About GLF Africa 2022

GLF Africa 2022: How to build an equitable, resilient food future brought together over 8,500 participants from 122 countries and featured 182 leading scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, financiers, youth and government leaders, and 68 incredible partners to explore African solutions to the global food crisis caused by climate change, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. 

Across 31 plenaries, interactive sessions, launches, virtual tours, dialogues, performances, and a job fair, the digital conference explored ways to transform the future of food through healthy landscapes, equitable access to land, and shorter, greener value chains. Messages on social media rallied 26 million people around concrete ways for Africa to regain its food sovereignty.

Accelerating local leadership at scale

The post Who has the right to the land? Success stories of youth and women leadership in restoration appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Africa 2022

GLF Africa 2022: How to build an equitable, resilient food future brought together over 8,500 participants from 122 countries and featured 182 leading scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, financiers, youth and government leaders, and 68 incredible partners to explore African solutions to the global food crisis caused by climate change, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. 

Across 31 plenaries, interactive sessions, launches, virtual tours, dialogues, performances, and a job fair, the digital conference explored ways to transform the future of food through healthy landscapes, equitable access to land, and shorter, greener value chains. Messages on social media rallied 26 million people around concrete ways for Africa to regain its food sovereignty.

Cameroon’s traditional rulers in restoration

Africa’s cultural and political identity cannot exist without its traditional rulers. For centuries, traditional rulers, some known as “chieftaincies,” “Igwes,” or “queen mothers,” have been key in maintaining peace, preserving customary laws & in helping to ensure the legitimacy of post-colonial politicians/leaders. Their influence in maintaining Africa’s cultural anchoring was and is still key. Now, they are working to tackle climate change in a fight to preserve their ways of life.

This session explores the critical role traditional rulers have played in community-led restoration projects in Nkambe Cameroon and features the stories of Chiefs from GLFx Nkambe, Cameroon, Chapter.

• Queen Mother of Bondede, Manukau Kwimbu highlights the need to blend traditional knowledge with contemporary expertise to address landscape restoration. 
• Chapter facilitator, Nfor Blessing shares the scope of influence and impact traditional rulers have within communities, thus playing a key role in this fight against climate change as they hold the power in acting as the mediators between international or governmental advocates for sustainable development and rural and urban communities.
• Ruler farmer of the Saah village in Nkambe Central, Mbeh Divine makes a call to action against climate change. « It is real, get on board, engage in climate change. »

The post Voices of the landscape: The role of Cameroon’s traditional rulers in restoration appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Africa 2022

GLF Africa 2022: How to build an equitable, resilient food future brought together over 8,500 participants from 122 countries and featured 182 leading scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, financiers, youth and government leaders, and 68 incredible partners to explore African solutions to the global food crisis caused by climate change, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. 

Across 31 plenaries, interactive sessions, launches, virtual tours, dialogues, performances, and a job fair, the digital conference explored ways to transform the future of food through healthy landscapes, equitable access to land, and shorter, greener value chains. Messages on social media rallied 26 million people around concrete ways for Africa to regain its food sovereignty.

Youth is key to future of African agriculture

The vast majority of our planet lives outside the global industrial food chain – a linear system that brings our food from the farm to our plates. Subsistence and small-scale farmers, ecopreneurs, hunters, pastoralists, fishers, and so many others are often overlooked in the dominant narrative on food systems, but they are a vital part of food sovereignty and climate justice.

In this Youth Daily Show, young agripreneur Yokateme Tiikuzu and food expert Akinyi Chemutai share their visions for the future of African agriculture by exploring innovative technologies and traditional methods to challenge the world’s understanding of how food can be produced.

For Yokateme, youth has the role and opportunity to innovate traditional food systems. For him, creativity is the motor for innovation: « How are we going to live in the next 30 years? » Yokateme asks.

Chemutai made a call to action for policymakers to engage youth as they are key in the transformation of Africa’s food future.

The post The seeds of food justice appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Africa 2022

GLF Africa 2022: How to build an equitable, resilient food future brought together over 8,500 participants from 122 countries and featured 182 leading scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, financiers, youth and government leaders, and 68 incredible partners to explore African solutions to the global food crisis caused by climate change, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. 

