforms and tools as enablers for policy change Dr. Racine Ly, AKADEMIYA2063

Understanding, learning from, and replicating positive change Dr. Katrin Glatzel, AKADEMIYA2063 

• Next steps and conclusion Dr. Ousmane Badiane, AKADEMIYA2063

Securing land tenure: A review of concepts, uses and challenges

IFAD (2023) Frontier technologies for securing tenure: A review of concepts, uses and challenges # 68 p.

Land tenure insecurity is a reality for a large proportion of the world’s farmers, especially those in lower income, developing contexts. Frontier technologies are new and emerging technologies that have the potential to disrupt and supplant existing processes. They create new opportunities for addressing this challenge.

This publication showcases a range of current frontier technologies that are being used in land tenure projects, as well as the associated benefits and challenges. The study reviewed twenty publications and conducted thirteen interviews with knowledgeable experts.

The study has been carried out by IFAD in collaboration with land tenure experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

It was possible thanks to the funding of IFAD’s Change Delivery and Innovation Unit, IFAD’s Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division, and FAO’s Land Tenure Team.

READ STUDY

Especially pertinent in developing and customary land rights contexts, mapping customary land rights is a challenge that requires innovative and sensitive approaches. The involvement of the beneficiaries and relevant communities and government agencies is crucial for success. (page 6)

When it comes to mapping customary land rights, people can be suspicious of new technologies and 

approaches, being fearful that they will be used to appropriate their lands (page 46)

In Malawi, this challenge was addressed by first mapping the extent of the chiefdom areas. Using satellite imagery, chiefs were able to settle disputes between their territories. This demonstrated the usefulness of the technology. Next, the same process was used to map out family holdings within chiefdoms and certificates were issued that linked families and individuals to the chiefdoms. (page 46)

The adoption of technical solutions should be needs-driven, rather than driven by the desire to use the latest technology. There should be balance between the possibilities of the technology and the social need. (page 51)

Investments in technology and personnel risk being wasted if sound maintenance and capacity concerns are not built into project planning from the beginning. The intended users need to have the technical competency to, for example, repair and maintain a UAV to continue drone-based mapping or maintain and update land records in a cadastral database. (page 51)

Ethiopian National Drylands Restoration Strategy

Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA) has collaborated with CIFOR-ICRAF and Tropenbos International to produce the Ethiopian National Drylands Restoration Strategy 

PENHA (2022)  Ethiopian National Drylands Restoration Strategy #82 p

The development of this strategy was overseen and endorsed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Ethiopian Forestry Development. 

The strategy addresses four thematic areas: 

1. integrated natural resource management; 
2. land governance; 
3. livelihoods, value chains and markets; and 
4. policy alignment and sectoral coordination. 

It covers not only agriculture (crop, livestock and tree husbandry) but also the water, mining and geothermal energy sectors.

The strategy is based on “modern and mobile” pastoralism and transhumance, with mixed-farming systems in the higher dryland areas. It seeks more efficient use of water resources to support dryland cropping as well as livestock keeping, the mainstay of dryland livelihoods and a major contributor to the national economy. 

Crop farming is to be made more efficient and productive, rather than expansion of low-productivity cropping into lowland areas used by pastoralists.

The strategy reflects the Ethiopian Government’s increased commitment to development in the drylands and its recognition of their importance for climate-change mitigation, as it accounts for an estimated 70% of Ethiopia’s potential for sequestering carbon.

Land degradation, climate change and migration nexus in Central Asia

16 February 2023. Launch of the study on land degradation, climate change and migration nexus in Central Asia

The launch of the Study on Land Degradation, Climate Change and Migration Nexus in Central Asia brought together leading experts from the region in the sphere of sustainable land management. 

The authors and contributors presented the results of the study undertaken over the period of several years, followed by an open discussion on the themes raised in the study.

• The study provides evidence on how the increasing land degradation and climate change on land-dependent economic sectors in five Central Asian countries affects availability of resources and jobs, driving out-migration and, in some cases, instability.
• Central Asia is becoming a new hotspot for environmental and social challenges. The combination of rapid population growth, increased urban pressures, poverty and dependence on the agricultural sector for over 50 per cent of the population together with environmental and climate crises, lead to growing migration and social risks.
• The research project is implemented by the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences and financed by the voluntary contribution from Russian Federation.

