We believe the Food Systems Summit could provide a forum for a reset that seeks to find common ground for the increasingly fractious debate over food production in Africa, the authors say. Credit: Miriam Gahtigah/IPS

By Jemimah Njuki and Elizabeth Nsimadala
NAIROBI, Sep 2 2021 (IPS)

In a few weeks, the United Nations will host the first international Food Systems Summit. The goal is to create a global movement committed to solving the many dietary, economic and environmental problems linked to the way food is produced, sold and consumed today.

Africa, a continent with high rates of poverty and malnutrition that are strongly connected to poorly performing farms—and home to vast tracts of uncultivated but farmable land—will be a stress test for the summit’s aspirations.

Both of us grew up in farming households in Kenya and Uganda and have devoted our professional careers to exploring the wide assortment of challenges and opportunities connected to food production in Africa. We have a deep understanding of the fact that being a farmer in Africa today can be either a blessing or a burden.

Overall, it feels like today there is a perverse logic in which we are being told that African farmers must be penalized for problems originating largely in wealthy countries. So no commercial seeds, even if our farmers want them. No fertilizers, even if they are desperately needed and can be responsibly used—African farmers currently apply less than 20 kilos per hectare, compared to a global average of 136 kilos

Most Africans—including up to 90% of people living in rural communities—still rely on small-scale or “smallholder” crop and livestock production to generate the income they need to support their families.

Their farms—if productive and with good access to markets—can be the blessing that pays for school fees, health care and also food to round out their family’s nutritional needs. Farming is especially important for providing economic opportunities for African women.

But farming is often a burden for many Africans because they lack what they need to succeed—so their farms don’t provide sufficient incomes or even enough food. This burden grows heavier every day as the stresses of climate change and, more recently, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic add new obstacles.

Too many African farmers will head to their fields tomorrow with the same set of limited options they have been saddled with for decades—such as seeds for crop varieties that have become susceptible to a proliferation of plant pests and diseases, meager amounts of inputs and technical support to help them restore dangerously depleted soils, and no mechanization to work their lands or process their crops.

Increasingly, Africa’s agriculture burdens are outnumbering its agriculture blessings.

From our extensive work with African farmers, it’s clear that the Food Systems Summit’s admirable vision will not be achieved on our continent as long as our farmers lack the basic choices available to farmers elsewhere in the world. The same can be said for efforts to recover from the pandemic and adapt to climate change.

But here’s where the situation becomes especially complicated.

Many organizations are advocating for single solutions, restricting the options available for African farmers to choose from, when they should be doing just the opposite. And while we recognize that it is important to protect African farmers and African ecosystems from exploitation, we also must recognize the sovereignty of African farmers and their agency to choose what works best for their farms and their families and for protecting the ecosystems that they depend on.

For example, today, many African farmers save seeds from maize, beans or other crops cultivated in one season for planting in the next. They also may trade seeds with one another through informal markets. But too many of these varieties do not translate into good harvests. They have become susceptible to crop pests and diseases or changing climate conditions.  According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the amount of maize and other cereal crops harvested per acre or hectare in Africa is less than half the global average.

Therefore, there has been a growing effort by a number of African countries to work with their farmers to develop new, improved varieties that—while they are not a cure-all—can better respond to farmer needs and preferences. Yet some still view even commercial seeds—especially if they must be purchased fresh every year—with deep suspicion.

The answer is to help farmers understand the trade-offs and let them choose. But why vilify those who seek to offer the choice?

Overall, it feels like today there is a perverse logic in which we are being told that African farmers must be penalized for problems originating largely in wealthy countries. So no commercial seeds, even if our farmers want them. No fertilizers, even if they are desperately needed and can be responsibly used—African farmers currently apply less than 20 kilos per hectare, compared to a global average of 136 kilos. And no mechanization, even though many African farmers still plough with their cows and hand hoes.

We believe the Food Systems Summit could provide a forum for a reset that seeks to find common ground for the increasingly fractious debate over food production in Africa.

First, we can start with an agreement that we all want the same thing: environmentally sustainable, economically successful farms that deliver better opportunities for rural farming families across the continent and affordable, nutritious diets for all Africans. And we can agree that it’s incredibly important to develop public sector policies that encourage responsible use of agricultural inputs and safeguard farmers from potentially exploitive practices.