Across 31 plenaries, interactive sessions, launches, virtual tours, dialogues, performances, and a job fair, the digital conference explored ways to transform the future of food through healthy landscapes, equitable access to land, and shorter, greener value chains. Messages on social media rallied 26 million people around concrete ways for Africa to regain its food sovereignty.

GLFx Cape Town on innovative food systems that positively impact the environment and people

Earlier this year, the GLFx Cape Town Speaker Stage at Greenpop’s Reforest Fest carried out a series of talks that discussed how we could implement innovative food systems that positively impact the environment while also benefiting local communities.

Nicola Rule, Professional Officer at Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) Africa presents extracts from this series and discusses the complex dynamics of food and equity and the potential for shaping the future of food systems in South Africa. Five speakers with innovative enterprises deliver their message on sustainable food systems:

1. Mercy Nqandeka works for Viva con Agua in Bulungula to facilitate clean water access and sanitation in schools. The degraded soils in the area make it difficult for even those who want to grow food to do so successfully.  The solution is to plant trees as they cover the soil and allow life to regenerate. But the tricky aspect of this context is that Rural South African villages maintain deeply ingrained cultural beliefs, habits, and superstitions around trees and land use, and these beliefs must be taken into consideration if these projects are to thrive.  Watch the full speech.
2. Kaspar Paur is a Swiss environmentalist and founder of the Muizenberg-based initiative Oceaneers, a growing community of sea aficionados looking to spread knowledge and positively impact the oceans around them.  Watch the full speech.
3. Tasneem Karodia, COO and co-founder of Mzansi Meat, is a long-standing advocate for plant-based diets in response to the severe negative effects of large-scale animal agriculture, and her involvement with Mzansi Meat came from a fortuitous Webinar, which saw her later joining forces with her co-founder and CEO Brett Thompson. Now they’re spearheading the change with the first cultivated beef in Africa.  Watch the full speech.
4. Gray Maguire is a member of the Climate Neutral Group and works with farmers to reduce the carbon footprint of production and ensure no one is deprived of access to resources. Watch the full speech
5. Rosanna ‘Rosie’ McLean recites her poem Find me in nature. Watch the full video.

Download From landscape to table, food systems in perspective White Paper  

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Ukraine’s key role in the global food system

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ukraine produces about 10 percent of global wheat exports and 14 percent of corn exports, in addition to about half of all sunflower oil and a substantial amount of barley and fertilizers. Due to the Russian invasion, much of these supplies are now trapped in both countries, driving up food and livestock feed prices globally and threatening the normal workings of our food systems.

This GLF Live, originally aired live in March 2022, brought in leading food expert and GAIN Health executive director Lawrence Haddad to share his expectations and predictions for how the unfolding war will affect global food supplies, nutrition, and security in the short and long term.

Dr. Lawrence Haddad has served as executive director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) since October 2016. Prior, he was the founding co-chair and lead author of the Global Nutrition Report and director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the world’s leading development studies institute.

The foreseen impacts of the war in Ukraine on food and agriculture

Food prices were already on the rise before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since 2020, we’ve witnessed global supply chain problems connected to COVID, the spike in the price of inputs like fertilizer connected to rising energy prices, among other effects. Dr. Haddad elaborates and shares his expectations on how war will affect the global food supply:

• Short and long-term impacts are hard to predict. Aside from gas prices, up-to-date information such as food price fluctuations, and market and agriculture data are hard to track. FAO projections point to an increase in food prices and hunger globally.
• The global food supply system is threatened. « When export countries (like Ukraine) stop exporting, everyone suffers including the export country – you got to keep the food moving internally and across borders, » says Dr. Haddad.
• Countries in the Global South such as Pakistan rely up to 50% on exports of wheat from Ukraine. On the other hand, African countries rely heavily on fertilizer exports from the same country, putting a strain on their capacity for food production in the region.
• Ukraine produces and exports a lot more than cereals. Dr. Haddad’s key message is on diversifying production. « We’re dependent geographically on four or five « bread baskets, » there should be 20. They might not be the most efficient way but it the most resilient. »
• It’s time for resilience. Actions towards diversification, circularity, and zero food waste, can help build the resilience of food systems. Agroforestry has been adopted as a strategy to address resilient food systems.