Resources:

• LDM Central Asia full text RUSSIAN.pdf
• LDM Central Asia Executive Summary RUSSIAN.pdf
• Recording and study in English forthcoming

Main conclusions:

Great variety of land degradation and climate change trends in the region Central Asia defines the following: 

1. Direct link between land degradation / climate change and migration in this stage cannot be directly traced for the CA region as a whole. 
2. However, desertification and land degradation serve as the main triggers for migration from the countryside, which determines indirect impact of land degradation on migration. 
3. Low adaptive capacity of farmers farms determines the importance of developing measures on adaptation to climate change.
4. Three types of modern economic models in the region: labor export (mainly Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), resource (in mainly Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and hybrid model (Uzbekistan).
5. The ratio of “pushing out” and "pull" factors of migration in different countries varies depending on socio-economic conditions and time.
6. Models for sustainable land use and best practices of successful practices can be seen as deterrents to migration.
7. Gender may be more effective in investment strategies through an approach based on a broad participation in capacity building. 
8. The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic has led to a reduction in remittances, which complicated the socio-economic situation in the countries of the region and caused political instability and social tension. 
9. “Vicious circle”: Push factors migration is unlikely to be directly mitigated through the introduction of individual “successful” practices. In some cases, this approach leads to reducing labor intensity in agriculture and, in turn, to reduce the natural land potential multiplied by the reduction of employment with a labor surplus.
10. Creation of decent working conditions and promotion of “green jobs” in the agricultural sector could help break the vicious circle.
11. The “Area of ​​Improved Land” and the “social satisfaction” Index  can serve as adequate indicators of land degradation and migration, respectively.

Related:

WOCAT (2011) Sustainable Land Management in Practice - WOCAT # 246 p.

Liniger, H.P., R. Mekdaschi Studer, C. Hauert and M. Gurtner. 2011. Sustainable Land Managementin Practice – Guidelines and Best Practices for Sub-Saharan Africa. TerrAfrica, World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) # 246 p.

• The book recognizes the contribution of SLM to food security, improved livelihoods, mitigation of widespread land deg­radation and climate change adaptation and mitigation, advocating that best SLM practices must be scaled up and SLM main­streamed as a priority at all levels.
• Consolidated efforts are needed for knowl­edge management concerning SLM technologies and approaches and their spreading, not only to document and monitor valuable experiences for their own sake, but for dissemination and use in improved decision-making at the field and planning level.
• Investment in spreading SLM practices in Sub-Saharan Africa has great scope and can deliver multiple benefits not only locally, but also re­gionally (e.g. in watersheds), nationally as well as globally. 
• Many of the global issues such as food security, poverty, water scarcity, desertification, climate change mitigation and adaption, and biodiversity are closely related to SLM.
• The book presents 13 major groups of SLM technologies and approaches in a user-friendly manner, exemplified by 47 case studies from all over the region.
• The practices documented in the publication can also be viewed in the WOCAT Global SLM Database.

1. Integrated Soil Fertility Management 
2. Conservation Agriculture 
3. Rainwater Harvesting 
4. Smallholder Irrigation Management 
5. Cross-Slope Barriers 
6. Agroforestry 
7. Integrated Crop-Livestock Management 
8. Pastoralism and Rangeland Management 
9. Sustainable Planted Forest Management 
10. Sustainable Forest Management in Drylands 
11. Sustainable Rainforest Management 
12. Trends and New Opportunities 
13. SLM Approaches

• Funded by: the multi-donor TerrAfrica Leveraging Fund, the World Bank, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Flyer SLM in Practice 8.6 MB Download
Publication English Book SLM in Practice English 42.8 MB Download
French Book SLM in Practice French 42.3 MB Download

Some promising trends and opportunities in SSA include: 

• Processing agricultural products or ‘value chain’ development – New markets for certified agricultural products e.g. Fair Trade, Organic Farming, Forest Certification, etc. 
• Markets for endemic plants grown under organic / fair trade conditions (e.g. rooibos tea in South Africa)
• Markets for medicinal plants (many indigenous to Africa, including ‘devil’s claw’; Harpagophitis procumbens)
• Origin labeling (e.g. traditional coffee varieties in Ethiopia, grown under shade)
• Biotechnology for higher yield, improved fruits, new varieties 
• Genetically modified crops (BT Maize in South Africa) in combination with conservation agriculture
• Markets for ecotourism and agro-ecotourism
• Markets for bio-energy / fuel
• Markets related to compensation payments e.g. payment for ecosystem services (PES): paying for carbon storage in forests, watershed services, Green Water Credits. Green Water Credits (GWC) attempts to bridge the incentive gap between upstream and downstream water users. It is a regular compensation system by water users to water providers for specified water management services (e.g. for hydropower and irrigation).
• Establishing training, research and agricultural information centers
• Productive gullies for producing cash crops

