Session two of the ‘Backing the Middle’ series. This session hosted a discussion with donors to discuss where concessional capital is best utilized in the agri-SME finance market.
With declining rates of official development assistance (ODA), donor countries have employed innovative ways to attract more investment from the private sector to agriculture, notably through blended finance instruments.
Session two of our ‘Backing the Middle’ series hosted a discussion with donors to discuss where concessional capital is best utilized.
Should development finance focus on investment funds, financial incentive models or technical assistance to move the needle in agri-SME finance?
Is there a better way to use these funds for higher impact on the performance of small agricultural enterprises and the farmers they serve?
What does the evidence from years of donor engagement in agricultural development tell us?
This second session was co-organized by SAFIN, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Developmentand Market Links, and is part of SAFIN and USAID’s ‘Backing the Middle’ webinar series.
Songbae Lee, Agriculture Finance Team lead, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) (Moderator)
Iris Krebber, Head of Civil Stabilisation Group Operations, UK Food Security and Land, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Bernard Zaugg, Programme Officer, Economy and Education, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Investors typically shy away from lending to smaller agricultural enterprises, because the financial costs and risks often don’t match the financial returns of these investments. The first session of the ‘Backing the Middle’ webinar series explored this notion, looked first at how some investors are using innovative tools to reduce the overall cost to serve small businesses in the sector and then discussed whether smaller enterprises can cumulatively generate more social returns than larger ones in terms of job creation, resilience and sustainable development.
Partners such as GIZ, FSD-Kenya, African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), AGRA, National Research Fund, IFPRI, Tegemeo Institute, Association of Fintechs in Kenya, Association of Microfinance Institutions of Kenya, Fertilizer Association of Kenya, Apollo Agriculture, Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives, SNBX Capital, contributed to this conference and transformation of the Agricultural sector in Kenya.
The financing ecosystem in most of sub-Sahara Africa has barely scratched the surface
when it comes to the development of demand driven agricultural financing solutions. Subse- quently, there is a converse relationship between Agriculture finance investment and the
sectors’ contribution to the GDP. The void comes along with some challenges that span
managing risks, high transaction costs in dealing with large number of small farmers, and
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), lack of expertise to backstop agricultural loan
portfolios, amongst others.
Agri-FinTechs transform farmers’ access to rural credit, solve payment
challenges in largely cash-based econo- mies, help improve commercial experiences
for both agricultural enterprises and their
customers, and scale the understanding
and mitigation of the industry risks.
Scaling financial access through Digitalization of the Agriculture Value Chain
The aim is to highlight the need for AVC digitalization, to scale access to agriculture investment
thereby enabling an inclusive digital economy. The discussion will focus on the current environment
and existing frameworks for digitalization and articulate ideas on how we can make the agricultural
digital economy more vibrant.
Positioning Research to better Support Decision-making on Sustainable Investments
and Financing of the agricultural sector.
Data is critical for supporting evidence-based decisions on performance management, monitoring and
evaluation, research, and policy. Poor access to useable and shareable data is the biggest drawbacks to
ensuring better decision making on prioritizing funding of agricultural research.
The remarks will seek to highlight the role research and data in making sound investment decisions.
Sustainably Funding Agriculture Research.
The session seeks to prescribe mechanisms to fund agricultural research adequately and sustainably.
Considerations will include support for basic and fundamental research, upscaling and outscaling
research outcomes and commercializing research outputs as a funding mechanism.
The Hidden Middle: Financing agricultural MSME’s
This session aspires to bring out the role of the private sector in the achievement of a financial
system that delivers value for need and takes into consideration gender inclusivity. Examples of
ongoing initiatives aimed at increasing private sector participation will also be highlighted.
Financing Infrastructure for Agribusiness Progression
The session will look into approaches and benefits of supporting infrastructural development
as a key driver of agribusiness in Africa. It will provide examples of success stories primarily
facilitating trade in Kenya and within the EAC region.
As the fifth policy seminar in the CGIAR series on Strengthening Food Systems Resilience, this virtual event took stock of food systems–related outcomes from COP28 and outline priorities for advancing them at both the international and country level in a concrete and meaningful manner.
Felicitas Röhrig, Senior Policy Officer, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) - Taking Stock of COP28 Outcomes
Aditi Mukerji, Director, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Impact Action Platform of the CGIAR
Geeta Sethi, Advisor and Global Lead for Food Systems, World Bank - Advancing on Climate Change Finance
Johan Swinnen, Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR; Director General, IFPRI
Boaz B. Keizire, Head of Policy and Food Systems, AGRA - Country level Policy Priorities and Needs
Qingfeng Zhang, Senior Director, Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Office, Asian Development Bank
Nigar Arpadarai, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for COP29 Azerbaijan; Member of Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Preparing for COP29 and COP30
The 2 webinars were the second of the series on how the innovations processes promoted by DeSIRA projects and their organizations, can or should be brough to scale. It targets projects that are coming to an end as well as those that need to start building their exit strategy as part of their theory of change.
