WFO commitment to “STEP into a Better World: A call to action” Conference

Within the framework of the Planetary Emergency Partnership conference “STEP into a Better World: A call to action” taking place next 9-10 December, we are happy to inform you that the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) will be hosting a one-hour session titled “Design a farmers-oriented pathway for resilient food systems” on 10 December at 11 AM Rome time.

This year the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown even more how food systems are diverse, complex, and interlinked. While climate change-induced disasters are increasing and the pandemic has exacerbated social and economic inequalities, we need to cope with the challenge of sustainably producing food for an increasing population, also paying attention to issues like food loss and waste and biodiversity conservation.
Agriculture is a central sector in the food systems debate. Farmers play a key role in keeping soils healthy, contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation, producing and delivering safe, healthy and nutritious food. Farming is also about managing risks and building resilient livelihoods both for rural and urban communities. This is why it is essential to engage farmers in this debate as drivers of change, listening to the farmers led solutions they are already implementing at the ground level to respond to the need of shifting towards more sustainable and resilient food systems.

This one-hour session aims at highlighting how important it is to rely on the agricultural sector and farmers as drivers of change, engage them in multi-stakeholder debates and partnerships to ensure that the sustainability and resilience of food systems are built through farmers-oriented and cross-sectoral approaches.

Invited speakers include:

  • Theo de Jager, President, World Farmers’ Organisation
  • Cristina Rumbatis del Rio, Action Track Co-Manager, Global Commission on Adaptation, World Resources Institute (WRI)
  • Sheela Patel, Founder and Chairperson, Slum Dwellers International
  • Kati Partanen, Farmer and Board Member, Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), and WFO Women Committee Facilitator
  • Paul Zackariya, Farmer and Executive Director, Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU), and WFO Value Chain and Livestock Working Group Member
  • Ceris Jones, Climate Change Adviser, NFU UK, and WFO Climate Change Working Group Facilitator

Furthermore, WFO, as a member of the Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism (SEM) of the United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), is supporting the SEM in organising a one-hour session titled “Strengthen collaboration for local food systems resilience” on 10 December at 2 PM Rome time. The overall idea of the session is to focus on how important it is to build resilience and shift towards more sustainable and resilient food systems especially now that Covid19 exacerbated existing economic and social inequalities, climate change-induced disasters are increasing and so are food insecurity and malnutrition levels. Within this framework, we would like to highlight how important it is to rely on local solutions, learn from local communities and build resilience through an all-of -society approach.

To attend the sessions, you need to register on the Hopin Platform at the following link, using the discounted Education/Non Profit/Ticket option: https://hopin.com/events/actnow-step-into-a-better-world