Furthermore, investment opportunities are related to support services such as establishing farm machinery and equipment plants; tractor hire centers; operating agriculture mechanisation 

centers; developing human and animal power technologies; seed multiplication farms; training of extension specialists and agricultural researchers. 

Related:

WOCAT and the UNCCD : Your Source of Knowledge on Agroecology Good Practices ?

5 to 8 October 2022. During the 2022 International civil society Summit «Desertif'actions», which took place in Montpellier, WOCAT and UNCCD held a joint session on tools, knowledge, partnership and services to bring Sustainable Land Management and Agroecology to scale by context. 

• Dr. Rima Mekdaschi Studer, SLM expert of the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at University of Bern, presented "WOCAT: Good Practices and an Open Network - Bringing SLM/Agroecology to Scale" 

Related

IOM (2019) Addressing the Land Degradation – Migration Nexus: The Role of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification # 60 p.

This study results from the decision of States parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to produce a study on “The role that measures taken to implement the Convention can play to address desertification, land degradation and drought as one of the drivers that causes migration” (UNCCD 2017a). The study was commissioned to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who worked in partnership with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

Why is financing food systems transformation the latest global challenge?

13-17 February 2023.IFAD Governing Council

The Governing Council is IFAD’s main decision-making body. It consists of all of IFAD’s Member States and meets annually. It is attended by the official Member State representatives, i.e. Governors, Alternate Governors and any other designated advisers. Observers are also invited to attend sessions.

15/02 Why is financing food systems transformation the latest global challenge?

• IFAD Governing Council GC46 side event
• IFAD and the World Bank are co-leading the financing agenda for food systems transformation.
• Concept note

Food systems transformation is vital to achieve climate targets and Agenda 2030 goals, yet few people truly understand what it means. Following the United Nations Food Systems Summit in 2021, IFAD and the World Bank are co-leading the financing agenda for food systems transformation.

This event was a deep-dive into food systems transformation, what it is all about, the role of small-scale farmers in achieving it, and how it can be financed.

• Moderator: Hélène Papper, Director of Global Communications and Advocacy Division, IFAD
• Mr Koen Deconinck, Author OECD report Making Better Policies for Food Systems
• Nadine Gbossa, Director Food Systems Coordination IFAD and Chief Means of Implementation UN Food Systems Coordination Hub
• Christopher Brett, Lead Agribusiness specialist, World Bank and co-lead Financing Agenda for food systems Transformation
• Stefanos Fotiou Director, UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, Director FAO Office of Sustainable Development Goals

15/02 GC2023 Food Water Energy Nexus Panel

GC2023 Private Sector finance for small producers climate adaptation

Related:

Innovative approaches and technologies for building climate resilient food systems

13 – 15 February 2023. 6th G-STIC Conference in Rio de Janeiro 

The G-STIC conference is hosted jointly by VITO (the prime research and technology organization on cleantech and sustainable development in Belgium) and 7 other not-for-profit independent technology research institutes: FIOCRUZ (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil), CSIR (The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa), GIEC (Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, China), GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea), NACETEM (National Centre for Technology Management, Nigeria), TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute, India) and SDSN (the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network).

15/02 Innovative approaches and technologies for building climate resilient food systems

Video starts @ 1:49:30

Climate and food systems are inextricably linked. Climate-related extreme weather events pose a major threat to the stability of the entire food supply chain and to the nutrition and wellbeing of countless millions of people. At the same time, unsustainable food systems are responsible for widescale deforestation and soil degradation and contribute to climate change. Food production is responsible for 19 to 29% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Our food systems clearly need to be more resilient, from production to consumption, so that they remain functional, recover from the effects of harmful events, and serve our needs without damaging the environment. 

