Global Forum for Food and Agriculture – Rückblicke Das GFFA der letzten Jahre 2022-02-28T16:12:11Z https://archiv.gffa-berlin.de/en/feed/atom/ WordPress Christin Regner <![CDATA[Just Transitions towards Land Degradation Neutrality: Tenure Rights for Soil Restoration]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=17033 2022-02-28T16:12:11Z 2021-11-01T08:24:31Z

All Expert Panels

Just Transitions towards Land Degradation Neutrality: Tenure Rights for Soil Restoration

 

 

TMG Research ThinkTank for Sustainability

Co-Host:
Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Republic of Kenya
Ministry of Planning and Development, Republic of Benin
Department of Forestry, Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy & Mining, Republic of Malawi
Ministre de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable, République de Madagascar
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Time: Friday, 28. January 2022, 08:00 a.m. – 09:00 a.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 09:00 a.m. – 09:30 a.m.

Languages: English, German, French

Summary:
It starts with people: The human rights imperative for achieving large-scale restoration targets

The climate and biodiversity crises demand fast restoration responses at scale. Yet, large-scale responses carry a risk for smallholder farmers. Often, their land rights are not yet recognised. Earlier experiences show that large-scale restoration involves the risk of alienating people of their lands (e.g., land conflicts in the context of programmes on Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation. Well-intended restoration targets might lead to land conflicts.

In view of these experiences, Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification adopted a decision on land tenure that establishes a link between national targets to achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN) and the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Land Governance.

Together with partners from Benin and Kenya, TMG Research mapped legitimate land tenure rights of communities that are living in forest areas that are subject of national LDN plans. The results are clear. As of now, there is insufficient recognition of communities’ land rights. This threatens not only people’s livelihoods but also undermines restoration targets.

The GFFA expert panel highlighted that there is recognition by Governments that restoration and people’s land rights are often addressed in isolation of each other. Further, there is a strong interest by governments in identifying ways to realize synergies between landscape restoration and people’s rights.

In view of the current debate on net-zero policies to achieve climate neutrality, this recognition could not be more timely. While there is a fierce debate about the role of net-zero policies in achieving the Paris Climate Agreement, associated investments are already planned. There is no shortcut. Landscape restoration needs to contribute to the progressive realization of people’s rights. Otherwise, it will fail to deliver on biodiversity and climate targets and to protect the livelihoods of those who are already bearing the brunt of these crises.

Responsible Land Governance in LDN Programmes in Benin

Responsible Land Governance in Kenya

Video

Recording

You can find the French recording here. 

Moderator

Alexander MüllerManaging Director, TMG Research ThinkTank for Sustainability

Alexander Müller is a former FAO Assistant Director-General (2006-2013) and State Secretary for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, Germany (2001 -2005).

He has vast experience in global sustainability governance, as inter alia: Chair of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition; member of the UN Environment Management Group; and Lead, Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Land, and TEEBAgriFood.

Panel Guests

Michael KrakeDirector for Sustainable supply chains, food and rural development, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Michael Krake is Director for Sustainable supply chains, food and rural development at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Since 2002, Mr Krake has held various positions in the German Federal Government. Before his current post, he headed the Directorate for Private sector, trade, employment and digital technologies, also at the BMZ.

From 2007 to 2012, Mr Krake lived and worked in East Africa. In Kenya, he was regional co-ordinator of the BMZ’s programme for drought resilience in the Horn of Africa and, at the German embassy in Uganda, he was head of development corporation.

Before joining the BMZ, Michael Krake was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He attended university in Bonn, Germany, and in New York, U.S.A., and is a graduate economist.

Voahangiarivelona Hanitriniaina RazafindrahantaDirector of Reforestation, Landscape and Forest Management, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Madagascar

As the Director of Reforestation, Landscape, and Forest Management, Razafindrahanta’s focus lay on sustainable land management, soil and watershed protection and the development of the management plan of landscapes and forests. She also works in reforestation, fire management and civic education.
As the Focal Point of Global Soil Partnerships, Razafindrahanta represents Madagascar on soil activities. She leads a sustainable land management initiative and a green centuries project in Southern Madagascar.
In her role as a Focal Point on Reforestation with Imperial Brands Madagascar, the establishment of botanic parks in five regions in Madagascar is one of her responsibilities. She is also the interlocutor between the private sector and the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development on implementing reforestation measures.

Lucy Ng'ang'aAssistant Director, Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kenya

Lucy Wambui Ng’ang’a is the Lead Expert and Formulator of the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Implementation Framework 2018-2027, an implementing tool for the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy launched in October 2018.
As a focal point and coordinator, Ng’ang’a supported the integration of the agriculture sector into the National Adaptation Plan (NAPs), an initiative supported by UNDP/FAO 2016 to 2018.
Furthermore, Ng’ang’a headed the Kenyan delegation to the 14th Session of Conference of Parties (COP 14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in New Delhi, India (2019). She also coordinated the Kenyan country position paper for the 24th session of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and the 3rd Session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2021).

Alastaire Sèna AlinsatoCabinet Director, Ministry of Planning and Development, Benin

Alastaire Sèna Alinsato served the Ministry of Planning and Development (Benin) in several key functions, for instance, as the Director of Coordination and Monitoring of Policies to implement the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2013 – 2016).
For the Ministry at the Presidency of the Republic Benin, Alinsato worked as a Scientific Assistant to the President of the Economic Analysis Council and later as the Director of Coordination and Monitoring of Policies for the Implementation of the MDGs and SDGs.
Furthermore, he was the Special Advisor to the High-Level Panel of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Post 2015 Development Agenda (2012-2013). As the editor-in-chief, he submitted Benin’s Voluntary National Contribution to High-Level Political Forum on the SDGs in 2017 and 2018.

Teddie KamotoDeputy Director of Forestry, Department of Forestry, Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy & Mining, Malawi

As the Deputy Director of Forestry (Zone Manager for the Eastern Zone), Teddie Kamato has multiple responsibilities such as the empowerment of communities in conservation activities, the mapping of forestry resources and the promotion of tree planting and rehabilitation of degraded areas. He is also the Focal Point for Forest Landscape Restoration Program in Malawi.

As the Focal Point for the REDD+ Programm in Malawi (2017 to date), he is responsible for developing the REDD+ strategy, coordinating REDD+ activities, and managing the Malawi REDD+ Program.

Within his role as the UNCCD Focal point, Teddie Kamoto coordinates UNCCD activities in Malawi, reports to the UNCCD secretariat and develops project proposals to support the achievement of Land Degradation Neutrality.

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[Soil microbial diversity is crucial for plant and planetary health]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=17027 2022-02-15T10:55:38Z 2021-11-01T07:57:43Z

All Expert Panels

Soil microbial diversity is crucial for plant and planetary health

Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (Leibniz ATB)

Time: Thursday, 27. January 2022, 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Languages: English, German

Summary:
Plants are the key component of a healthy diet providing food for a fast-growing world population. The plant microbiome and soil microbiome are interlinked, and both crucial for health and functioning of the holobiont. Beyond, they are important for planetary ecosystem functions and health issues.

Many current plant production practices result in pollution and contribute to loss of biodiversity, natural resources, and climate change. In the past, human activities influenced the interconnected microbiomes significantly. These shifts resulted in high pre- and post-harvest yield losses, drug-resistant plant and human pathogens, and a spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This typically depleted microbiome signature of the Anthropocene is often followed by a dysbiosis, which leads to outbreaks of viruses, pests and pathogens.