They reviewed the imbrication of DeSIRA projects (especially multi-country projects) into national, and international regional dynamics. The nature of relationships between DeSIRA projects, national and regional innovation strategies, the interaction with organizations in support of Research and Innovation or extension services and whether these can provide conditions for innovation trajectories to be pursued, building on action and results achieved by DeSIRA projects.
The webinar identified regional innovation agendas or policies that can support the scaling and sustainability or DeSIRA Innovations and how DeSIRA projects should seek to interface with these agendas.
The aim of the webinar was to review what processes supported by DeSIRA projects need to be continued – in particular those innovations targeting behavioral changes that require time and cannot be directly scaled out or up but rather need to be disseminated –, and what other processes can move beyond pilots or proofs of concepts through a blend of specific funding (including investments), access to markets, and a conducive environment. The webinar helped identify scalable processes and those to be continued as well as who and how should be reached out to ensure this continuation.
Aligned with building sustainable and resilient city region food systems (CRFS), the circular bioeconomy is attracting significant interest as an approach to stimulate economic growth and end dependency on non-renewable resources.
However, the development of the circular bioeconomy faces a number of barriers, such as inflexible regulatory frameworks, safety concerns and potential risks, and logistical challenges. As part of the CRFS Knowledge Exchange Series, this webinar explores common barriers identified through the CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Cities and the FAO-RUAF CRFS Programme, and potential ways to overcome them.
Makuki Tagushi Moderator FAO
Susanne Bodoch, circular bioeconomy (CBE) Innovation Hub Coordinator, IWMI Ghana - Multi-stakeholder platforms for promoting innovations in the circular bioeconomy
Bertha Darteh Adviser in Ghana WASH sector - Examples of circular bioeconomy in Ghana
Herve Levite FAO Green cities and Bioeconomy team - Bioeconomy for sustainable food systems
Patrick Muiruri, Food Systems Officer, Nairobi City County, Kenya
FAO (2024) Digital agriculture in FAO projects in sub-Saharan Africa. #94 p.The report analyses 72 FAO activities and projects in Africa, spanning various agricultural subsectors and sub-regions, and how they harnessed digitalization. It highlights where more investment is needed from FAO and others. Two sets of recommendations are made: the first centres around how generally to better leverage digital technologies for food security and food system transformation in Africa. The second articulates around how FAO may strengthen the integration of digitalization in its Africa programme priorities.
The report emphasizes the crucial importance of digital capacity-building particularly for smallholder farmers, the importance of #dataanalytics to support effective agriculture #policymaking, etc. It also provides recommendations relating to the need to continue promoting pro-smallholder digital tools and services, while exploring the potential of newer innovations including generative artificial intelligence when needed with specific stakeholders. The findings also underscore a need for further inclusion, particularly among youth and women who are essential to the sector’s future yet are currently underrepresented in benefiting from digital advancements.
This study is the result of a collaboration with Wageningen
University and Research (WUR).
The Future Fit Food and Agriculture report series argues for the adoption of ambitious sustainability action plans by agrifood companies and sector-wide investments of approximately USD $205 billion per year between 2025 and 2030 to unlock up to 9 gigatons of CO2 equivalent of mitigation annually by 2030. The first report aims to help agrifood companies understand the implications of current and emerging voluntary standards and the expected trajectory of regulation for climate and nature. The second report unpacks the financial costs and benefits of implementing mitigation solutions to tackle agriculture and land-use change emissions in company value chains.
Investment from the food sector of approximately US $205 billion per year between 2025 and 2030 could mitigate up to 9 GtCO2e annually by 2030. While significant, these costs represent less than 2% of total projected food sector revenues and come with other benefits including access to new and growing markets, some on farm savings and improved supply chain resilience.
This report highlights that the burden of mitigation varies depending on where actors sit along the value chain. A critical challenge is that the costs are currently projected to land most heavily on farmers, who are the least able to pay. Overcoming this inequity requires companies to reassess how they partner with actors in the value chain, particularly farmers, and how they engage with policymakers to accelerate action. Currently, farmers are responsible for implementing many of the on-farm and nature protection
solutions outlined in Future Fit Food and Agriculture report 2. They carry most of the risks inherent in
changing agricultural practices, including learning new skills and practices, and investing in and
establishing new infrastructure.
Businesses setting and implementing ambitious climate and nature strategies today will be better prepared for future sustainability regulation, facing fewer compliance risks and experiencing less disruption in their supply chains. Ambitious companies can not only leverage established and emerging voluntary standards to get ahead of the game, but they can and should also seize the opportunity to advocate for harmonized standards and regulation, which will accelerate the food sector’s transition to a sustainable future.