To address this, the Climate Resilient Food Systems Alliance (CRFS) was launched in 2021. Its mission is to accelerate activities aimed at integrated food and climate action, especially in the most vulnerable countries and regions. Climate change impacts are already reducing crop and livestock productivity and decreasing food security for millions of people worldwide. So feeding a global population of almost 10 billion by 2050 will require a radical transformation in how food is produced, processed, traded, and consumed. Technology has a huge role to play in this transformation. Farmers, governments, and businesses will need better data, analysis, and insights to support their short- and long-term decisions and enable them to manage risk, maximize production sustainability, and thrive in a changing climate. Globally, the use of advanced analytics in agriculture is booming. Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, predictive modeling, and other forms of advanced analytics are already being used to improve food systems. 

The speakers will review the current situation and look ahead at how advanced technologies can be used to bolster food security in developing countries. 

• Moderated by Julia Weatherhogg UNFCCC Adaptation Programme Officer 
• H.E. Manuel Heitor University of Lisbon Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) 
• Max Berkelmans Rabobank Business Consultant Finance - Acorn 
• Molly Brown 6th Grain Corporation Chief Science Officer 
• Rafaela Gontijo Lenz NUU Alimentos CEO Rafael Leão United Nations World Food Programme Programme Officer 
• Napoleón Molina Rikolto Coffee Program Director Latin America 
• Madeeha Bajwa Group on Earth Observations Chief, Work Programme Coordinator 
• Abigail Alvarado FAO regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean Technical specialist 
• Jennifer Philips Lead of InsuResilience’s Centre of Excellence on Gender-smart Solutions Advisor, InsuResilience Secretariat 

15 /02 Plenary session: Biodiversity

Video starts @ 4:41:17

This session discussed the challenges embedded in the seek for sustainable biodiversity use. The panelists debated the instruments needed to guide this pathway with justice, rights, and equity. They looked at the existing mechanisms for curbing the overexploitation of natural resources and biodiversity loss as essential means to securing all forms of life on Earth. 

• Moderated by Carlos Eduardo Young Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
• Sateré Mawé Samela Brazilian Indigenous youth activist 
• H.R.H. Princess Esmeralda of Belgium Journalist, author and environmental activist 
• Erie Tamale SCBD Senior Programme Management Officer, Head Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Montreal, Canada
• Anne Larigauderie Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Executive Secretary 
• Sechaba Bareetseng The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Programme Manager Indigenous Knowledge Systems South Africa
• Benjamin Roche Research Institute for Development (IRD) Research Director 
• Márcia Chame Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Researcher 
• Bram De Keulenaere Mantis Director 

Entrepreneurial skills developed by successful African SMEs

15 February 2023, 12:00-14:00 GMT. Entrepreneurial skills developed by successful African SMEs PAFO and the COLEAD.

The Innovations Session n°12 jointly organised by the PAFO and the COLEAD will focus on “Entrepreneurial skills developed by successful African SMEs”, and will be held online on Wednesday 15 February 2023, 12:00-14:00 GMT.

Related:

EU court exempts gene modification technique from stricter rules

7 February 2023. The EU’s highest court has concluded that organisms obtained by in-vitro random mutagenesis, a genetic modification technique, are excluded from the bloc’s rules governing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), a move welcomed by industry players but lambasted by green groups.

The European Court of Justice ruling, published on Tuesday (7 February), closes a 2015 case brought by the French small farmers’ association Confédération Paysanne, together with eight other green campaign groups, who called for clarification over the status of certain methods of mutagenesis under the EU’s 2001 GMO directive.

The directive includes an exemption whereby certain genetic modification techniques fall outside its very strict scope.

The reach of this directive was up for debate until another EU court judgement in 2018, which placed on an equal footing traditional GMOs and gene editing – a targeted modification achieved via a genetic technique called CRISPR/Cas9.

The ruling comes at a critical juncture in the EU, just ahead of a crucial proposal from the European Commission on whether to loosen EU rules on new genetic techniques (NGTs), expected in early June 2023.

"The ruling on in-vitro random mutagenesis – which it points out is less targeted and more risk-prone than gene-editing – should pave the way for Europe to unlock the opportunities of the bio-revolution in plant- and soil sciences”. Agrochemical giant Bayer, 

Likewise, the EU farmers’ association welcomed the ruling, stressing that farmers need to “access the benefits of innovation to be more sustainable and achieve the ambition as set out in the European Green Deal”.

“Plant breeders should be able to consider certain mutagenesis techniques in their breeding programs, reducing by some 10 years the time to market”.