The panelists have discussed the current knowledge about anthropogenic influences on the plant and interconnected microbiome. The aim was to inspire the development of solutions to restore and save plant- and soil-associated microbial diversity for the ecosystem and the closely connected human health.

Recording

Video

Moderator

Alfred GrandGrand Farm & Vermigrand Naturprodukte, Austria

Alfred Grand is an organic farmer and entrepreneur from Austria. At his company VERMIGRAND Naturprodukte, earthworms are producing biohumus with a natural and diverse microbiome as well as peat free soil substrates. In 2018 his farm was developed into a research and demonstration farm. GRAND FARM is focusing on soil health, agroforestry and market gardening and cooperating with a range of national and international research institutions. Alfred is part of a several research projects, member of the Global Network of Lighthouse Farms, an ambassador for the European Innovation Partnership for Agriculture and for the EU-Mission Soil Deal. His market gardening project GRAND GARTEN was selected for the innovation pitch at the GFFA-Berlin 2022.

Panel Guests

Prof. Gabriele BergGraz University of Technology and Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, Austria and Germany

Gabriele Berg studied biology, ecology and biotechnology at the universities in Rostock and Greifswald and obtained her PhD in 1995 in microbiology from Rostock University. In 2005 she became a full professor in environmental biotechnology at Graz University of Technology and in 2021 head of department at ATB and an additional professorship in Potsdam. Her interests are focused on microbiome research and translation of the results into new biotechnological and microbiome management concepts for health issues. From 2018 – 2020, she belonged to the Clarivate list of most influential researchers worldwide.

Prof. Lise KorstenUniversity of Pretoria, South Africa

Lise Korsten is a Professor in food safety systems with a focus on fresh produce at the University of Pretoria (UP). She is also the Co-Director, Centre of Excellence Food Security, a national platform hosted between the University of Western Cape and UP. Her research focuses on sustainable agriculture, food security and postharvest innovation for food waste and loss reduction. She has worked on the control of postharvest diseases of subtropical fruit and has been a technical expert for the World Health Organisation, Food and Agricultural Organisation, South African National Accreditation System and other platforms. She has around 200 peer-reviewed publications and is editor for leading international journals such as Food Security, CABI etc. Lise Korsten is a member of the African Academy of Science and has won prizes and awards.

Prof. Kornelia SmallaJulius Kühn-Institut Braunschweig, Germany

Kornelia Smalla is Vice Director of the Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics at the Julius-Kühn Institut. Smalla has been conducting research the field of microbial ecology since 1991. Her research focuses on the interactions of pathogens and their microbial antagonists in the root zone of plants, but also on the diversity of these microbial communities and their resistome signatures and plasmids in the soil. Smalla studied chemistry at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, earned her doctorate in biochemistry and habilitated in microbiology. Smalla has currently been included in the Clarivate list of highly cited researchers.

Prof. Marcel van der HeijdenAgroscope and University of Zurich, Switzerland

Marcel van der Heijden is Professor for Agroecology and Plant Microbiome Interactions at the University of Zurich, Professor for Mycorrhiza Ecology at Utrecht University and he heads a research group at the Swiss Federal Research Institute Agroscope. His research focuses on plant-soil interactions, soil biodiversity, soil ecological engineering, and the development and evaluation of sustainable farming systems including organic and conservation agriculture. He is president of the international mycorrhiza society, Clarivate highly cited researcher and has published over 150 publications.

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[Sustainable agriculture improving soil governance]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=17023 2022-01-28T13:15:39Z 2021-11-01T07:46:22Z

All Expert Panels

Sustainable agriculture improving soil governance

 

 

 

Embrapa Soils – Rio de Janeiro/Brazil

Time: Thursday, 27. January 2022, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Languages: English, German

Summary:
Soil is the support of life – it houses about 25% of the planet’s biodiversity. Soils also play a key role in water cycle regulation, nutrients recycling and carbon sequestration. These soil-based ecosystem services are the base for agriculture and food production – it is estimated that 98.8% of the daily calories consumed by humans come from soil [1]. However, estimates indicate that up to half of the fertile soils of the planet might have been lost in the last 150 years [2]. Thus, sustainable agriculture is a key element to change this scenario. Programs and projects that promote agriculture sustainability are important to offer new perspectives for soil conservation and contribute to soil governance. There is a need for understanding how agricultural transitions are being governed through a variety of actors and at several levels. This session is diverse and inclusive, connecting the different sectors. It aims to contribute to move forward on this debate by presenting a multi-level perspective on soil governance and real cases to encourage effective actions for soil sustainable use worldwide. The invited panelists bring a substantial wealth of experience and will present international guidelines, national policies, programs, and interaction with the private sector, highlighting the importance of these initiatives towards an effective soil governance.

Recording

Moderators

Ana Paula TurettaResearcher, EMBRAPA Solos

Ana Paula Turetta is a Geographer and completed her master (2000) and doctorate (2004) degrees in Agronomy, with a focus on Soil Science, through the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro.

Since 2006, she has been a researcher at Embrapa Solos – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has extensive experience in the environmental field, especially in the interface between soil and rural landscapes. Her research lines include assessing the sustainability of rural landscapes and food systems, with an emphasis on soil ecosystem services and their connections to agriculture multifunctionality.

Currently, she is the head of two projects: one that evaluates the agriculture potential to contribute, in addition to food security, to water and energy security (water-energy-food Nexus); and the second one about the role of agriculture multifunctionality in natural disaster risks mitigation.

She also has extensive international experience, either collaborating with and/or leading international projects, as well as in experiences abroad, with a post-doctorate in the soil quality department at the University of Wageningen (Netherlands – 2014) and as a visiting researcher for 22 months at the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Germany (2019/2020).

She is a professor in the Territorial Development Master’s Program at UFRRJ, where she teaches the subject “Policies and environmental management”.

She is responsible for the Brazilian chapter of the Ecosystem Services Partnership – ESP (https://www.es-partnership.org/community/regional-chapters/south-america/985-2/) and the elected Latin America representative of the ESP steering committee.

Stefan Sieber Head of Department “Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries” (SusLAND), Zalf

Stefan Sieber is an Associate Professor (PD, Privatdozent) at Humboldt University zu Berlin and concurrently he coordinates the department SusLAND “Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries” at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF). His domains are food security and nutrition, climate change and bioenergy. He focuses on inter- and transdisciplinary research methods such as co-design of innovation, policy and governance analysis. Beyond, he applied sector modelling approaches and further developed impact assessment methods in Europe, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. He (co-)coordinated 37 international research projects, authored/co-authored 173 peer-reviewed publications as well as more than 100 conference contributions.

Panel Guests

Edmundo BarriosAgricultural Officer, FAO

Edmundo Barrios is an Agricultural Officer at the Plant Production and Protection Division of FAO. He provides technical and policy-related advice on ecosystem management, soil health & biodiversity that supports agroecological transitions to sustainable food and agricultural systems. A soil ecologist with more than 20 years of research for development experience with the CGIAR based in Latin America and Africa, he investigated the linkages between soil health, biodiversity and productivity in agricultural systems. He led the FAO Agroecology team in the development of the ‘The 10 Elements of Agroecology: Guiding the transition to sustainable food and agricultural systems’ publication released during the 2nd International Symposium on Agroecology held in Rome at FAO-HQ in April 2018 and a recent review publication on enabling agroecological transitions. He was a member of the editorial board of ‘The State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity: Status, challenges and Potentialities – Report 2020’ and of the scientific committee of ‘Recarbonizing global soils : A technical manual of recommended management practices’ published in 2021, and is a member of the Global Soil Partnership Secretariat hosted at FAO.

