Tropentag 2022, September 14 - 16, Prague, Germany "Can agroecological farming feed the world? Farmers' and academia's views."

Joint response to global crises – partnerships for research and development

BMZ, Division 122 – Sustainable agricultural supply chains, international agricultural policy, agriculture, rural development, innovation, Germany

Abstract

The triple crises of conflict, COVID and climate change are dramatically exacerbating existing food security challenges with the strongest impacts felt by the poorest in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific in previously unknown magnitudes. Protecting the most vulnerable, whom the food crisis threatens to hit hardest, means taking immediate, joint and coherent action. In order to strengthen their resilience and develop context specific solutions, research, politics and development cooperation must be involved. Only the involvement of actors from all three areas can make local, regional and global agri-food systems more sustainable.

This session will throw light on existing structures of partnerships for research and development from the BMZ perspective as well as from an international, European and German point of view. Speakers represent key institutions in the context of Agricultural research and development in its thematic broadest sense.

Germany holds the G7 presidency in 2022. As an answer to the current global food crisis, Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), together with the World Bank, have initiated a “Global Alliance for Food Security” (GAFS), launched in May 2022. Data, analysis, and up-to-date information drive evidence-based crisis response and inform swift political, financial and technical actions. Research is a key building block to support GAFS’s advice and advance focus areas. While an immediate response is key, a long-term transformation towards sustainable agricultural and food systems remains necessary in order to make vulnerable countries resilient to future shocks and crises. BMZ pursues this goal with its core thematic strategy "Life without hunger - transformation of agricultural and food systems", supporting programmes to strengthen sustainable and resilient agri-food systems in order to reduce hunger and poverty, promote sustainable use of resources and build resilience to crises and shocks in partner countries.

BMZ is a strong supporter of the global research partnership One CGIAR, which plays a pivotal role in providing research for transforming food, land, and water systems globally. Collaboration between One CGIAR, national governments, and international organisations is needed to meet the strong demand for innovations and ensure their delivery, scaling, and impact.

EIARD (European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development) is a European donor coordination platform on agricultural research for development (ARD). The platform aims to promote and implement coherent European policies and investments at international, regional and sub‐regional levels in order to increase the impact of ARD, in particularly towards advancing on the SDGs.

ATSAF (Council for Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research) is the implementer of the Tropentag and brings together more than 300 scientists and development experts for internationally oriented agricultural and ecosystem research in Germany. ATSAF informs, promotes multidisciplinary research, networks members with cooperation partners, increases public awareness, intensifies communication, takes a stand and creates identity for all those interested in these issues, especially students and young scientists.

All speakers (Juan Luca Restrepo (CGIAR), Christophe Larose (EIARD, EC-INTPA), and Folkard Asch (ATSAF) will present their own perspective and experience and discuss how partnerships between research, policy and civil society can create synergies for a more effective, inclusive and demand-oriented research and development approaches that are required to address the challenges of the current global food crisis.

Keywords: Global crises, global response, networking, partnerships, research and development

Contact Address: Felicitas Röhrig, BMZ, Division 122 – Sustainable agricultural supply chains, international agricultural policy, agriculture, rural development, innovation, Berlin, Germany, e-mail: Felicitas.RoehrigBMZ.Bund.de