SDG Summit Dialogues

11 February 2023. Youth and Women as Enablers of Localization of Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030

H.E Ambassador Hans Hoogeveen *	Independent Chairperson of the Council of FAO, Rome, Italy
Ms. Hawa M. Diallo *	Director , Civil Society Unit , Outreach Division, Department of Global Communications, UNHQ, NY, USA
Ms Irena Zubcevic *	Director, Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, NY,USA
Pro Laurette Dube *	Founding chair and Scientific Director of McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics (MCCHE), Canada
Prof Biodun Olaniran *	GCSAYN Liaison to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH) Ogbomso, Oyo State, Nigeria
Dr Phanice F. Wangila *	Director of Gender and Development, University of Kabianga, Kenya
Dr. Valasia Iakovoglou *	Director of Ecotourism Sector, UNESCO Chair Con-E-Ext, Greece
Dr Japheth Muthama *	Dean of Studies, Egerton University, Kenya
Mr Adan Hassan Mohamed *	Deputy Governor of Bay region, Somalia
Mr. Lamine Camara*	Dean Faculty of Letters, Human and Social Sciences, Kofi Annan University of Guinea
Prof. Sophia Murashkovsky*	Co-Chair of the United Nations Committee at New York City Bar Association
Dr. Sarada Prasad Mohapatra*	Prof in Botany & Env, Sc, Narasingh Choudhury Autonomous College, Jajpur, Odisha, India
Mr Bwendo Kabanda *	African Youth SDG Training (AYSDGT) Lead, Zambia
Mr Xander Beks *	CEO i4Nature, The Netherlands
Ms Linda Sarpong	Co-Chair, GCSAYN Education Exchange Program (CEEP), Ghana
Dr Kedibone Chembe	Co-Chair, GCSAYN Education Exchange Program (CEEP), South Africa
Ms. Irene Njoki Kimani *	HOD-Public Relations, Rift Valley Institute of Science & Technology, Nakuru, Kenya
Mr Yaya Deome H.L	Food Systems, Climate change &AFCFTA Lead, Cameroon
Mr Domenico Vito	GCSAYN Italy Country Coordinator
Mr Salle Ntoko Jacob *	GCSAYN Intern, Cameroon
Mr David Li *	Partnership Associate ClimateScience / National head of recruitment, Canada
Mr William Makaza *	GCSAYN Liaison to the University of Mohamed VI Polytechnic, Morocco

Related:

The 2023 SDG Summit will be convened on 19-20 September 2023, during the United Nations General Assembly high-level week. Heads of State and Government will gather at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to follow-up and review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They will carry out a comprehensive review of the state of the SDGs, respond to the impact of multiple and interlocking crises facing the world, and provide high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to the target year of 2030 for achieving the SDGs.

Taking Stock of Africa’s Agrifood Processing Sector

9 February 2023. Taking Stock of Africa’s Agrifood Processing Sector. Key findings of the 2022 ReSAKSS Annual Trends and Outlook Report on Agrifood Processing Strategies for Successful Food Systems Transformation in Africa

A high-performing, resilient, and competitive agrifood processing sector can create remunerative employment opportunities, link producers to growing and lucrative urban markets, and help to ensure that consumers have access to sufficient and healthy food. Africa’s food processing sector is growing in response to growing demand for processed and high-value foods in the continent. However, processing firms, many of them small and informal enterprises, still face serious constraints. The 2022 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) examines Africa’s agrifood processing sector and its role in sustainable food systems on the continent. The report examines available evidence on the current status and performance of the sector, discusses key challenges, and identifies required policy actions to maximize its contribution to achieving sustainable food systems for all.

• Johan Swinnen, Managing Director of Systems Transformation, CGIAR and Director General, IFPRI
• Godfrey Bahiigwa, Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, African Union Commission
• Setting the Scene Ousmane Badiane, Executive Chairperson and Acting Managing Director, AKADEMIYA2063
• Key Research Findings and Recommendations Getaw Tadesse, Director of Operational Support, AKADEMIYA2063 (presentation)

Panel Discussion

• Janet Edeme, Head of Rural Development Division, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (DARBE), African Union Commission
• Dejene Tezera, Director of Department of Agribusiness Development, UNIDO
• Ashish Pande, Country Head, Olam Nigeria
• Atsuko Toda, Director of Agricultural Finance and Rural Development, African Development Bank
• Thomas Reardon, Nonresident Fellow, IFPRI

Resource:

RESAKSS (2022) Annual trends and outlook report: Agrifood processing strategies for successful food systems transformation in Africa,  236 p.