Maria de Lourdes Mendonça Santos BrefinGeneral Head of Embrapa Solos, EMBRAPA Solos

Actually Head of Embrapa Soils – Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. Bachelor’s at Agronomia from Universidade Estadual do Maranhão (1986), master’s at Troisième Cycle en Sciences de L’Environnement from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (1995), master’s at Agronomy from Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (1990) and doctorate at Doctorat ès Sciences Pédologie et Géomatique from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (1999). Has experience in Agronomy, focusing on Genesis, Morphology and Classification of Soil, acting on the following subjects: solos, digital soil mapping, gis, mapeamento digital de solos and banco de dados. Embrapa representative in several national and international forums on Soils and participated from 2013 to 2018, in two terms, “Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soil, ITPS, of the GSP (Global Soil Partnership) of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Anneke TruxHead ProSoil, GIZ

Dr. Anneke Trux is currently Head of GIZ’s “Global Programme Protection and rehabilitation of soils for food security (ProSoil)”.

Until January 2018 she has been Head of Unit for Sectoral and Management training within GIZ’s Academy for International Cooperation. Before, she has been the team leader of NRM and rural development projects and programmes of the German Development Cooperation.

She has been working for GIZ since 1991 and a has long term working experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean and Central Asia.

Being a co-author of Germany’s very first report on climate change to the German Parliament in 1988, the linkage between climate change, soils and human life has been a challenge to her throughout her professional career.

She has been working at local, national, and international level. Climate change, environmental policy, rural development, human capacity building, leadership and management and organisational development are key areas of her expertise.

Dr Trux is biologist and obtained her doctoral degree from the Friedrichs-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn.

Christian LohbauerExecutive President of CropLife Brasil, Croplife Brasil

Christian Lohbauer, 54, holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Studied from 1994 to 1997 at the University of Bonn, Germany, with a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. He was International Relations Manager of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo – FIESP (2001-2004), Deputy Secretary of International Relations of the Municipality of São Paulo (2005), Executive Director of the Brazilian Poultry Exporters Association – ABEF (2006-2009), Executive President of the Brazilian Association of Citrus Exporters – CitrusBR (2009-2013) and head of Corporate Affairs at Bayer Brazil (2013-2018). He is Executive President of CropLife Brasil, Director of the Agriculture Council of the São Paulo Federation of Industries (COSAG/Fiesp) since 2006 and member of the International Analysis Group of the University of São Paulo (GACINT/IRI/USP) since 1999.

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[Beyond policy change: using the VGGT to secure tenure rights for farmers]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=17010 2022-02-15T10:53:43Z 2021-10-29T12:52:21Z

All Expert Panels

Beyond policy change: using the VGGT to secure tenure rights for farmers

  

                  

 

FAO
ILC
GIZ
Welthungerhilfe
Land for Life

Time: Thursday, 27. January 2022, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Languages: English, German, French

Summary:
Inequality is increasing in almost all regions in the world. This also applies to access to land. The concentration of agricultural land threatens the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. Ten years after the adoption of the VGGT experts agree that the political and legal frameworks governing access and ownership of land have improved in many countries. In practice, however, the impact of the Guidelines is still barely visible. Farmers’ land rights continue to be massively curtailed and long-time land users are often expropriated without (adequate) consultation and compensation; women in particular usually have no possibility to defend their right to land. This is where the work of CSOs and constituency-based organisations in the Global South comes in. Though the Guidelines constitute “soft law”, i.e. although they are not legally binding, they can be used to achieve concrete changes. Through broad-based awareness-raising campaigns, local communities are encouraged to demand their legitimate rights vis-à-vis governments and investors; in dialogue spaces, the Guidelines are used to resolve land conflicts; core elements of the Guidelines are integrated into contracts with agricultural investors (“giving them teeth”); and in multi-actor platforms, the Guidelines are used to promote transparency and accountability in the land sector. These experiences need to be scaled. We are urged to act: promoting collective action, boosting investment and reaffirming political will.

Recording

You can find the French recording here.

Moderator

Michael TaylorDirector Secretariat, International Land Coalition (ILC)

Michael Taylor joined the International Land Coalition team in 2006, having previously worked with the Botswana government and UNDP.
He became Director of the Secretariat in 2015. His passion for land rights grew out of his upbringing in a small village in Botswana, building a firm conviction that land rights are fundamental to building a more just and inclusive world. The best thing about this job, he says, is the opportunity to work with so many inspiring organisations, communities and individuals across the globe who are leading a bottom-up revolution for change! He holds a PhD in Social Anthropology and a BSc in Environmental Science.

Panel Guests

Cora van OostenWageningen University & Research

Dr. Cora van Oosten is well known for her expertise on landscape governance. She has worked as adviser, project manager and team leader, usually on long term assignment in Africa, Latin America and Asia. At present, Cora is employed as senior project leader at Wageningen Centre of Development Innovation, where she is in charge of a project portfolio related to landscape approaches, landscape restoration, landscape governance and capacity development. In partnership with CIFOR-ICRAF Cora coordinates the learning programme of the Global Landscapes Forum which is the world’s largest network on landscape approaches.

Benjamin DavisDirector of Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division, FAO

Benjamin Davis, Director, Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division
Benjamin has extensive experience in social protection, social policies and agricultural economics. He previously served as Strategic Program Leader, Rural Poverty Reduction and Deputy Director of the Agricultural Development Economics Division at FAO and he was team leader of the From Production to Protection (PtoP) project. He has also worked as Social Policy Advisor for the UNICEF Regional Office in Eastern and Southern Africa and as a Research and Post-Doctoral Fellow at IFPRI. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and a Master’s in Public Policy from UC Berkeley.

Dr. Cheikh Oumar BaExecutive Director, Think Tank Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rural (IPAR), Senegal

Dr. Cheikh Oumar Ba is a doctor in socio-anthropology.
He is currently the Executive Director of IPAR and President of the UEMOA Think Tank network, which includes some thirty research centers and laboratories in Africa. He has significant experience in policy communication and the valorization of messages and lessons learned from scientific studies, particularly those based on rigorous methods of collection and analysis of primary or secondary, qualitative or quantitative data.
With IPAR, he has been able to establish partnerships with several public structures and development partners working in the field of youth employment, migration, agricultural development, climate change, land tenure, agricultural policies, migration and gender and has published several scientific articles.

Naome KabandaActing Director Land Management, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD), Uganda

Naome Kabanda is the Acting Director Land Management with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD), Uganda.
She also heads the National Land Policy Implementation Secretariat in the Ministry. The Secretariat is mandated to coordinate all the policy reforms under the National Land Policy. She has more than 17 years of experience in the field of land law, land administration and registration, policy development and women’s land rights. Ms. Kabanda holds a master’s degree in law from Georgetown University USA which she obtained in 2001. She is Alumni of the Women’s Law and Public Policy Program in Georgetown University, USA, where she was a fellow in 2000-2001. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Law of Makerere University.