In many cases, existing voluntary standards are being used by legislators to inform the development of new regulation. European countries are among those leading this trend, with more countries expected to follow suit. Much of this recent legislation focuses on mandatory due diligence and disclosure, such as: (a) The EU Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (CSDD) (b) The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) (c) The EU Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR). These regulations demand greater levels of supply chain transparency and public reporting on sustainability strategies from food and agriculture companies. They also carry significant near-term costs for non-compliance.
Co-hosted by the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and We Mean Business Coalition, the event will delve into key insights from a recently published report series: ‘Future Fit Food and Agriculture’ revealing that US $205 billion per year is needed from the food sector to mitigate half of global food system emissions.
The ForumforAg Annual Conference consisted of live broadcasts, moderated panel discussions and dialogues, interactive interventions, networking opportunities and exhibitions, live in Brussels and online.
Videos and other materials will be available soon.
Introduction
Stephen Sackur, Journalist Session moderator
Janez Potočnik, Chair ForumforAg 2024
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European CommissionSpecial video message
Session 1: Where do we go from here?
Stephen Sackur, Journalist Session moderator
Saswati Bora, Global Director, Regenerative Food Systems, The Nature Conservancy Opening speech
Lee Ann Jackson, Head of the Agro-food Trade and Markets Division, OECD
Nicola Pochettino, Director for Environmental and Natural Resources, European Investment Bank
Máximo Torero, Chief Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Ana Roš, 3* Michelin Chef - Inspirational talk
Session 2: The need for systemic change
Rose O’Donovan, Journalist & Editor AgraFacts - Session moderator
Sébastien Abis, Managing Director, Club Demeter
Patrick Child, Deputy Director General, Environment, European Commission
Jörg-Andreas Krüger, President, NABU
Nanna-Louise Linde, Vice President European Government Affairs, Microsoft
Vanessa Stiffler-Claus, Vice-President International Policy and Strategy, John Deere
Prof. Peter Strohschneider, Chair, Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture - Response
Samo Login, Founder and CEO, LoginEko - Inspirational talk see: https://njamito.com/en/traceability/?lot_id=SPN05-A0001
Call to action progress report
Rose O’Donovan, Journalist & Editor AgraFacts Session moderator
Boris Erg, Director, Director, IUCN European Regional Office
Petra Laux, Chief Sustainability Officer & Head Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, Syngenta
Emanuele Paolo Sicuro, Government Relations Director, Cargill
Jurgen Tack, Secretary General, European Landowners’ Organization
Mark Titterington, Co-Founder & Director, Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Bram Van Hecke, Farmer - Response
Session 3: What levers can the EU pull to deliver systemic change and what did we learn?
Rose O’Donovan, Journalist & Editor AgraFacts - Session moderator
David Clarinval, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Small Businesses, the Self-Employed,
SMEs and Agriculture, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal, Belgium - Introductory message
Stefania Avanzini, Director, One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) & Member of the WBCSD Extended Leadership Group
Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, Director Strategy and Policy analysis, DG AGRI
Martin Hlaváček, MEP, European Parliament
Jurgen Tack, Secretary General, European Landowners’ Organization
Tom Vilsack, United States Secretary of Agriculture - Respondent
Amy E. Johnson, Conservation Biologist and Program Director, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute - Inspirational talk
Session 4: How to fund the transition?
Stephen Sackur, Journalist -+ Session moderator
Alessandro Cataldo, Partner, Europe Agrifood sector leader, EY
Boris Erg, Director, European Regional Office, IUCN
Chris Hogg, Global Head of Public Affairs, Nestlé
Martin Reesink, Advisor to the Board on Food & Agri EU matters, Rabobank Global Food & Energy Networks
Mary Whittow, Principal Consultant of Sustainable Agri-Food, Anthesis Group
Close of the day Janez Potočnik, Chair ForumforAg 2024 and Chairman RISE Foundation
This Knowledge Agenda has been developed as part of the FNS-REPRO Learning Agenda by the Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation (WCDI) with knowledge partners across the Horn of Africa.
It is based on the framework provided by the Agenda Knowledge for Development which outlines the knowledge necessary to attain the Sustainable Development Goals with 12 Knowledge for Development Goals and 130 personal statements.
The proposed Knowledge Agenda for building food systems resilience for protracted food crises in the Horn of Africa is also based on academic and other literatures on knowledge management and food systems resilience in protracted crises.
This hybrid consultation is bringing together key stakeholders to further develop and validate this Knowledge Agenda.
Stakeholders: experts and community representatives from the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia/Somaliland), those interested in food systems transformation/resilience in protracted crisis, and experts in knowledge management for development.
The governments of Ecuador, India, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam have come together to launch a $379 million initiative to combat pollution from the use of pesticides and plastics in agriculture: Financing Agrochemical and Agricultural Plastics Reduction and Management (Farm)
Despite their benefits for food yields, these chemicals pose significant risks to human health and the environment. As many as 11,000 people die from the toxic effects of pesticides annually, and chemical residues can degrade ecosystems, diminishing soil health and farmers’ resilience to climate change. The opening burning of agricultural plastics also contributes to an air pollution crisis that causes one in nine deaths worldwide.