Learn more about How agroecology can feed the world

Listen to more GLF Live podcasts

The post How the war in Ukraine is causing a food crisis appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed flaws in our global food system, demonstrating how vulnerable it is to unexpected shocks. While there is an emphasis on the production of food staples, including wheat, maize and rice, to meet basic food security needs, in many regions there is a lack of nutrient-rich foods, leading to malnutrition. Amy Ickowitz, team leader of the Sustainable Landscapes and Livelihood Program at the Center for International Forestry Research Amy Ickowitz and Anja Gassner, Senior Livelihoods Specialist and Head of Research Methods Group at World Agroforestry discuss the challenges surrounding our food system, the solutions offered by nature and the much needed support from researchers and policymakers in the development of a more sustainable food system that can feed billions of people around the globe.

The post Our food system, is it sustainable? appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

In our very first episode that coincides with International Women’s Day, we highlight the lives of the world’s invisible heroes: women farmers who feed the world. Our guests Houria Djoudi, CIFOR Senior Scientist, Sustainable Landscape and Livelihood team, and Ana Maria Paez-Valencia, ICRAF Scientist on Gender Unit, share their insights on the roles of women in forest communities and the inspiration for their research with women around the world.

The post Women farmers, the unsung heroes appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

Title of presentation:

How to feed a hotter world

About the presentation:

In December 2015, world leaders meet in Paris with a goal to limit CO2 emissions to keep global temperatures within 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Even if they succeed in this goal, a warming planet will challenge food production at a time when burgeoning population requires unprecedented amounts of food, water and energy. By 2030, we will need 50% more food and energy and 30% more fresh water. How will we feed in a hotter world?

The post Sayed Azam-Ali – Pecha Kucha-style Night – GLF 2015 appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The thematic session identified the technical, social and institutional conditions for developing successful long-term initiatives and how they can be sustained at regional and national levels. The findings and discussion will be used to further develop an emerging focus on land degradation of WLE and CIAT – and others that join. They will also feed into a high-level dialogue of African leaders attending the COP.

The post Large-scale land restoration: Creating the conditions for success appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The United Nations’ Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will convene for its final meeting from 3-7 February 2014 in New York. The 30-member working group will focus on the role of biodiversity, forests and oceans in human development. CIFOR scientist Daju Pradnja Resosudarmo will make a presentation on forests in the next development framework. Following this meeting, the group will develop a report that will be handed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in September.

At a glance:

• Countries are designing Sustainable Development Goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals in 2015
• These goals, encompassing multiple sectors, will guide global development toward the achievement of tangible goals such as reducing poverty, increasing health and well-being, etc.
• Forests, agriculture and other landscape uses will be crucial components for achieving many of the potential goals, including reducing poverty, increasing health and well-being, and addressing climate change.
• See the dual SDG and climate change framework processes at a glance here.

What are Sustainable Development Goals?

• In 2015, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that currently make up the global development framework will come to an end. The MDGs made measurable progress in reducing levels of poverty and hunger while increasing access to primary education and maternal care, among others.
• A UN Task Team report, prepared in the lead-up to the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (also known as “Rio+20”), praises the impressive progress made toward achieving the MDGs — but highlights shortcomings and remaining challenges:
  • Getting environment out of its corner: In the MDG framework, the environment was addressed under a single goal — MDG 7. A new framework can allocate a central role to environmental factors, treating them as a basis for all development outcomes.
  • Working toward universal goals: The MDGs focused on outcomes that should be achieved within developing countries, such as fighting poverty and hunger. In this framework, the role of developed countries was limited to providing development aid and technical assistance. For the new goals, many are calling for responsibilities applicable to developed countries, including more responsible production and consumption.
  • Building real partnerships for development: The MDGs emphasized actions within developing countries and the traditional aid framework. Partnerships among key actors like the private sector and transnational civil society, as well as other innovative forms of collaboration, were rarely realized.
  • Deeper goals for greater impact: Many goals focused on quantity rather than quality of outputs: food security was measured through access to food, not nutrition; education through enrollment, not success rates. New goals enable a more detailed look at development achievements.
  • Focusing on quality of development: The MDGs provided no guidelines regarding the type of development that is desirable. Stakeholders are now arguing for goals that put sustainability and equity first.
  • Sustainable Development Goals as a new global development agenda were first proposed by the governments of Colombia, Peru, Guatemala and the United Arab Emirates ahead of the Rio+20 Conference in 2012.