Sonkita ContehDirector of the Program of Namati in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Sonkita Conteh is the Director of the Program of Namati in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Namati is a legal-empowerment organization that aims to put the power of the law in the hands of the people. Sonkita is a legal practitioner of the High Court of Sierra Leone and holds a master’s degree in human rights and democratization from the University of Pretoria. He has over 12 years’ litigation experience and has been a member of Sierra Leone’s General Legal Counsel, the body that regulates the legal profession in the country since March 2016. He was recently appointed to the Sierra Leone Bar Association’s Law Reports Committee and has been tasked with drafting Sierra Leone’s new land Bills recently tabled in Parliament.

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[Multi-dimensional soil health – pathways to incentivise improvements]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=17003 2022-01-28T10:36:26Z 2021-10-29T12:23:18Z

All Expert Panels

Multi-dimensional soil health – pathways to incentivise improvements

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office UK

Time: Thursday, 27. January 2022, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Languages: English, German

Summary:

Public policies and support play a key role in setting the incentives that drive the decision of agricultural producers in what to produce and how they produce it.  One of the key decisions with large potential impacts is the adoption of sustainable practices and technologies to restore and maintain good soil health. Governments provide over $700bn a year in public support to their food and agriculture sectors, with this support often incentivising harmful practices that contribute to land degradation, chemical run off and deforestation, and a tiny fraction supporting climate resilience and nature. Yet, besides the negative impact this has on future food security by compromising land productivity, agriculture – and soils – are unique in their ability to actively contributing to decarbonizing the atmosphere and recarbonizing nature by sequestering and storing very large volumes of carbon in soils.

There is a huge opportunity to catalyse global action to repurpose public policies towards those that deliver sustainable outcomes benefiting people, nature and our climate. Following recognition at the UN Food Systems Summit (September 2021) and COP26 of just how important this agenda has become, this session will highlight and discuss policy approaches and opportunities for repurposing public support to incentivise and support land users to improve soil health in all its dimensions. The expert panel will discuss challenges in these areas, based on real-world examples of policy initiatives; bringing perspectives from policy makers, farmer voices and academia. This event contributes to the on-going Policy Dialogue on Accelerating Transition to Sustainable Agriculture, co-convened by the UK and the World Bank, and to taking forward the aims of the Policy Action Agenda launched at COP26.

Recording

Moderator

Dr Rachael A McDonnellDeputy Director General – Research for Development, International Water Management Institute (affiliated to CGIAR)

Organization:
International Water Management Institute – Rome Office, Italy
Role Title:
Deputy Director General – Research for Development (Jun 2021 – present)
Strategic Program Director – Water, Climate Change and Resilience (Jul 2019-present);
Principal Researcher (Feb 2019-June 2021)

Organization:
International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Role Title:
Head of Climate Change Modeling and Adaptation Section (May 2015-Oct 2018)
Principal Researcher (June 2012–May 2015)
Water Policy and Governance Scientist (June-2008-2012)

Organization:
Oxford Water, School of Geography and Environment, University of Oxford, UK
Role Title:
Senior Visiting Research Associate (2013-2015)
Senior Research Scientist (Jan 2002 – 2013)
MSc Course Director (Jan 2002-July 2005)
Departmental Lecturer (Jan 1993-Oct 1996)

1990-1994
PhD University of Oxford, UK, Herford College, Senior Scholar, funded by the Mortimer May Graduate Scholarship “A GIS-Based Hierarchical Simulation Model for Assessing the Impacts of Large Dam Projects”
1989
Grad Diploma in Mapping and Surveying Studies, University of Queensland, Australia, funded by Rotary International Scholar Award
1985-1988
BSc Honours in Geography (Physical Geography specialization), University of Reading, UK

Panel Guests

Dr. Wolfgang ZornbachHead of Division for Climate Protection, Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)

Dr. Zornbach grew up on a small horticultural farm and studied biology at the University of Hamburg from 1979 to 1986, majoring in applied botany, microbiology and applied entomology.

 

After completing his dissertation at the Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (now the Julius Kühn Institute), Dr. Zornbach moved to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in June 1990. There he worked in the Plant Protection Unit and, since February 2017, in the Sustainability and Climate Protection, Climate Impacts Unit (Unit 521), which he now heads.

Dr. Zornbach chaired the OECD Pesticide Risk Reduction Steering Group for over 10 years, chaired a number of OECD seminars and workshops on various plant protection topics, and most recently chaired the OECD Working Group on Pesticides. This is the highest body within the OECD dealing with plant protection issues. In 2018/2019, Dr. Zornbach served as Chair of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA).

Madhur GautamLead economist, Agriculture Global Practice, World Bank

Madhur Gautam is a Lead Agriculture Economist with the Agriculture and Food Global Practice at the World Bank, where he leads the Agriculture Policy and Public Expenditures Thematic Team.  He has over three decades of experience working in International Development, with a primary focus on agriculture and rural development.  His main areas of interest are agriculture and food policy, productivity growth, food security, structural transformation, agriculture-environment nexus, agricultural markets and price analysis, public expenditure analysis, risk management, and rural development strategy. He has authored and contributed to numerous country and sector strategies, sector and topical analytical and diagnostic studies, evaluations, journal papers, and books. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and a Masters in Economics.

Professor Edward RhodesProfessor Emeritus (retired) of Soil Science, Njala University

Professor Edward R. Rhodes has a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Sierra Leone and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from Aberdeen University, United Kingdom. He has over 30 years of experience in teaching, conducting and supervising research in soil chemistry and fertility at the university level. Professor Rhodes was President of the University of Sierra Leone Research Council. He served the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security of Sierra Leone as Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Research Coordinating Council. He was most recently Prochancellor of Njala University. 

He has worked with a number of international and development agencies undertaking field work including the IFDC, FAO, UNU-INRA, USAID and EU, most recently as National Team Leader of an EU funded National Comprehensive Soil Survey of Sierra Leone contributing to a framework for the development of a national soil management strategy.  Professor Rhodes has also worked in Liberia, Togo, Ghana, Niger, Malawi and Mozambique.  

KEY AREAS OF EXPERIENCE  

Training at the Tertiary Education Level; Education and Research Administration; Agriculture/Agronomy/ Extension; Farming Systems; Soil Science/Soil Chemistry/Soil Fertility/Fertilizers/Soil  Conservation; Soil Resources Inventories; Soil Health; Vulnerability of Agricultural Systems to Climate Change; Adaptation in agriculture to climate change; Climate Smart Agriculture along Agricultural Value Chains; Green Economy; Agro-ecology Practices;  Natural Resources Management; Research/Extension/Farmer Participatory Agricultural Research for Development; Integrated Agricultural Research for Development; Agriculture-Nutrition Linkage; Sustainable Agricultural Development; Training of Agricultural Extension Agents; Food Security/Poverty Alleviation; Agricultural and Educational Policies; Scientific Writing; Concept Note/Feasibility Study/Project Preparation; Project Implementation & Evaluation; Staff Evaluation; Sector, Country and Regional Reviews & Synthesis; Review and Editing of Reports and Papers; Preparation of Policy Brief. 

Siôn McGeeverDeputy Director, Access, Landscapes, Peatlands and Soil, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Siôn has been at DEFRA since September 2020 and leads the Access, Landscapes, Peatlands and Soil (ALPS) division. ALPS looks at how we connect with the natural world, work within protected landscapes, restore and protect peatlands and improve soil health in England to reverse biodiversity loss (including 30×30), improve the wellbeing of the nation and combat climate change. ALPS also works with our Overseas Territories to protect and improve biodiversity through the Darwin Plus programme.