Highly hazardous pesticides and mismanaged agricultural plastics release toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – chemicals which don’t break down in the environment and contaminate air, water, and food. These inputs are generally cheaper than sustainable alternatives, giving farmers little incentive to adopt better practices.
The Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management Programme – or FARM – led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), seeks to change that, elaborating the business case for banks and policy-makers to reorient policy and financial resources towards farmers to help them adopt low- and non-chemical alternatives to toxic agrochemicals and facilitate a transition towards better practices.
The five-year programme is projected to prevent over 51,000 tons of hazardous pesticides and over 20,000 tons of plastic waste from being released, while avoiding 35,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and protecting over 3 million hectares of land from degradation as farms and farmers convert to low-chemical and non-chemical alternatives.
About FARM
The Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management Programme (FARM) is a $379 million, five-year initiative to combat agrochemical pollution. Funded by the Global Environment Facility, the programme is led by UNEP, with the support of United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the African Development Bank. Participating countries include Ecuador, India, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam.
Innovation and technology are revolutionizing the way we protect and use forests as the world faces unprecedented challenges threatening human well-being and nature. New solutions are transforming forestry, allowing more accurate mapping and monitoring, empowering Indigenous Peoples to be the guardians of forests, promoting ecosystem restoration and driving the development of more sustainable wood and forest products.
Innovation and technology have transformed countries’ ability to monitor and report on their forests
Fiona Stringer, International Forests Unit, United Kingdom
Daniel Irwin, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-SERVIR
Ellen Bruzelius Backer, Norway International Climate and Forest Initiative
Luisa Teixeira, Planet
Innovation is advancing ecosystem restoration as a powerful nature-based solution to multiple global challenges
Keynote speaker: Tom Crowther, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH) Moderator: Khalil Walji, The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)
Panelists
Tom Crowther, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH)
Yelena Finegold, FAO Forestry Officer
Chetan Kumar, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Adrien Leitoro, Nature and People as One
Fabiola Zerbini, Brazilian National Secretariat for Biodiversity, Forests and Animal Rights
Technological innovations can empower Indigenous Peoples through mapping and securing customary land
Keynote speaker: Ramesh Sharma, Ekta Parishad Moderator: Eva Hershaw, International Land Coalition (ILC/IFAD)
Panelists
Ramesh Sharma, Ekta Parishad
Tania Eulalia Martinez Cruz, Land is Life
Jessica Webb, World Resources Institute
Maria Paula Rizzo, FAO Land Tenure and Indigenous Peoples Specialist
New technological innovations are needed to halt deforestation and forest degradation
Keynote speaker: René Colditz, Joint Research Centre, European Commission – EU Observatory on Deforestation and Forest Degradation Moderator: Laura Vary, World Resources Institute
In collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the East African Community Secretariat (EAC) organized this virtual meeting .
The workshop shed light on the main components of EUDR, its origin, and the context of the EU Green Deal, discuss the main- elements of EUDR implementation and the core concepts, among which “Benchmarking”, “Due Diligence Obligations”, “Geolocation of all plots of land”. Participants in the workshop will include policymakers, the private sector, and experts and will be invited to share best practices and insights on how to achieve deforestation-free global value chains and meet the requirements of the EU market.
The workshop also seeks to provide a platform for stakeholders from EAC to collaborate and share best practices and challenges along the way to creating more sustainable land use and deforestation-free supply chains.
Mathieu Lamolle - Senior Advisor Sustainability Standards & Value Chains,International Trade Centre (ITC) Mathieu Lamolle has over 15 years of experience in international trade, market access and sustainable development issues. He holds a master’s degree in international economics and management from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (SBS)
Background
The Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP II) is funded by the European Union (EU) and runs from 2023-2027. To contribute to economic development in the East African Community (EAC) through increased sustainable intra-African and EU-Africa trade, MARKUP II has been designed to improve livelihoods, employment, export competitiveness for MSMEs and economic growth in Africa through supporting the development and strengthening of key export-oriented priority value chains with high potential. The programme will cover activities in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda through the provisions of partnerships with national, regional, and international institutions. Among other objectives, the second phase of the MARKUP II aims at strengthening MSMEs’ export competitiveness by enhancing value addition and diversification and by promoting business to the regional and international markets. This includes among others, the identification of market regulations (e.g. EU, regional African country markets), current and foreseen requirements in areas of environment (climate change, deforestation, carbon emissions etc.) as well as social criteria.
Deforestation is a critical global challenge with serious environmental, social, and economic implications. According to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), conservation, improved management, and restoration of forests and other ecosystems offer the largest share of economic mitigation potential, with reduced deforestation in tropical regions having the highest total mitigation potential.