But the worst thing we can do right now for African farmers and Africa’s vulnerable food systems and ecosystems is to greatly narrow the menu of solutions available. Instead, let’s look for consensus instead of conflict and consider that there can be many paths to achieving our shared goals.

Dr. Jemimah Njuki is director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and an Aspen New Voices Fellow

Elizabeth Nsimadala is president of the Pan Africa farmers Organization (PAFO) and of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF). 

Fresh produce at a supermarket. Credit: Alison Kentish/IPS

By Alison Kentish
Aug 26 2021 (IPS)

As the international community prepares for the landmark United Nations Food Systems Summit, a pivotal gathering as part of a global goal to tackle food insecurity, hunger, biodiversity loss, and climate change through sustainable food production, Caribbean youth say the successful transformation of food systems must include young innovators.

On Youth Day 2021, young agriculture entrepreneurs from the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados joined agriculture experts from the Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and United Nations agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization to discuss the role of youth in food systems transformation.

They shared ideas on how young people, governments, and lending agencies can work together to help youth in agriculture.

“What is preventing a few young people within a community to have small greenhouse units in their backyards and collectively produce for a particular market?” asked Jeshurun Andrew, Saint Lucian youth advocate, and agriculture extension officer.

“Why don’t we see our governments establishing greenhouse facilities, where you have 50-100 greenhouses within a certain space, with shared security, where youth can rent a greenhouse, with the support of development banks?”

Andrew said Caribbean youth who have witnessed farmers endure the vicious cycle of planting and destruction following storms and other hazards need assurance that they have adequate support in bad times.

“Price volatility and disaster risk are things that farmers face all the time. Maybe the young person looking at agriculture from the outside, a young person who went to school and understands the risks associated with agriculture, would look at the industry and feel a lot safer knowing that there is insurance that can protect them if they got into agriculture.”

The young agriculture advocates have also urged governments to ensure continuing farmer education programs and enact land-use policies across the region that protect agricultural lands.

Keithlin Caroo, the founder of Helen’s Daughters, a Saint Lucia-based project which empowers rural women’s economic development in agriculture, said no discussion on food systems transformation is complete without addressing the gender gaps in agriculture.

“We need to include women in the goal of redefining the narrative of the agricultural sector. There is the hurdle of ‘you don’t look like a farmer,’ that it’s the office job and high heels for women, the expectation for us not to go into agricultural jobs. Women face similar obstacles to youth in agriculture including lack of finance and access to land.”

Caroo has called for financing reform. She told the forum that traditional lending institutions like commercial banks are risk-averse and collateral-based, often showing low levels of investment in the agricultural sector.

She is suggesting adopting non-traditional financing mechanisms, particularly for women in agriculture. She referenced the Saint Lucian women farmers she works with, some of who have partnered with a major supermarket chain for a micro-lending scheme.

The youth panelists all agreed that improving access to finance for youth in agriculture should be a priority for Caribbean governments.

They said nutrition must also be a hallmark of the push to build resilient food systems.

“I became the change I wanted to see. I was consuming mainly processed foods and decided to change my diet. I started eating what I grow, and my family members and people in my community started seeing the difference in me. I impacted the people around me. I’m now figuring ways to positively feed the people. You do not many of our local foods in our stores and on supermarket shelves. The competition with processed food is there, and we need to make a bigger dent in the natural side of things,” said Mc Chris Morancie, a young Dominican and founder of Generation Honey, a business that produces organic honey and other natural products.

The virtual event was organized by the United Nations Office to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, in partnership with the 15th Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 15). The Office’s Resident Coordinator Didier Trebucq said the dialogue was an important platform for youth to share their experiences, ideas, and solutions on food systems transformation.

“As we move towards the staging of the United Nations Food Systems Summit in September, now is the time for science, policy, and innovation to be combined into real solutions to transform the way we produce, consume and even think about food. We really count on young people to be major stakeholders in this,” he said.

“In this climate emergency where youth are one of the most impacted groups, we need to tap into the tremendous potential that young people have to serve as change agents for climate action and food security, and for that, they should be given a voice.”

Many organizations, including the Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) have also called for an overhaul of food systems. They urge the global community to work together towards achieving the goals of the upcoming UN Food systems summit. BCFN has also has called on people to adopt a sustainable and healthy diet which will contribute to a substantial reduction in greenhouses gas emissions and water consumption.