Siôn’s background is in International Development with experience designing and implementing programmes and developing UK Government policy in Africa, the Middle East and around the world. Over 14 years Siôn worked in both the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Siôn’s programme and policy work has focused on transport, trade facilitation, climate resilience and climate finance, renewable energy, water and sanitation, child nutrition, land reform and migration.

Before his development career he worked in manufacturing management for five years in the UK, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Siôn has degrees in Engineering and in Environment, Development and Policy.

Dr Leigh Ann WinowieckiResearch Theme Leader: Soil and Land Health, World Agroforestry

Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki is a Soil Systems Scientist at World Agroforestry (ICRAF) based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has over 15 years of experience working in the global tropics on key issues around land restoration, sustainable agricultural intensification and soil carbon dynamics. Over the last decade she has had a critical role in developing and implementing ICRAF’s Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF), a systematic monitoring framework for assessing soil and land health. This methodology has been implemented in over 40 countries in collaboration with multiple partners, including national governments and international organizations and is currently used to track changes overtime and monitor restoration efforts across SSA. She has published widely on soil organic carbon, ecosystem services and land degradation across Africa, including a coherent set of widely cited publications on ecosystem health based on the LDSF dataset. She currently leads an IFAD-EU funded initiative on Restoration of Degraded Lands in East Africa and the Sahel (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/project/restoration-degraded-land-food-security-and-poverty-reduction-east-africa-and-sahel-taking) which implements the Research in Development approach to scale restoration options (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/output/full-brochure-2020-using-planned-comparisons-east-africa-and-sahel).

In 2018, she was nominated as a landscape laurel:

Soil scientist Leigh Winowiecki works with over 8,000 farmers to restore degraded land in Africa

Ma Estrella “Esther” PenuniaSecretary General, Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development

Ms. Ma. Estrella “Esther” Penunia, is Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), a regional alliance of national farmers organizations or FOs in Asia. Established in 2002, AFA is currently composed of 22 national FOs in 16 countries, representing around 13 million small scale men and women farmers, engaged in crops, livestock, fisheries, herding and pastoralism. AFA promotes farmers’ rights to lands, waters, forests and seeds; sustainable, climate-resilient agro–ecological approaches in farms, fisheries and forests; strengthening farmers cooperatives and their enterprises;  empowering women members, attracting the youth to agriculture and harnessing capacities for effective governance through an integrated program on organizing and movement building; policy advocacy;  monitoring, evaluation, accountability, learning and communications;  business development servicing, capacity building and internal governance. 

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[Securing #soilidity. Challenges and solutions for sustainable land use]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=16998 2022-02-22T13:25:52Z 2021-10-29T11:50:51Z

All Expert Panels

Securing #soilidity. Challenges and solutions for sustainable land use

 

 

                  

 

German Agribusiness Alliance (GAA)
Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)

Cooperation partners:
German Eastern Business Association
German-Russian Agricultural Policy Dialogue

Time: Thursday, 27. January 2022, 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Languages: English, German, Russian, Chinese

Summary:
Climate change, soil degradation and water shortages threaten soil fertility and thus the basis of agriculture. The key question is how to reconcile economic and ecological efficiency. “Agriculture is dependent on the climate, so the goal in agriculture must be to substantially reduce emissions and sequester more CO2, methods for CO2 removal can make a decisive contribution to climate neutrality,” says Prof. Julia Pongratz, LMU Munich. However, a comprehensive assessment must be made with regards to undesirable side effects such as influences on the ecosystem and competition with land use opportunities, she added. Prof. Pavel Krasilnikov, Lomonosov University, Moscow, explained that climate-adapted agriculture in Russia will include more measures to preserve soil fertility and better manage climate change in the future. Torsten Spill, German Seed Alliance, emphasized the role of new plant varieties to produce yields under extreme soil conditions. In his view, international exchange and partnerships between industry and state institutes in research in crop production are central to being able to make appropriate offers. In conclusion, Cornelia Horsch, HORSCH Maschinen, was convinced that the modern agricultural sector would develop in the direction of hybrid agriculture, the combination of conventional and organic farming, in the future.

Recording

Moderator

Julia HarnalChairperson German Agribusiness Alliance & Vice President Public Affairs Agricultural Solutions, BASF SE

Julia grew up in a farming family and studied agricultural science before joining BASF in 2001 in what is now the Agricultural Solutions division. In addition to working as staff of the BASF Board of Executive Directors, she led marketing teams in France and Canada and is now Vice President for Public Affairs. Here she leads a diverse global team that is passionate about shaping the agriculture of the future.

Greeting

Dr. Ophelia NickParliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture

Panel Guests

Prof. Dr. Pavel KrasilnikovDean Department of Soil Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Prof. Dr. Pavel Krasilnikov is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a professor at the Department of Soil Geography and the Dean of the Faculty at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. He graduated from Lomonosov State University in Moscow with a specialization in soil science. He then received his PhD in biological sciences with a specialization in soil science. His research interests include the formation and geography of soils, mineralogy and micromorphology of soils, and economics of soil degradation. He is a member of the Presidium of the Central Council of the Dokuchaev Society of Soil Scientists and an honorary member of the International Union of Soil Sciences (2010-2014 Vice-Chairman of the Commission “Classification of Soils”).

Dr. Bin ZhangProf. Dr. Bin Zhang, Chief Scientist, Soil Health Care Group, IARRP, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)

Dr. Bin Zhang is Professor of Soil Biophysics and soil Fertility in the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and adjunct Professor in the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his M.Sc. in agronomy/agroecology from the Nanjing Agricultural University and his Ph. D in Soil Science. He was awarded with the Research Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and worked the Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Christian-Albrechts- University Kiel from 1999 to 2000. He has been involved in many national and international projects, covering a wide range for sustainability of crop productivity, soil and water conservation, soil tillage and water use, crop straw management and soil organic matter sequestration, with an emphasis on the interactions of physical and biological processes of the managed agro-ecosystems and restored degraded natural ecosystems from soil aggregate scale to small watershed scale and the ecological functions of the interactions.

Prof. Dr. Julia PongratzDirector Department for Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich

After studies at LMU and the University of Maryland Julia Pongratz received her PhD on the early human impact on the Earth system in 2009 at the University of Hamburg and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. She investigated food security and geoengineering as a postdoc at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology in Stanford, then led the independent research group “Forest Management in the Earth System” at MPI-M. She moved to LMU Munich in 2018 as head of chair for Physical Geography and Land Use Systems. She contributes to the IPCC’s Assessment Reports, is member of the Scientific Steering Committees of two Coupled Model Intercomparison (CMIP6) projects on land use and carbon cycle feedbacks and the Future Earth’s projects AIMES and the Global Carbon Project. She coordinates the synthesis of the German Ministry of Education and Research’s program on Carbon Dioxide Removal.

Cornelia HorschManaging Director, HORSCH Maschinen GmbH

Cornelia Horsch holds a degree in economics and is Managing Director of HORSCH Maschinen GmbH and on the Board of HORSCH Holding SE as well as Managing Director of the French subsidiary Horsch France SARL. One of the goals of her work is to further network and strengthen through intensive communication the areas of service, sales and marketing in order to expand the existing markets and open up new markets. In an honorary capacity, Cornelia Horsch is involved in the board of the LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania. The state-recognized university is the result of a private initiative to promote the qualifications of young people in the Baltic country. As Chairwoman of the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University Council, she focuses on current issues and relevant developments in higher education.