From 2001 to 2015, just seven agricultural commodities – cattle, oil palm, soy, cocoa, rubber, coffee, and plantation wood fibre – accounted for more than a quarter of global tree cover loss, making deforestation-free agricultural commodity production and trade an essential action to address this problem.
Soybean is important globally, primarily due to its utilization as a source of protein and oil for human and livestock consumption, as well as industrial needs. In Africa, an escalating demand for high-quality soybeans for food, animal feed, and industrial uses is driving a surge in production. Yet just ~1% of the soybean production global total is produced in Africa, leads to a significant import burden, despite major efforts to increase soybean cultivation in Africa.
Increasing the growth of African soybean production is challenged by multiple factors that contribute to yield losses. A significant threat to soybean production in Africa is soybean rust disease. Present in most soybean-producing countries on the continent, rust causes yield losses of up to 90% if unmanaged. Lack of awareness about the disease symptoms and lack of information on available management options has led to unacceptable yield losses causing farmers to lose interest in the crop. To avoid yield loss, we need strategies to succeed in managing this devastating disease.
The EU has committed itself to the green transition and is supporting its partners in their paths to sustainable economies through development cooperation. However, large renewable energy projects as well as new land-use plans that are considered and labelled as part of the green transition, may be at odds with traditional forms of land-use. Pastoralist people have traditionally grazed their herds on more than half of Africa's land and have already lost access to some of these lands through green energy, new sustainable land-use plans and tourism projects, including hunting reserves.
The workshop will provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities pastoralists face through green transition projects in Africa. Based on the analysis of cases from Kenya and Tanzania, the workshop will be an opportunity to discuss how the EU can ensure that green transition projects under its purview create more opportunities than challenges for pastoralists and other indigenous people in Africa.
Dr Jonathan Davies, Expert in Sustainable Land Management, Pastoralism, Rangelands,
and Sustainable Agriculture.
He made a presentation based on his commissioned report “Opportunities and challenges of the green transition for pastoralism and indigenous people in Africa”.
Jon’s report to the European Parliament will be finalised after Easter.
The focus was on the situation in Kenya and Tanzania.
This was followed by a debate in the Parliament, including an input from the European Commission, and some responses by Jon at the end.
This event gathered 200-300 selected individuals from scientific and policy domains, focusing on intentional, diverse representation. It seeks to identify and agree on a joint roadmap. The gathering’s program was structured into three key sessions:
Knowledge: Sharing expert panels’ ambitions, challenges, and demands.
Intelligence: Interactive discussion on moving beyond fragmented intelligence.
Action: Developing a joint roadmap for pooling collective intelligence.
The Montpellier process was launched by CGIAR and the Montpellier scientific communities. It is a collectively owned and safe working space for pooling collective intelligence, promoting a connective tissue across local, national and global expertise where science, policy and action can interact.
Objectives:
Prepare joint messaging from global scientific communities calling for pooling collective intelligence across the International Panels and Science-Policy Interfaces to effectively address the polycrisis and related challenges.
Facilitate and activate connection and cooperation across International Panels and a diversity of science-policy interfaces, including cross feedback on reports, alignment on definitions, collective working groups, data-sharing, and joint reporting.
Support learning communities of practice optimizing collective expertise, including both academic, local and indigenous knowledge, and science-policy interfaces at local, national and international levels and across scales, i.e. mobilizing global expert panels’ knowledge for action at local and national levels and local knowledge at national and global scales.
Increase the representation and participation of actors from the Global South and of multiple and diverse scientific disciplines and knowledge systems, notably indigenous and local knowledge and those of marginalized communities, to ensure that their voices, perspectives and realities are included.
Taken together, these actions, when supported by the Montpellier Process, provide real potential to translate Expert Panels recommendations into credible and scalable action.
Carlos ALVAREZ PEREIRA, Secretary General of The Club of Rome
Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann, Chair of the High-Level Panel of Experts of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (HLPE-FSN) - Exchange: How to make scientific knowledge “actionable”?
Thomas Mettenleiter, Co-Chairman of the One Health High Level Expert Group (OHHLEP) - Health and sustainable development - Food and sustainable development
Sandra Diaz, professor of ecology and one of the world’s top 1% researchers - Biodiversity and sustainable development
Heide Hackmann, co-chair of a recent UN report on the links between climate change and the SDGs - Climate and sustainable development
Elisabeth Claverie de Saint- MARTIN, President and CEO of CIRAD - Strengthening the interface between science and policy
Conclusion: Lindiwe Sibanda, CGIAR System Board Chair
Philippe Augé, President of the University Montpellier
Lindiwe Sibanda, Chair of the CGIAR System Board
Michaël Delafosse, President of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole
Jalil Benabdillah, Vice-president of Occitanie Region in charge of Economy, Employment, Innovation and Reindustrialization
Context, ambition and tone setting:
Pooling Collective Intelligence for Action: the ambition / The challenge: building a connecting tissue across sectors, across scales and across knowledge systems
Patrick Caron CGIAR System Board Vice Chair
Fabrice DeClerck
Amanda Harding
The Framing: a common starting point and shared ambition
Panel 1 Why knowledge makes a difference but still fails to meet the challenges of the Global South and raise Global South voices: role of science and diverse knowledge systems.