Who will select the final set of goals and when?

• The Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals is a 30-member group, reporting to the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
  • For the first time, countries could make use of a new regulation that allows them to share memberships. Many like-minded regional countries — such as France/Germany/Switzerland or China/Indonesia/Kazakhstan — are sharing seats. In total, 70 countries are represented in the Open Working Group.
  • Since March 2013, the Open Working Group came together for seven meetings, discussing a wide range of issues: sustainable agriculture, population growth, climate change and equality, to name a few.
  • The UN is also collecting global views through other processes:
    • A High-level Panel led by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and UK Prime Minister David Cameron submitted recommendations to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in May 2013 — among them a call for a transformational shift to put sustainable development at the core of all future interventions.
    • National and thematic consultations are taking place in more than 60 countries, reaching out to a wide group of stakeholders from academia, civil society, the private sector, government and youth organizations.
    • A Sustainable Development Solutions Network under the leadership of Jeffrey Sachs is bringing together universities and research institutions for scientific advice.
  • In September 2014, the UN General Assembly will start discussing the SDG framework based on the recommendations made by various bodies.
  • A High-level Political Forum on sustainable development, comprising heads of states, will make the final decision in September 2015.
  • Technical and scientific advisory organizations will work out the details in parallel to decision-making processes.

What roles do forests, agriculture and other land-use sectors play?

• Forests, agriculture and other land uses are crucial for the achievement of a wide range of SDGs currently considered: poverty eradication, employment, food security, nutrition and safe drinking water:
  • Forests protect watersheds that provide 75% of the planet’s drinking water.
  • Forests store twice as much carbon as the atmosphere.
  • Agricultural production needs to be increased sustainably in order to feed a human population of 9 billion by 2050.
  • Sustainably managed landscapes also contribute indirectly to a number of proposed aspirations like gender equity, good governance and collaborative development partnerships.
  • Still, land uses cause around 30% of emissions worldwide as agriculture is the biggest driver of deforestation (80% of forests cleared are turned into agricultural lands).

How did we get here?

• The United Nations Forum on Forests discussed Sustainable Development Goals during its May 2013 meeting.
  • Ireland (for the EU) strongly supports including forests in the SDGs
  • Indonesia called for “cross-cutting SDG that includes poverty eradication, sustainable growth and equity, and forests” (instead of specific stand-alone forest goal)
  • Ghana and China also urged for a cross-cutting approach to forests and development, with a focus on poverty eradication
  • Past meetings of the UN Open Working Group, for example those discussing agriculture and climate change, have identified the following priorities in relation to land use changes:
    • Raising smallholder productivity and rural income on a sustainable basis needs to be achieved to end hunger and poverty
    • Agricultural value chains in developing countries and food waste in developed countries need to be addressed
    • Combination of traditional farmers knowledge and latest scientific findings to inform sustainable agriculture
    • Role and commitments of UNFCCC should be respected and inform climate change thinking in SDGs
    • Common but differentiated responsibilities: countries acknowledged the principle that both developed and developing countries should take action against climate change, but stressed that the principle “evolves over time”
    • Climate change challenge should be reflected through several related targets, among them: protecting forests, food security, water management and promoting low-carbon, climate-resilient development paths
  • Held alongside the UNFCCC COP19 in Warsaw, the first Global Landscapes Forum — attended by 1,200 people, among them 180 climate change negotiators — drafted recommendations for SDGs.
  • Global Landscapes Forum participants identified two mutually reinforcing options for addressing land uses in the SDG framework:
    • Treating landscapes as a cross-cutting issue, contributing to a variety of possible goals
    • Designing a stand-alone goal on sustainable landscapes

The success of this sustainable landscapes goal could be measured using a set of tangible indicators and targets, including improved livelihoods, food security, ecosystem services, biodiversity and resource efficiency.

A high-level session of the Global Landscapes Forum in Warsaw discussed the role of landscapes in future development and climate agendas. The panel included Finland’s Environment Minister Ville Niinisto, Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture Agnes Kalibata, Danone’s Chief Sustainability Advisor Bernard Giraud and World Resources Institute President Andrew Steer. The session was moderated by CIFOR’s Director General Peter Holmgren.

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