Torsten SpillChief Representative German Seed Alliance GmbH

Torsten Spill holds a degree in business mathematics and is an experienced expert in the international agricultural and food industry. After many years in positions at EDEKA-Fruchtkontor and Dole Food Co., he was CEO of the Solana Group from 2008 to 2020, responsible for the management of the family-owned company and particularly involved in expanding the group’s business activities in the Russian Federation. For one year now, Torsten Spill has been General Representative of the German Seed Alliance, which is considered one of the leading suppliers of seeds and seedlings in Russia. In an honorary capacity, Torsten Spill has been involved with the German agricultural industry since 2012, including the German Plant Breeders Association (BDP) and the German Agribusiness Alliance (GAA).

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[The bigger the better? The consequences of land investments for land rights, soils and food sovereignty]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=16994 2022-02-15T10:51:32Z 2021-10-29T11:27:06Z

All Expert Panels

The bigger the better? The consequences of land investments for land rights, soils and food sovereignty

 

           

 

          

 

Forum on Environment and Development
INKOTA-netzwerk
MISEREOR
Bread for the World
FIAN Germany

Time: Wednesday, 26. January 2022, 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Languages: English, German, Portuguese

Summary:
First, Michael Fakhri outlined in a video message: large-scale land grabs by investors often lead to the displacement of small-scale farming structures, hunger and the supremacy of an industrial agriculture that endangers the environment and health. He pleaded for multilateral solution processes, such as the VGGT, which are based on consensus-oriented development approaches with local communities and the right to food. Sabine Dorlöchter-Sulser then illustrated that large-scale agriculture in Africa neither closes the yield gap nor delivers on employment promises. Maureen Santos used the example of Brazil to show how the cycle of devastation by pesticides is reinforced as a result of state and international investments in large-scale land grabbing. Johannes Kotschi then drew attention to the increased use of mineral fertilizers as investments in land increase, and the associated negative impacts on soils, the environment and the climate. Drawing on his experiences in Mozambique, Luìs Muchanga emphasized that the model of land expropriation for commodities is not suitable for food security and reported on the positive effects of agroecology. Finally, all panelists agreed on the need to stop these land grabs and to implement concrete transformation strategies to support smallholder producers and to strengthen agroecological approaches at national and international level.

Recording

You can find the Portuguese Recording here.

Moderators

Josephine KochPolicy officer for resource policy

Josephine Koch is a policy officer for resource policy in the German NGO umbrella organization Forum on Environment and Development. The focus of her work is raw material transparency and resource transition. She is also responsible for the working group for Agriculture and Food within the Forum. She was previously a project coordinator in various socio-ecological organizations and initiatives.

Lena BassermannSenior policy advisor for global food and global agriculture, INKOTA-netzwerk

Lena Bassermann has been working with the INKOTA-netzwerk as a senior policy advisor for global food and global agriculture since 2019. Previously, she worked as a policy advisor at Welthungerhilfe and in the German Bundestag / German parliament. Her work focuses on agroecology, just food systems and farmers’ rights.

Video message

Michael FakhriUN-Special Rapporteur on Right to Food / Associate Professor, University of Oregon School of Law

Michael Fakhri is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. He is also an Associate Professor at the University of Oregon School of Law.

Panel Guests

Luís MuchangaDirector of the Mozambican farmers' association União Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC)

Luís Muchanga has been director of the Mozambican farmers’ association União Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC) since 2011. Previously, he was responsible for UNAC’s Lobby & Advocacy work. He studied economics in Maputo and considers himself a social activist.

Dr. Sabine Dorlöchter-SulserRural Development Officer, MISEREOR

Dr Sabine Dorlöchter-Sulser is a Rural Development Officer at MISEREOR (Africa/Middle East Department), has been working on rural development issues in sub-Saharan Africa for over 30 years, including 10 years in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Thematic areas: agroecology, farmer-led research, farmers’ seed systems, land rights, nutrition, among others.

Dr. Johannes KotschiExpert for Agricultural Development and Natural Resource Management, Agrecol

Johannes Kotschi is an agricultural scientist and advisor in rural development. He advises governmental and non-governmental as well as international organisations. His focus is on issues of sustainable and organic agriculture. Soil fertility management and agrobiodiversity development in the Global South are main areas of expertise. Johannes Kotschi has a PhD in agroecology and organic agriculture, is a founding member of Agrecol, the Association for AgriCulture and Ecology and lives in Marburg, Germany.

Maureen SantosCoordinator of the National Advisory Group, Federation of Organizations for Social and Educational Assistance (FASE)

Maureen Santos, Coordinator of the National Advisory Group of the Federation of Organizations for Social and Educational Assistance (FASE), is a professor of the International Relations Department at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and a former program coordinator in the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Rio de Janeiro office. She graduated in International Relations and is a master in Political Science from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Maureen Santors monitors the UNFCCC climate negotiations on behalf of Brazilian civil society organizations since 2008, especially, forests and agriculture issues.

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[Innovations to Boost Investment in Healthy Soils]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=16986 2022-01-26T20:49:31Z 2021-10-29T10:46:06Z

All Expert Panels

Innovations to Boost Investment in Healthy Soils

 

 

The World Bank

Time: Wednesday, 26. January 2022, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Languages: English, German

Summary:
The objective of this session is to explore innovations in financing models and partnerships required to engage the private sector and close the gap in investment in healthier soils. Investing in soil health can provide social, financial and environmental benefits. Healthy soils build drought resilience, increase yield stability, reduce nutrient loss and increase carbon sequestration. These multiple benefits make soils one of the most cost-effective ways to achieve food systems transformation. Yet, investments in soils remain meagre. To harness the nearly $600 billion in public support and trillions in private investment in agriculture and food towards new investments in soil protection and restoration, innovations in financing and partnerships are required to bridge the gap between the substantial economic and environmental benefits to society and the frequent perception of limited financial incentives for producers.

This session will highlight the challenges from the perspective of private sector producers, and the innovations in financing (e.g. outcome-based financing linked to technology-based soil carbon MRV systems) and partnerships (e.g. private companies and farmer groups through the Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR) Impact Program) whose wider application could drive soil protection and restoration at the scale needed to benefit of farmers, business and the environment and create healthy people, a healthy planet and healthy economies.

Recording

Moderator

Lystra AntoineFormer CEO of the Global Food Safety Partnership (GFSP)

Lystra is the former CEO of the Global Food Safety Partnership.  Over her more than 20 years at the World Bank, she worked in several regions, including South Asia, Africa, Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia. Lystra spent her entire career dedicated to results-driven strategies to improve the human condition, whether from the public or the private sector.  For four years prior to 2016 when she began leading the Global Food Safety Partnership, she was the Global Director for Agriculture Development at DuPont, a Fortune 500 company that employed over 60,000 people. Lystra holds an MBA from SUNY, Buffalo, and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.