Moderator: Heide Hackmann Hackmann (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
Ibrahim Assane Mayaki (African Union Special Envoy for Food Systems)
Elisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin (CIRAD)
Sandra Diaz (Conicet, Argentina)
Panel 2 Pooling collective intelligence: a disruptive imperative for transition, transformation, change and revolution a mixed panel of leading scientists and policy makers exploring the future looking PCI possibilities.
Moderator: Gerda Verburg
Denis Naughten (Inter-Parliamentary Union Science and Tech Working Group, Geneva)
Mamphela Ramphele (Club de Rome)
Stefanos Fotiou (Director, UN Food Systems Coordination Hub)
Mercy Orina (University of Nairobi)
Jonathan Vivas Aragon (Michigan State University)
Preetmoninder Lidder (FAO) : The assets we have: expert intervention mapping science-policy-society interfaces (SPI) principles for collaboration, existing collaboration, and typologies
Jim Skea (IPCC) - Orientation
David Obura (IPBES) - Orientation
Interactive Fish Bowl What is it going to take for collaboration across institutions scales, sectors, actors and knowledge systems to really move the dial on effective science-policy-society interfaces. What have we learnt so far, where can we do better and what does success actually look like? Expectations, barriers and enablers for cooperation and collaboration across scales, sectors, actors and knowledge systems… Crossing perspectives from civil society, government, UN bodies, private sector, and others.
Moderator: Cargele Masso (CGIAR) Director, Environmental Health and Biodiversity Impact Area Platform
Ajay Jakhar (BKS India)
Barbara Burlingame (UN Food systems hub / SAC)
Francisco Rosado-May (Universidad Intercultural Maya)
Joao Campari (WWF)
Parallel working session #1 WHAT is working and not working in local/national spaces key to food systems transformation
Context, ambition and tone setting: Real life Use Case experiences integrating knowledge and action across scales, sectors and knowledge systems. Exploring expectations, barriers and enablers for cooperation and collaboration across scales, sectors, actors and knowledge systems. Topics illustrated by living use cases anchored in local and national action areas, where knowledge communities are collaborating to strengthen real-life impact.
National food system transformation pathways: Mexico, Vietnam
National food system transformation pathways: Cambodia, Switzerland
City food systems transformation: São Paulo, Montpellier
Consumers/citizens agency and action: Kenya, Costa Rica
Parallel working session #2 HOW knowledge systems integrate, contribute and participate. Building on the Use Cases to align on conditions and levers to catalyze the integration and use of knowledge across sectors, scale and knowledge systems, strengthening science-policy-society interfaces. Paying attention to ensure coherence across scales; capacity to assess collective cross-scale knowledge for agrifood systems transformation; data, information, and knowledge flows for learning across scales; coordination with Science-Policy Interfaces at all relevant scales.
20/03 Day 2 Interfaces in action: listening, challenging, committing
Juan Lucas Restrepo, Global Director of Partnerships and Advocacy - Forward-looking actions for interrogation and commitment
Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director - Wrap-up and commitments
Designing connections and proposing actions for more effective decision making across models, scientific communities, scientists and decision makers, sectors.
PCI4A Champions:
Jim Woodhill (Foresight4Food)
Elen Lemaitre-Curri (CIHEAM)
Sebastien Treyer (IDDRI)
Sylvie Avallone (Institut Agro)
Eric Welch (ASU)
Raina Plowright (Univ. Cornell)
Curators:
LeeAnne Jackson (OECD)
Bill Moseley (Macalester College)
Selim Louafi (CIRAD)
Renaud dePlaan (IDRC)
Hugo Rivera-Mendoza (Expertise France)
Vanessa McBride (ISC)
Taking pooling collective intelligence to action Focus on options, proposals and their implications for pooling collective intelligence for action: key actions harvested from previous working sessions
Pitch & Panel #1
Moderator: Jean-François Soussana (INRAE)
Carlos Alvarez Pereira (Club of Rome)
Cromwell Lukorito (IPCC)
Karen Fabbri (European Commission)
Patrick Okori (RUFORUM)
Thomas Mettenleiter (OHHLEP)
Jean-Luc Chotte (IRD)
Pitch & Panel #2
Moderator: Joao Campari (WWF)
Aggrey Agumya (FARA)
Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann (HLPE-FSN)
Belinda Reyers (University of Pretoria)
Jaime Montoya (ISG – GSDR2023)
Juan Lucas Restrepo (CGIAR)
Ankitha Manohar (University of Leeds)
Rodney Asilla (University of Pretoria)
Refining the Expert Panels and Science-Policy Interfaces joint message and ambition narrative: towards the 2024-2033 International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development
Patrick Caron & Fabrice DeClerck
Wrap up by Francois Pierrot (University of Montpellier) & Ismahane Elouafi (CGIAR)
20/03 Side event: CULTIVATING HEALTH & FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: CROSSROADS FROM FARM TO FORK
Dialogue on food sovereignty and health. Together, let’s cultivate a sustainable vision of agriculture. A bridge between earth, plate and future.
