UNCCD COP15 - Food Day
Seeds of Change for a Nature Positive Future

Hosts: UNCCD, WWF, CGIAR, Committee on World Food Security (CFS), FAO, CIFOR-ICRAF, TMG Think Tank, UNEP, IICA, One Planet Network

[ Recorded webcast ]

Co-organised by WWF, CGIAR, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), FAO, CIFOR-ICRAF, TMG Think Tank, UN Environment Programme, IICA and the One Planet Network, and hosted at the Rio Convention Pavilion, this full day event will encourage stakeholders to include food systems approaches in the implementation of the Rio Conventions on Desertification, Biodiversity and Climate.

The UNCCD Food Day - Seeds of Change for a Nature-Positive Future will focus on cross-cutting policy responses spanning multiple global agreements, the interdependence of food system demand-side drivers and supply chains, and capacity to deliver a coherent suite of on-the-ground actions. It will help countries, organisations and the science community develop stronger plans to achieve the UNCCD Land Degradation Neutrality targets. It will also help develop stronger plans to implement Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Climate Agreement, and work towards an ambitious post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
 
To feed a growing population healthy and nutritious diets within planetary boundaries, we must halt conversion of nature, limit food production to existing farmland and keep climate change to no more than 1.5°C. Restoring degraded ecosystems can deliver multiple benefits for people, nature and climate, particularly by restoring degraded farmland for nature-positive food production. Approximately 52% of all farmland is degraded and underperforming. We need to urgently scale up the implementation of restoration, by setting the right enabling conditions and incentives and return this land to nature-positive food production for the well-being of people.

Objectives

• Build momentum for transforming food systems in the context of the Rio Conventions and harness synergies in the implementation of the Rio Conventions;
• Raise awareness and gain support on the need to adopt a holistic approach to promote solutions that take into account all dimensions of sustainable development, simultaneously addressing environment, agriculture, nutrition and health;
• Linking the UNCCD goals to the transformation of food systems;
• Discuss challenges and opportunities of improving soil health, scaling up restoration of degraded land, strenghtening land tenure, promoting agrobiodiversity, maintreaming sustainable diets, empowering women and youth and transforming food systems with specific focus on UNCCD goals.

Specific targets

Through this first Food Day @ UNCCD COP15 we aim to call upon countries, private sector and other actors to take up food systems approaches in the LDN targets, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and the biodiversity targets of the three conventions.  We will do so by  applying  three levers recommended in the report on LDN for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security.

• Cross-cutting policy responses spanning multiple global agreements
  By adopting a ‘food systems lens’, LDN response actions can further enhance the impact of existing policies and initiatives focused on environmental sustainability, inclusive economic growth, climate stability, and improved public health that are embedded in a range of key global agreements, most notably the SDGs and the Paris Agreement and the post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework;
• Interdependence of food system demand-side drivers and supply chains
  The interdependence of food system demand-side drivers and supply chains provides a singular focus for LDN response actions that simultaneously encourage the uptake of plant-based diets while at the same time reducing food loss and waste
• Capacity to deliver a coherent suite of on-the-ground actions (including finance)
  Nature-positive food policies that incentivize more sustainable practices and ensure supply chain transparency could help unlock the constraints in our current food systems. Developing the capacity to deliver a suite of coherent LDN response actions at the national level will necessarily include monitoring and evaluation protocols to guide future investment and including soil health.

Agenda

09:00-10:00

High-level Opening Session: Importance of Food Systems Transformation to achieve Rio Convention objectives 

Speakers: Ibrahim Thiaw (Executive Secretary, UNCCD) - Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary (SCBD) - Motsomi Maletjane (UNFCCC) - Susan Gardner (UNEP) - Tarja Halonen (UNCCD Land Ambassador) - Juan Lucas Restrepo (CGIAR) - Tony Simons (CIFOR-ICRAF) - Maria Helena Semedo (FAO) - Ibrahim Musa (UNCCD Land Hero) - Jorge Laguna Celis (One Planet Network) - Gabriel Ferrero (CFS Chair)(pre-recorded video)
Moderation: Melissa Ho (WWF US)

The session will discuss how alignment of the Rio Conventions could be improved and how Land restoration could contribute to leverage the synergies of implementation and support food systems transformation actions

10:00-11:00

My Land My Rights: - Legitimate Tenure Rights for Food Security, Climate Resilience and Ecosystem Restoration

Speakers: Aurelie Bres (FAO) - Violet Shivutse (Shibuye Community Workers, Kenya) - Faith Alubbe (Kenya Land Alliance) - Washe Kazungu (TMG) - Simon Sidbewindin Kabore (Projet Neer Tamby, Burkina Faso) - Audace Kubwimana (International Land Coalition (ILC)) - Jes Weigelt (TMG)
Moderation: David Betge, TMG

This session will highlight the interconnections between grassroots work to improve land governance and the opportunities and challenges on local, national and international levels to increase women´s, Indigenous Peoples´ and local communities’ tenure security enabling sustainable food systems. This will contribute to informing future policy debates on the linkages between governance of tenure and Sustainable Food Systems from local to national and international level.