Panel Guests

Alzbeta KleinGeneral Director, International Fertilizer Association

IFA represents over 440 members worldwide, encompassing the entire fertilizer value chain, promotes the responsible and efficient production, distribution and use of plant nutrients to enable sustainable agricultural systems. Alzbeta was formerly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) / World Bank Group, and through her numerous board-level positions, which included the Chief of Staff to the CEO of IFC, Global Co-Head of Industrials and Agribusiness, Global Head of Climate Business and other appointments, both at the headquarters in Washington DC and overseas. She served on several corporate and advisory boards of leading agribusiness companies such as Hans Merensky Holdings headquartered in South Africa, Grupo Los Grobo in Argentina, and on advisory sustainability boards of Nespresso and the New York University Stern School of Business. A citizen of Canada and Slovakia, Ms. Klein worked in all emerging market regions throughout her career. She holds an engineering degree from Prague University, Czech Republic, a Masters’ degree in Economics from the University of Ottawa, Canada, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. She also completed her executive education at Harvard Business School and INSEAD.

Ishmael SungaChief Executive Officer of the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU)

Leads SACAU, a farmers’ organisation representing the common interests of farmers in 12 countries in southern Africa. Ishmael has spearheaded the organisation’s work in relation to digital solutions; climate change; the development of a new generation of farmers and farmers’ organisations; multi-stakeholder platforms; systems thinking; and the governance of value chains. His wide-ranging experience and thought leadership has seen him serving a range of organisations, including the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the World Economic Forum, African Union/NEPAD, AGRA, Montpellier Malabo Panel of Experts, Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Generation Africa and the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification. Mr. Ishmael Sunga holds a BSc (Economics) from the University of Zimbabwe and an MSc (Strategic Management) from the University of Derby, UK. He is also a holder of other post-graduate qualifications and has wide-ranging experience, with more than 30 years’ in the development sector.

Felipe VillelaFounder & Chief Commercial Officer, reNature

ReNature is a Dutch organization with extensive knowledge & experience in Regenerative Agriculture around the globe. Felipe has been Lead Author at UN Environment for their GEO for Business brief on “The changing role of Business in Transforming Food Systems” and part of the Leadership Team at UN Food Systems Summit 2021. Felipe’s work and ambition is to engage international corporations to make a transition in their agricultural practises using successful regenerative agriculture showcases that ensures economic viability and farmers resilience.

Martien van NieuwkoopGlobal Director, World Bank Group

He provides leadership to the formulation and implementation of the Bank’s strategy and knowledge in agriculture and food, oversees the operationalization of the Bank’s vision on agriculture and food in regional and country programs, acts as senior spokesperson for agriculture and food Bank-wide and globally and manages the Agriculture and Food Global Practice. Before taking this position, Martien served as Practice Director of the World Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice, and Practice Manager for Agriculture in the South-Asia Region (2015-2017).  Prior to joining the Bank, he worked at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico from 1991. He holds a Doctorate in Development Economics from Wageningen Agricultural University.

Andrew KwasariSenior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Government of Nigeria

Andrew has previously served as sspecial assistant on projects to the former Minister of Agriculture and the senior technical adviser on policy and projects to the honorable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, during which period the Agriculture Promotion Policy (APP) was formulated as the sectoral policy for the period 2016 to 2020. He led the development of the Nigeria-Brazil Bilateral Agriculture Development Programme, the Green Imperative which seeks to modernize agriculture practices by linking private sector-led mechanization and agro processing with smallholder farmers to address the key constraints to small holder farmer productivity enhancement, postharvest losses, while creating linkage to finance and market. He also served as the Senior Technical Adviser to the Vice President on Agriculture Interventions Coordination responsible for the Secretariat of the National Economic Council Subcommittee on Farmer-Herder crises that produced the 10-year National Livestock Transformation Plan strategy to holistically address the resource-based farmer-herder conflicts as well as modernize livestock production in Nigeria, in order to address the constraints of obsolete husbandry practices with attendant low milk and beef yields. Andrew has over 10 years of private sector experience with multinational corporates in designing and implementation of turnkey agriculture commercial projects as well as smallholder farmers.

Timothée MurilloGlobal Director Smart & Sustainable Farming, McCain Foods Limited

Timothee is a sustainability leader with 15 years of international experience developing and financing new business models, impact investments and inclusive growth strategies in the food, agriculture and water industries. As global director smart & sustainable farming for McCain, he is in charge of driving and financing the transition to regenerative agriculture for 3,500+ potato farmers working with McCain across the world. Building sustainable agricultural value chains and food systems calls for innovative and local approaches in partnership with committed farmers, private, public and non-profit stakeholders. Together we can generate impact at scale, and make businesses more competitive, and communities and territories more resilient.

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[Investing in healthy soils – Curse and blessing of private sector financing and carbon offsetting]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=16970 2022-01-27T09:31:26Z 2021-10-29T09:15:46Z

All Expert Panels

Investing in healthy soils – Curse and blessing of private sector financing and carbon offsetting

WWF Germany

Time: Wednesday, 26. January 2022, 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Languages: English, German

Summary:
Healthy soils are the assets of our farmers. Investments in healthy soils are consequently investments in the future. The (financial) market “C-sink soil” is booming. However, there is often a lack of specifically tailored financing options for a shift to sustainable agricultural practices that also preserve our soils and restore and improve their fertility.

And this despite the fact that this can support climate change mitigation and adaptation and forms the basis of healthy food.

We want to discuss what is possible, what approaches and initiatives are already in place, and provide real answers as to what needs to be done by the relevant stakeholders (politics, trade, agriculture, financial sector) to establish and implement new funding opportunities.

One much debated approach is partial financing from carbon permits to capitalise on the added value of soils as carbon sinks. Therefore, we will also take a critical look at the subject of Net-Zero and CO2 offsetting and present alternatives.

We believe that funding climate-friendly measures entirely by means of private-sector financing instruments can only be a temporary solution. Such private-sector instruments are always made available on a voluntary basis and, in most cases, only a comparatively small group of holdings that follow a proactive approach makes use of them. As described in the Farm to Fork Strategy, incentives must be offered both by the CAP and private initiatives to achieve the European climate goals. In order to reach as many farms as possible, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) also holds potential for making the subsidies granted contingent on the delivery of climate-friendly environmental and system services.

The aim of this panel is to increase awareness among the political actors involved for the topic in general and the potential, but also the challenges associated with it, to put them in contact with important stakeholders, and to provide them with adequate information so that they will take an interest in further advancing the subject by initiating possible research or on-site implementation projects.

Recording

Backgroundinformation

Unlocking Smallholder Finance for Sustainable Agriculture

Moderator

Jonas AechtnerAdvisor Agricultural and Landscape Financing, WWF

Jonas Aechtner is Advisor for Agricultural and Landscape Financing at WWF Germany, where he is responsible for their work with banks on deforestation-free and sustainability criteria, as well as developing sustainable business cases and bankable projects in the land-use sector, with a focus on smallholder agriculture. His regional focus is southeast Asia. Previously he has been working on responsible investment policy, sustainable land management and rural development in Asia, central, and south America. He holds a Master’s degree in International Development from Lund University Sweden.

Panel Guests

Dr. Rolf SommerDirector, Agriculture and Land Use Change, WWF

Rolf Sommer is director of the department of Agriculture and Land Use Change at WWF in Germany. Before joining WWF he was Principal Scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Nairobi, Kenya.

 

Developing and finding sustainable management solutions addressing the complexity of achieving food and nutritional security, sustainable agricultural development, the conservation of nature, biodiversity and agro-ecosystem functioning has been at the core of Rolf’s work ever since. This includes protecting or rehabilitating soil fertility and health at field level, improving the livelihoods of smallholders through improved, competitive and eco-efficient productions systems at farm level, biodiversity, nature and landscape protection and rehabilitation at the watershed /regional level, and carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation at global scale.
Rolf holds a PhD in Agronomy and a MSc in Biology, and in the last 18 years have published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and numerous conference proceedings and online publications (see http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tAIw8ykAAAAJ&hl=en).