Names and roles of stakeholders/partners :
Cécile Berthouly, Director of Research in Plant Agrobiodiversity, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), DIADE
Laurent Chevallier, doctor and nutritionist. Attached to the Montpellier University Hospital and in clinics.
Adrien Kergueme, tractor-free intensive organic market gardener in Lecques (Gard)
The European Commission’s annual flagship research and innovation event brought together policymakers, researchers, stakeholders, and the public to debate and shape the future of research and innovation in Europe and beyond through key policy debates, funding and networking opportunities, and dedicated workshops.
This fifth edition will take place during the Research and Innovation Week on 20 and 21 March 2024, both in Tour and Taxis (Brussels) and online, allowing everyone to get involved from anywhere.
EIC Business Acceleration Services: Discover EIC support beyond funding - Web streamed
This session presented the EIC Business Acceleration Service. How can the EIC Business Acceleration Services help access Corporates, Investors, Innovation Procurers, and connect with accelerators, incubators, venture builders or business partners at International Trade Fairs.
Scaling up in Europe and beyond - Web streamed
The EIC and its ecosystem are putting at the disposal of EIC awardees high-quality tools to support their journey for growth. In this session, the attendees got to know firsthand on those tools and the latest trends for scaling up at European and global level. The session’s international speakers and moderator shared their large practical experience in supporting deep tech companies and their passion about driving innovation and societal impact into the business world. This session offered an opportunity to learn about best business practices and EIC activities that can shape the future of many EIC companies.
EIC portfolio management: generating impact - Web streamed
Proactive portfolio management is one of the main priorities of the EIC Programme Managers. In this session, three Programme Managers detailed what proactive portfolio management means and how the Programme Managers can generate impact for the portfolio projects. They explained how support beyond grant mechanisms looks like, how they supported projects in regulatory aspects and how the collaboration of portfolio projects generates added value.
20/03 R&I for Europe’s competitive sustainability
20/03 Boosting R&I investments and reforms to sustain long-term competitiveness in Europe
20/03 The AU-EU Innovation Agenda A Forward-looking Cooperation for the Africa-Europe Partnership - Web streamed
A high-level panel aiming to highlight the political relevance of the cooperation on Research and Innovation between the African Union and the European Union in the broader Africa-Europe Partnership, and its potential to shape the future of this Partnership.
The AU-EU Innovation Agenda represents the new policy mainstay of the R&I cooperation between Africa and Europe, conceived in a very collaborative fashion over the past three years, under the aegis of the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation.
Happening eight months after the adoption of this Agenda, this session provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress of the implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda and to present the launch of the new Dashboard of Initiatives contributing to the implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda.
At the same time, on the occasion of the 40 year-anniversary of the Framework Programme, the session also hosted two success stories to illustrate the current and future impact of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda.
20/03 Evolution of Association of Third Countries to EU Research & Innovation Framework Programmes- Web streamed
This session focused on the impact and benefits for the EU and for specific third countries of the association of third countries to the Framework Programmes.
International openness has reached an unprecedented level in Horizon Europe. For the first time, the programme has opened the association possibility to highly competitive R&I actors located also beyond the neighbourhood of the European Union.
The panellists portrayed testimonials from third countries associated for many years, across several Framework Programmes, from ‘newcomers’ to the Programme, as well as the special case of working with the UK, previously an EU Member State, now returning to the programme as an Associated Country.
The panellists reflected in their introductions on the value of their association to the Programme, main benefits involved and the impact it may have on their national R&I ecosystem, socio-economic development, and broader international cooperation relations with the EU.
President | TUBITAK
Ambassador | Embassy of New Zealand to EU and NATO
Assistant Deputy Minister | Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Canada
20/03 Artificial Intelligence for Scientific Discovery
Given the rapid advancement of AI technologies and their increasing integration into scientific fields, this discussion anticipated how AI will support scientific breakthroughs in the next decade. The speakers provided their views in relation to the most promising avenues in which AI can transform science and they should sketch the role of EU policy to support and accelerate this process in the EU.
Executive Vice President of the European Commission | European Commission
Professor | University of Manchester
Vice President of research | Deepmind-Google
President | Adra
21/03 Innovation Ecosystems for Bioeconomy and Food Systems
Europe can compete effectively with leading economies across the globe by building a true pan-European innovation ecosystem underpinned by thriving regional innovation ecosystems and capitalising on the experience, needs, vision and perceptions of an increasingly diverse range of individuals, companies, and places. Smart specialisation strategies play a central role in strengthening regional innovation ecosystems so that they are better equipped to stimulate and sustain economic growth.