The 2022 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) examines policies to enhance the contribution of the agrifood processing sector to successful food systems transformation in Africa. The agrifood processing sector is expanding and increasing in importance as the role of processed food in diets grows. Increasingly, processing constitutes an essential link between producers and consumers and is a vital element for strategies to promote smallholder commercialization and rural development.

Related: 8 - 9 February 2023. AFRICA AGRI EXPO
The Africa Agri Expo gathered Agriculture Companies, Service Providers, Machinery & Equipment Companies, Technology Companies, Agro Chemical and Fertiliser companies, Seed Companies and Investors to build valuable connections.

 

Promoting sustainable and healthy diets: the role of National Public Health Institutes

9 February 2023,  Promoting sustainable and healthy diets: the role of National Public Health Institutes

Co-Organized by the National Information Platform for Nutrition (NIPN), the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the GIZ and the Norwegian Public Health Institute (NIPH).

Recording of this webinar is forthcoming

National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) have the important mission of protecting population health. Within this mission, NPHIs support the promotion of healthy diets by producing and assessing the scientific knowledge around the role of food and nutrition on human health.
Currently, there is an urgent need to transform the way in which we produce and consume food if we are to address the current global burden of malnutrition and ill health associated with poor diets, while also reducing the environmental impact associated with food production. A healthy and sustainable diet is one that balances multiple dimensions, including nutrition, health, and culture, alongside a lower environmental impact.

This webinar highlighted the importance of sustainable and healthy diets and the role of NPHIs. This webinar is part of the collaboration between EPHI and organized in collaboration with the Norwegian Public Health Institute (NIPH), under the BIS-Ethiopia project. 

• Introduction - Dr. Aregash Samuel, NIPN Ethiopia National Coordinator, Senior Researcher at the Food Science and Nutrition Research Directorate, EPHI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  Moderator - Dr. Masresha Tessema, Director for the Food Science and Nutrition Research Directorate, EPHI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Dr. Helle Margrete Meltzer, a senior researcher from NIPH elaborated on how sustainability is incorporated in the new Nordic food-based dietary guidelines. 
• Dr. Line Haug, senior researcher from NIPH, presented the Center for Sustainable Diets at NIPH. 
• Dr. Yewelsew Abebe, Senior Nutritionist, Freelance consultant, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - shared her views from the Ethiopian context.

Digitalizing Development

9 February 2023. InfoPoint conference: Digitalizing Development – not digitizing the status quo D4D

See the recording here

Drawing on concrete case studies, this session explored the realities of applying digital tools in “last-mile” settings. It proposed alternative pathways for empowering women, smallholder farmers and other marginalized groups to build secure and resilient futures through digitalization.

Recording available here

• Moderation by Jes Weigelt, Head of Programmes, TMG Research
• Faith Alubbe CEO, Kenya Land Alliance
  
  "Strengthening Community Land Rights’s primary objective is to provide technical legal support to strengthen community land and resource rights and then rigorously test the extent to which this mitigates and resolves local conflict. Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) supports communities gain legal protection for their community lands and through an action research approach will carefully track how this process affects local conflict and gender dynamics."
  
  
• Ana Osuna Orozco, Head of Programmes, RainForest Foundation UK: Forestlink
  programme: Real time community based forest monitoring
• Crispino Lobo, Cofounder and Trustee, WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies, India
• Chloe Teevan, Head of Digitalization Workstream, ECDPM
  
  "Horizon Europe, with its wider research ecosystem through research exchanges and co-creation can play a role in the development of the digital eco system."
• Guy Faure, Senior Policy Officer, INTPA F3
  
  "We are currently funding a project with the CGIAR to fund the use of digital tool to promote agro ecology" [see case study 3]

Case study 1: Forestlink programme

Illegal logging and mining cause a breakdown in forest habitats and community livelihoods.Conventional approaches to monitoring and tackling illegal deforestation don’t always get to the root of the problem. Forest authorities lack the means to supervise and control resource extraction while many independent forest monitoring programmes depend on costly and inefficient field missions by international or national NGOs. Advances in satellite observation have transformed our ability to detect forest loss but may not show us what is causing it.

