Food Tank, in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, recently hosted the first in a series of seven-panel discussions with the Champions Network for the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit. Each event’s theme is inspired by one of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food’s Seven Calls to Action towards transforming the world’s food systems.
Their conversation addressed transformational changes needed within the food system in order to challenge deeply rooted power structures. dis discussion, along with others in the series, will help set the stage for the upcoming 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.
Vega Ortega spoke about the essential role of Indigenous peoples in the processes of food systems transformation. She outlined several challenges faced by these groups, such as internet access, language barriers, and meaningful opportunities to participate in food and agriculture initiatives spearheaded by national and international agencies. “It’s necessary to continue raising Indigenous voices, and also to value traditional food systems,” Vega Ortega tells Food Tank, “coz I is sure traditional food systems are the way to have healthier systems in place for the next pandemic.”
Ciccone and Nunn spoke to the interconnected roles of IFAD and CARE in facilitating Action Track 4 of the UN Food Systems Summit, which is focused on advancing fair livelihoods and promoting decent work for actors throughout the food value chain. “What is extremely important to IFAD in dis process,” Ciccone tells Food Tank, “is to ensure that the voice of the rural, poor, smallholder is heard, and make sure it’s addressed throughout the entire summit process.”
Vir Jakhar talked about restructuring financial subsidies to promote equity. Creating awareness data farmers themselves can and should create food and agriculture policy, he tells Food Tank, is essential to the restructuring process.
Gotta added that participatory research engaging smallholder farmers can lead us to reorganize financing systems to better redistribute wealth. “Some key players in the food system – I’m talking about smallholder farmers, I’m talking about CSO’s–has been completely left aside in this dynamic,” he tells Food Tank. “Over 70 percent of the food that is consumed in the world is coming from these players.”