This session presented the importance of innovation ecosystems in Europe with a particular focus on the “Regional Innovation Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food Systems”, one of the DG RTD initiatives supporting the deployment of NEIA, the New European Innovation Agenda published in 2022 by the European Commission.
“Regional Innovation Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food Systems” can have a significant potential to support and accelerate the deployment of the bioeconomy and food systems transformation in regions addressing the innovation divide within the EU.
The session addressed also how EIT Food programmes are becoming more fundamental in managing an agri-food pan European innovation ecosystem to accelerate the transition to sustainable and resilient food systems.
Deputy DIrector General | European Commission
Director of the Agroecological Centre | Agricultural University of Plovdiv
Chief Executive Officer | EIT Food
21/03 The Power of Knowledge Valorisation
This session highlighted the essential role of knowledge valorisation to deliver interdisciplinary innovative solutions for complex global challenges while ensuring European industrial competitiveness in a resilient, sustainable, responsible and human-centric way.
Speakers provided their insights in the context of the recently adopted Commission Recommendations on the Codes of practice on industry-academia co-creation and on citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation and how it strengthens the uptake of results by enabling and facilitating co-creation and collaboration between all stakeholders in all domains of the R&I ecosystem.
EC/DG RI (2024) Valorisation policies – Code of practice on industry-academia co-creation – Commission recommendation, Publications Office of the European Union # 2p. The Code of Practice on industry-academia provides practical guidance for creating successful partnerships for knowledge valorisation. It calls for promoting co-creation in the organisation’s strategy, investing in skills, networking, communication, and awareness raising. It stresses the importance of creating incentives and strengthening the role of intermediaries and joint infrastructures in translating research results into business applications.
recommendation, Publications Office of the European Union, # 2p. The Code of Practice on citizen engagement offers practical guidance to strengthen links between research entities and societal actors for better uptake of research results. It identifies the need for a strategic approach at the organisation level which encourage cross-sector collaboration, awareness raising and strengthening the role of intermediaries. It also proposes the use of incentives, co-creation tools and digital solutions with a human-centric and sustainable design.
CEO | ROSI
President of the Board of Directors | Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI)
The Commission has proposed a series of targeted actions to boost biotechnology and biomanufacturing in the EU. The Communication on Building the future with nature identifies the challenges and barriers and proposes to tackle them, in line with the Communication on the long-term competitiveness of the EU. The advances in life sciences, supported by digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI), and the potential of solutions based on biology to solve societal issues, make biotechnology and biomanufacturing one of the most promising technological areas of this century. They can help the EU to modernise its agriculture, forestry, energy, food and feed sectors and industry. In addition, these technologies can contribute to a more competitive and resilient EU, that provides better healthcare to its citizens, and succeeds in its green and digital transitions. Find more online.
The agri-food ecosystem is one of the 14 key industrial ecosystems identified in the EU's Industrial Strategy. This strategy announced the co-creation of transition pathways with stakeholders to help accelerate the green and digital transition. This collaborative effort aims to build on existing strategies and enable their implementation by providing concrete actions. These actions aim to reinforce commitments by relevant actors towards the sustainability, digitalisation and resilience of the ecosystem.
The event, which represented an important milestone in the Food 2030 process, served to showcase promising Research and Innovation (R&I) outcomes contributing to sustainable food systems transformation in Europe and beyond. Furthermore, the conference provided a space for multi-stakeholder reflection and dialogue towards envisioning future R&I needs. The conference constituted of 14 panel sessions, 4 keynote speeches, 4 high-level addresses, for a total of over 60 speakers.
Extract of the report (page 30)
Hugo de VriesResearch Director at INRAE and coordinator of the EU funded project ‘FOODPathS’ that is preparing the EU Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) partnership, shared his expertise and pivotal role in building up the Partnership, shedding light on the development of the international dimension of this critical collaboration.
Irene Annor-Frempong (FARA) Lead for the AU-EU FNSSA International Research Consortium, discussed the forthcoming AU-EU International Research Consortium (IRC) platform for FNSSA, highlighting the importance of international collaboration in addressing global challenges. The IRC knowledge platform on AU-EU collaborations presents structural, practical, and participatory interaction between partners to promote joint funding opportunities on priority FNSSA topics and improve the contribution of projects to European and Africa development goals as well as to global targets e.g., SDGs.
New Horizon Europe Partnership on Sustainable Food Systems
The Horizon Europe Partnership on Sustainable Food Systems for People, Planet & Climate is expected to launch soon this summer! Curious to learn more? Check out the webpage of the EU-funded project “FoodPathS”, a preparatory action that aims to offer a concrete pathway and necessary tools for establishing an appropriate operational environment for the future Partnership.
Are you a policymaker, a researcher, an NGO representative or a citizen? Discover how you can get engaged and what are resources and tools designed for you by FOODPathS!