Selected Speaking Engagements
2021

Making Agri-Food Systems More Resilient to Shocks and Stresses
(SOFA 2021 Launch, FAO)
To build resilience against shocks like COVID-19, countries must focus on the interlinkages between different stages of the food supply chain and between different sectors. For example, energy and agriculture is closely linked, as energy prices affect agricultural inputs and production. The State of Food and Agriculture 2021 shows that building resilience in primary production, food supply, transport networks and making healthy diets affordable can ramp up national agri-food systems’ capacity to absorb shocks.

Farmers and Foodscapes: Listening to Farmers as We Transform Global Food Systems
(The Nature Conservancy, co-hosted by Farmers’ Forum India)
To feed people without depleting the Earth, we must first acknowledge the existence of tradeoffs and understand the science to minimize them. For example, soil maps can show us what micronutrients are missing in the soil, so that we find proper solutions to improve soil health, instead of just creating a standard nitrogen fertilizer package, whose excessive use could harm the soil. Solutions should be cost effective, especially for smallholder farmers who play a central role in restoring food systems.

The World Food Forum 2021
(Flagship Event)
Young people are best placed to rejuvenate our agri-food systems by bringing innovation and accelerating digital transformation. They can lead us to transition to sustainable production and consumption, and bridge the gap between different generations. With the World Food Forum, they have started a global movement. But they still need support to reach their enormous potential. We need to work with them as equals and remove barriers to youth leadership.

COVID-19 and Agriculture Trade Talks
(FAO Geneva)
Governments have kept global value chains remarkably resilient during the pandemic. International commitment was pivotal in deterring countries from taking unilateral measures that could have caused food crises. As a result, the impact on global food and agriculture trade was limited to short-term disruptions at the very beginning of the pandemic. As COVID-19 continues to threaten global public health, it remains vital to promote access to food, keep markets open, facilitate trade and boost social protection programs.

International Youth Day 2021
(World Youth Forum)
Because of the actions of older generations, today’s 1.8 billion young people will bear the brunt of climate change. Too many youths are also mired in conflicts, a major culprit of hunger. Empowered young people will accelerate the transformation of unjust and unsustainable food systems. They are already pursuing inclusion, innovation and initiatives to drive change. Almost five decades ago, Henry Kissinger said no child should go to bed hungry — young people will finally get us there.

Pre-Summit, Food Systems Summit 2021
(United Nations, Rome)
We are off-track and off-path from achieving SDG 2. Data tells us that we need to target interventions and work at the country level. This year, we have a combination of meetings and actions to this end. The Matera Declaration, for example, brings attention to sustainable food security and the importance of financing green recovery — which means investing in rural areas and the agriculture sector. The Food Coalition, another example, is an instrument to implement science-based action at the country level. This pre-summit is one of many occasions the international community has come together to coordinate efforts to achieve zero hunger.

Transforming Food Systems for Food Security, Improved Nutrition and Affordable Healthy Diets for All
(SOFI 2021 Launch at the United Nations; Press Conference; Key Findings)
The findings of this year’s State of the Food Security and Nutrition in the World are gloom. As many as 161 million people fell into the hunger trap due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, up to 811 million people suffered from chronic hunger in 2020; more than 2.3 billion lacked year-round access to adequate food. These findings urge us to act to counter the drivers of hunger (economic downturns & pandemic, conflict, climate change, costly healthy diets) through six pathways.

Putting Hunger Prevention Back on the Global Agenda
(Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg)
The coronavirus pandemic has worsened hunger and malnutrition. But countries can still use data to better target the hot spots and integrate the informal economy into the formal sector to cushion the blow. Time is running out to vaccinate Africa, critical for mitigating hunger next year. Large institutions like the IMF must understand that without investing in rural areas and agriculture, there can be no “green” or “fair” recovery.