This week’s youth dialogue answered the call for UN agencies to engage young people in food systems dialogue as part of International Youth Day 2021.

It was held under the theme “Transforming Food Systems – Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health.”

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Produce stall in Brooklyn, New York. As the world faces rising poverty, conflict, climate change and COVID-19, the United Nations says ensuring access to safe, nutritious food for all is more urgent than ever as prepares to host the inaugural Global Food Systems Summit in September. Credit: Alison Kentish/IPS

By Alison Kentish
UNITED NATIONS, May 5 2021 (IPS)

Global youth advocates have been told that they play a crucial role in ensuring that the world produces and consumes food with greater attention to nutrition, food security, equality and sustainability.

As the United Nations prepares to host the inaugural Global Food Systems Summit in September, the organisation is hosting a series of dialogues to correct flaws in the way food is grown, processed, packaged and marketed, hoping to tackle growing world hunger, water scarcity and climate change.

On Tuesday, the UN Food Systems Summit brought over 100 youth delegates to the discussion, under the theme “Good Food for All.”

The dialogue was convened by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit Agnes Kalibata and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore.

The UNICEF Chief said the dialogue and summit are taking place at a time when the world needs to double up its efforts to alleviate childhood hunger.

“We are seeing stubbornly high rates of wasting and stunting – and a worrying increase in overweight and obesity. At the same time, the world faces a toxic combination of inequalities, poverty, conflict, climate change, COVID-19, and even looming famines that threaten further progress on nutrition,” Fore said.

She added that without urgent action, an additional nine million children under the age of five may suffer from acute malnutrition by 2022.

The dialogue was a chance for youth delegates to hear from other youth leaders, including U.S Agricultural Extension Specialist Janya Green. Green has been working on and promoting community food gardens since she was 12. She is a youth co-chair of one of five initiatives or ‘action tracks’ by the Food Systems Summit. Her role is to promote access to safe and nutritious food.

“Hunger worldwide is a huge problem,” she told the gathering. “Even before taking COVID-19 into account, hunger was projected to rise. If we do not reverse this current trend, the Sustainable Development Goal Zero Hunger target will not be met.”

Green announced that she has partnered with 25 fellow youth leaders and to launch a Youth #actforfood #actforchange campaign to bring the signatures of one million young people to the Global Food Systems Summit in September. They will be calling on leaders to transform global food systems.

Sustainable energy and climate crisis activist Emmanuel Sindikubwabo told IPS that the climate and nature crises are linked to poverty and hunger.

“We need avenues for environmental education and support for youth initiatives to use that knowledge to create decent work in agriculture for more youth. This can stimulate conservation and promote sustainable food production,” he said.

The youth leader, who heads Rwanda’s We Do Green Organisation and trains other young people in environmental conservation and climate change mitigation, says young people will need support to embrace their roles as agents of food systems change.

“We need more spaces and opportunities for youth-led initiatives for research and learning on climate-smart agriculture. We can then use this knowledge in local and context-based solutions for sustainable food systems,” he told IPS.

The UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake told the dialogue that as world leaders step up action on commitments as part of the Decade of Action on the Sustainable Development Goals, transforming global food systems is one of the biggest hopes for reducing global warming.

“This is especially true when we consider that currently 33 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are generated by food systems. Increasing industrial farming is resulting in loss of biodiversity at an enormous scale that could become irreversible,” she said. “The climate emergency and our unsustainable food systems are driving social injustice and inequalities, especially among our young people.”

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Global Humanitarian Overview for 2021, the global recession wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in extreme poverty for the first time in over two decades.

It warned that globally, hunger is rising and stated that the devastating pandemic-climate change duo was affecting food systems worldwide.

The dialogue organisers say current models show too many food systems prioritising profit over purpose, putting nutritious food out of the reach of millions of households. This is where nutritional worries emerge. Add the use of fertilisers and pesticides to the equation, along with the exploitation of water resources and they say it is clear that the world cannot continue to produce and consume food as it is doing presently.

The Global Food Systems Summit hopes to transform these systems and offer solutions for feeding the world’s population in an efficient, equitable and environmentally sustainable way.

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