Sigrid Griese Advisor for Climate and Sustainability, Bioland

Sigrid Griese studied organic agricultural sciences. She has been working in the Bioland research department since 2014 at the interface of accounting and agricultural practice with a focus on the topics of sustainability analysis and climate protection and adaptation. In this role, she leads and works on projects that deal with the assessment of environmental performance in agriculture. The project results are incorporated into advisory services, new policy instruments or concepts for trade. She also works as an advisor for climate and sustainability in the Bioland Association.

Malin AhlbergFederal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action

Malin Ahlberg is Deputy Head of the Division “European Climate and Energy Policy, European Climate Initiative, Carbon Markets”, at BMUV, transitioning to the new Ministry of economic affaires and climate action.

She has been working in the field of carbon market and carbon pricing for fifteen years. In the division she is responsible for the subject areas of carbon pricing and international market mechanisms. Malin is a director of the German Foundation “Future of the Carbon Market” which was established by the BMU in 2010. In addition, Malin is the German focal point for the Partnership for Market Implementation (PMI) of the World Bank and helped found the Carbon Market Platform in 2015. Before she started her carrier at the ministry, she worked as a scientific expert at the German Emissions Trading Authority commissioned research projects in the field of global carbon market issues. Malin is a degreed engineer of the technical university of Berlin.

Jan Köpper Head of Impact Transparency & Sustainability, GLS Bank

Jan Köpper is heading the department on impact transparency & sustainability at GLS Bank Germany. In his role Jan is responsible for the conceptualization, coordination and implementation of societal impact measurement and management, the analysis and translation of sustainability risks, the sustainability assessments in corporate loan transactions as well as the integration of sustainability related processes in internal sustainability and bank management in the GLS Group. Following posts at the business network CSR Europe in Brussels and the sustainability rating agency imug/VE in Hanover he joined GLS Bank in April 2018 to start is current position.

Jan Köpper is founding director of the Peer School for Sustainable Development e.V. and chairman of Cluster e.V.. He has published numerous articles and media contributions. He also looks after the memberships of the GLS Forum for Sustainable Investments (FNG), B.A.U.M. e.V. and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking (UNPRB).

Rikke Olivera Senior Global Technical Specialist, Natural Resources Management, IFAD

She is a senior technical specialist in IFAD leading knowledge work and project design and implementation support in key areas relate to natural resources management such as: strengthening local institutions for natural resources governance and management; vulnerability analysis and building and monitoring resilience capacities of rural households; and support for small-scale producers in transition to agroecology and sustainable food systems. Prior to joining IFAD she has worked for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) supporting rural communities, CSOs and governments in the design and implementation of rural development and environmental projects.

Impressions

]]> Christin Regner <![CDATA[From the sky down: Managing land use and soils towards net zero emissions]]> https://www.gffa-berlin.de/?p=16961 2022-02-28T16:10:33Z 2021-10-29T09:02:24Z

All Expert Panels

From the sky down: Managing land use and soils towards net zero emissions

 

 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Time: Tuesday, 25. January 2022, 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Languages: English, German

Summary:
Achieving net-zero carbon emissions and limiting global temperature increases to 2oC this century will not be possible without augmenting the world’s terrestrial carbon sinks. Expert speakers offered different approaches to progress in this area, via peatland and wetland conservation, building soil carbon sequestration by greening the land, accelerate sustainable agricultural productivity growth to save land for forests and conservation, and revisiting policies to encourage farmers to move in this direction. The discussion that followed confronted the different strategies and discussed means to combine those and others to progress towards climate goals for the sector.

Recording

Moderator

Lini WollenbergAssociate scientist and research professor, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and Gund Institute, University of Vermont

Lini Wollenberg works on climate change and agriculture at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont.  From 2009 to 2021 she led the Low-Emission Development research theme for CCAFS, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. Prior to that Lini worked with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) based in Indonesia and with the Ford Foundation. She received her PhD in natural resource management from the University of California, Berkeley, USA.  Her expertise is in climate change mitigation, land use, and social inclusion.  She has worked primarily in Asia, especially Indonesian Borneo.

Panel Guests

Hans JoostenProfessor, Greifswald University and Greifswald Mire Centre

Hans Joosten (1955) is Professor of Peatland Studies and Palaeoecology at Greifswald University (Germany), partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre, and Secretary-General of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), the world organization of peatland conservationists.

His key research topics include paludiculture, on which he edited a handbook in 2016, and peatland restoration on which he edited an overview in 2016 for Cambridge University Press and produced global guidelines for the Ramsar Convention in 2021. For IMCG he produced the books ‘Wise use of mires and peatlands’ (2002) and ‘Mires and peatlands of Europe’ (2017).

Since 2009, Hans has been intensively involved in UNFCCC negotiations and IPCC guidance development, especially with respect to accounting for emissions from organic soils, and in FAO in advancing climate-responsible peatland management. Since 2017, he is steering committee member of the United Nations Global Peatlands Initiative.

Claire ChenuProfessor/Researcher, AgroParisTech/ National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE)

Claire Chenu is research director at INRAE (French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment) and consulting professor of soil science at AgroParisTech.
She is a member of the research unit ECOSYS at Grignon in Paris area. Her research deals with soil organic matter, which has a prominent role in ecosystem services provided by soils. She addresses the roles of soil organic matter in soil physical properties and investigates carbon dynamics and sequestration in agricultural soils. She was the 2019 Soil Science medallist of the European Geosciences Union and the recipient of the 2019 INRA Research Lifetime Achievement Award.
She is very involved in the science-policy-practice interface and in awareness raising activities on soils. She has been nominated Special Ambassador for 2015 the international year of soils by the FAO. She is member of several international committees, including being a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the 4 per 1000 initiative. She coordinates the EU H2020 European Joint Programme SOIL that associates 24 European countries: “Towards climate-smart sustainable management of agricultural soils”.

Keith Fuglie Economist, US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Keith Fuglie is a senior economist with the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he conducts research on the economics of technological change and science policy for agriculture. While with the Federal Government, Keith spent 2019-20 with U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau of Food Security, and in 1997-98 served as senior staff economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisors. He was lead author of the 2019 World Bank report, Harvesting Prosperity: Technology and Productivity Growth in Agriculture, and of the 2012 volume, Productivity Growth in Agriculture: An International Perspective. In 2012 Keith was recognized with the USDA Secretary’s Honor Award for Professional Service, and in 2014 he received the Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy Analysis from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. Earlier in his career, Keith spent ten years with the International Potato Center (CIP) stationed in Indonesia and Tunisia, where he headed CIP’s social science research program and was regional representative for CIP in Asia. Keith received his M.S. and PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota.

Jonathan BrooksHead of Division, OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate

Jonathan Brooks joined OECD in 1999 and is head of the Agriculture and Resource Policy Division in the OECD’s Trade and Agriculture Directorate, which produces the annual Agricultural Monitoring and Evaluation and biennial Review of Fisheries, and conducts analysis of how government policies can improve the productivity, sustainability and resilience of the agricultural sector. Before joining OECD in 1999, Jonathan was a Lecturer at the University of Reading. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis, an M.S. in Economics from Purdue University, and a B.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Impressionen

]]>