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

11:30-12:30

Healthy Soil for a Healthy Planet:  Building resilient food systems for increased food and nutrition security

Speakers: Leigh Winowiecki (ICRAF-CIFOR) - Erin Tomkinson (Australian Embassy) - Tano Yao (Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire) - Adrian Leitoro (GLF Restoration Steward) - James Smith (WBCSD) - Claudia Schepp (4p1000) - Sasha Alexander (UNCCD) - Melissa Ho (WWF US)
Moderation: Jerome Tondoh, CIFOR-ICRAF

The session will showcase the prominent role of healthy soil in contributing to the goals of the three Rio Conventions, and in particular, the LDN targets. Speakers will share their experiences of how they are working to reverse land degradation and restore soil health. The session will highlight experiences from a policy perspective, investment angles as well as implementation and research. Advances with the multi stakeholder platform launched during the UN Food Systems Summit last year (CA4SH) and ways to get engaged will also be highlighted

12:30–13:30 Planet-based Lunch

13:30-14:30

Agrobiodiversity: Our Past, Our Future

Speakers: Juan Lucas Restrepo (CGIAR) - Marieta Sakalian (UNEP) - Carlo Fadda (CGIAR) - Jamal Annagylyjova (UNCBD) - Shyam Sunder Jyani (UNCCD Land for Life Awardee) - Joy Mugisha, Farmer (tbc)
Moderation: James Stapleton

This session will explore how agrobiodiversity can help to restore degraded land, improve soil health and reduce climate risk, while ensuring food security. The session will showcase country level examples and discuss policy levers to scale up agrobiodiversity mainstreaming in the Rio Conventions. 

14:30-15:30

Food Systems Transformation - ways to strengthen implementation of the Rio Conventions

Speakers: Fergus Sinclair (CIFOR-ICRAF) - Martina Fleckenstein (WWF Food Practice) - Chiara Cirulli (CFS) - Stéphanie Piers de Raveschoot (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) - Carlo Fadda (CGIAR) - Stefanos Fotiou (Director, UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, FAO)(pre-recorded video) - Moses Mulindwa (UNCCD Land Hero, Uganda) - Melissa Ho (WWF US)
Moderation: Susan Onyango (CIFOR-ICRAF)

The session will discuss and present opportunities and solutions how food systems transformation can strengthen the implementation of the UN Rio Conventions. Based on the outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit and its follow-up processes by state and non-state actors, the UN FSS coalition on Agroecology and the ONE Planet Network programme for Sustainable Food Systems, ways of implementation will be identified, and practical solutions presented.

15:30–16:00 Coffee Break

16:00-17:00

Guardians of our Planet - the impact of women and indigenous groups to Food Systems transformation

Speakers: Patricia Kombo (UNCCD Land Hero, Kenya) - Chiara Cirulli (CFS) - Lorena Aguilar (UNCCD) - Nicole Harari (University of Bern) - Sharon Myambura Ruthia (Women4Biodiversity, Africa)
Moderation: Rockaya Aidara (UNCCD)

The session will highlight approaches of empowerment of women and showcase practical approaches on implementation on the ground and promote the integration of gender considerations into actions against biodiversity loss, climate change impacts and desertification to maximise the results of interventions and lead to gender-sensitive policy- and decision-making.

17:00-17:30

Closing session: My Diet Our Health: Shifting consumption and diets for healthy people and healthy planet

Speakers: Sukati Mphumuzi (UN Nutrition, FAO, Ghana) - Jeanne Mukarukundo (One Acre Fund, Rwanda) - Joost Nelen (SNV Netherlands)
Moderation: Melissa Ho (WWF US)

The session will build the bridge between all conventions and summarise the main findings of the day. It will also look at up-coming events such as Stockholm+50, UNCBD and UNFCCC in 2022

18:30-20:00 Reception and networking (on invitation only)

Related documents

• Food Day Concept Note [PDF-297Kb]
• Food Day Summary [PDF-162Kb]
• Food Day Social Media Card 1 [PNG-1.64Mb]
• Food Day Social Media Card 2 [PNG-2.35Mb]

Selected photos

All photos by: IISD/ENB | Matthew TenBruggencate
Source: https://enb.iisd.org/rio-conventions-pavilion-unccd-cop15/12-may-2022