The Gradual Rise and Rapid Decline of Middle Class in Latin America and the Caribbean
(Center for Global Development Event)
The extensive lockdowns, especially in South America, where more than half of the economy is informal, meant that those with jobs in the service sectors who’d been part of the middle class immediately lost their source of income. Without access to financial services, they fell into poverty. Countries have lost a huge opportunity to formalize informal economies, which would have limited the pandemic’s devastating effects.

High-Level Debate on Oceans
(UN General Assembly, 75th Session)
Fisheries offer a huge opportunity to improve nutrition and food security, especially as 3 billion people don’t have access to healthy diets. Real-time data are critical, because if we have better data, we have better capacity to model policy impacts and inform policymaking. For example, we estimate that fish consumption will grow by 25% by 2050. Since there will be 10 billion mouths to feed, the role of fish and fish products to improve nutrition will be critical.

Think20 Forum on Climate Change
(G20 High-Level Forum on Climate Change)
Food crises are happening across the globe due to climate change, conflicts, and Covid-19-induced economic downturns. Africa has also had locust infestations. The concept of building “resilience” of agri-food systems, as opposed to that of an individual household, is new. It means minimizing risks (vulnerability) and coping with shocks when they occur (capabilities), so that countries not only survive shocks when they occur but continue to make improvements throughout.

Connecting the Dots
(Conversation with Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman of Farmers’ Forum India)
Making agriculture and food systems work for everyone and for the environment requires a combination of evidence-driven solutions. They range from access to information that allows farmers to sell their products at competitive price, with minimum transaction costs, to effective financial instruments and trade policies.

Food for Earth Day
(The World’s Largest Live Lesson on Feeding the Future)
Access to healthy diets is a human right. We need to transform agri-food systems to feed everyone and protect our planet. Some areas that can play a critical role in this transformation are aquaculture, digital technologies, food loss and waste reduction.

Trade, the Environment and Sustainability: A Focus on Green Recovery in a COVID-19 Era
(WTO High-Level Panel)
Trade is key to ensuring food security, as it moves food from surplus areas to deficit ones. Likewise, understanding developments in global agriculture and food markets, and trade policies are crucial for reducing trade-offs between international trade’s economic, environmental and social effects. It’s also essential in addressing financial shocks, natural disasters and public health crises to achieve sustainable recovery.

The Impact of Disasters and Crises on Agriculture and Food Security 2021
(Report Launch Event)
Disasters impact agriculture disproportionately. Their growing frequency and intensity are threatening people’s lives and livelihoods, and jeopardizing food systems. The best way to manage risks is to have data and science for evidence-based action. Investing in this will have significant economic return and ensure agriculture’s role in achieving a sustainable future.

Digital Agriculture: New Frontiers for the Food System
(World Bank Event)
While the private sector seems way ahead of the game when it comes to digital agriculture, without the public sector, its efficiency, equity or sustainability cannot be guaranteed. Most important, governments must level the field to reduce digital divide. Digitalization shouldn’t increase concentration and exclusion; it should increase inclusiveness and competitiveness in the markets, so that everyone has better access to technologies.

UN Food Systems Summit: How to Incentivize Food Loss and Waste Reduction
(IFPRI Special Event)
About 14 percent of globally produced food is lost, and 17 percent is wasted. Cutting food loss and waste requires building a business case. Governments, development banks, private companies all have a role to play. Policies that encourage food loss and waste, such as harmful subsidies and lack standards, need to be examined. We need to accelerate innovation, and improve data and technology. Finally, reduction efforts should take place in parallel in developed and developing countries.

Transforming Food Systems for Affordable Healthy Diets: Global and National Strategies
(Jakarta Post Webinar “Up Close”)
Poverty and inequality are endemic in agri-food systems, by far the world’s largest economic system. And while achieving transformative change is the core aspiration for the Sustainable Development Goals, systemic interactions and trade-offs make it complex. To handle this, we need models and open platforms for data sharing. And we need to bring science into the governance process. The Food Systems Summit 2021 presents a unique opportunity to test new models for integrating science and policy.

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