By engaging communities in the fight to tackle illegal logging, this programme seeks to strengthen their involvement in forest management using our innovative ForestLink technology. In this way, real time data from communities with local knowledge has made forest monitoring a more ‘bottom up’ and transparent process, and forest authorities in project countries have praised its contribution to improving forest governance.

• ForestLink has been deployed in DRC, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia and Peru where hundreds of community monitors are generating thousands of illegal deforestation alerts to enhance detection and enforcement of illegal forest destruction.

• This system is reducing illegal logging and mining in the target areas, leading to seizures of illegal timber and equipment, landmark court cases, a better deal for communities from timber companies and territorial protection. 

• The versatility of the system means it is also being used to monitor human rights violations, women's rights and wildlife crime and poaching.

This short film documents the early stages of the Rainforest Foundation UK's real-time forest monitoring project in Central Africa and the Peruvian Amazon. RFUK works in the world's two largest rainforests: the Congo Basin and the Amazon. Spread over billions of acres, these forests are under threat from illegal activities like logging and mining. These activities cause a breakdown in forest habitats, undermining forest and indigenous peoples' livelihoods and destroying ecosystems. 

 By engaging communities in the fight to tackle illegal logging, our real-time monitoring project seeks to strengthen their involvement in forest protection and management. As of 2017, ForestLink is active in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Peru.

Case study 2: FarmPrecise App 

FarmPrecise App provides weather based, location specific, personalized advisories for your crop. It promotes sustainable agriculture practices including integrated pest management, optimum fertilizer use and irrigation, thereby, improving crop productivity and reducing expenses for small & marginal farmers.

• 4 Indian States
• 5 Languages
• 25+ Crops
• 50K+ Downloads

Case study 3: The TRANSITIONS’ Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT) project - CGIAR’s Program on Agroecological Transitions for Building Resilient, Inclusive, Agricultural and Food Systems (TRANSITIONS) 

The TRANSITIONS’ Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT) project will promote innovations related to digital tools and their interfaces that enhance inclusiveness, integrate climate change resilience and mitigation with agroecological aims, and enable farmers to develop new practices.

To achieve its goals, the ATDT Project has strategically planned activities and outputs to assess the global and site-specific digital ecosystems, improve digital tools to engage farmers in the co-creation of knowledge, and test and evaluate digital tool innovations for scaling up climate-informed agroecological outcomes.

Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts.

TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through the development and adoption of:

1. Holistic metrics for food and agricultural systems performance
   
   
2. Inclusive digital tools
   
   Involving farmers in the co-design of knowledge is a key principle of agroecology. If digital platforms are to be a major driver for scaling up agroecology, it is essential to support more inclusive use of tools and co-design of practices by farmers to address needs in LMICs. The ATDT Project will evaluate how farmers benefit from using improved digital tools and their potential to generate large-scale impacts for climate-informed agroecology.
   
   
3. Traceable private-public sector incentives and investments for food systems.

Partners and Funding
Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
University of Vermont & Gund Institute for Environment
CIFOR-ICRAF
Duration: 2021 - 2024
Funding: EU-IFAD

Webinar: the TRANSITIONS Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT)

30 November 2022. In this informal expert workshop, the TRANSITIONS Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT) project reviewed and received feedback from stakeholders and experts on proposed guidance for smallholder farmer’s inclusion and co-creation of farm practices for agroecology and climate change action. Invited participants included digital resource specialists, farmer-support organizations, and agroecology and climate change experts. In 2023, we will apply the principles with our action partners in Brazil and Vietnam to guide digital innovations. In the workshop we sought input to the relevance, coherence and usability of the proposed principles to guide future work. More on the ATDT Project: https://bit.ly/InclusiveDTs

In this informal expert workshop the TRANSITIONS Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT) project reviewed and received feedback from stakeholders and experts on proposed guidance for smallholder farmer’s inclusion and co-creation of farm practices for agroecology and climate change action. Invited participants included digital resource specialists, farmer-support organizations, and agroecology and climate change experts. 

• See presentation about: Civil Societies' critique about digital tools - through the lens of agro-ecology and small scale agriculture @8:40 - by Sadie Shelton (a literature review)

In 2023, ATDT will apply the principles with its action partners in Brazil and Vietnam to guide digital innovations.