Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Panels related to ARD @ the European Development Days


26th - 27th November 2013. Brussels. European Development Days. 20 auditorium sessions were broadcast via live web-streaming. Here under are the panels related to ARD:

Resilience-building for improved food security and nutrition
CTA/IFPRI/PAFO/EC High-level panel on Resilience-building.
Understanding the multi-faceted dimensions of food security, nutrition and resilience is crucial. Smallholders account for a large share of vulnerable and food insecure populations. To reduce and manage risks they need access to technologies and practices that reduce yield variability, as well as financial services and policies to adapt to climate change. Investments in disease-resistant crop varieties to reduce vulnerability to crop losses have improved food and nutrition security.

Food security and food justice: Building blocks for a just and sustainable global food system
The panel discuss which policy shifts are needed to address these challenges. Which kind of agricultural development is desirable and most effective to feed the world in 2030, and does not add additional stress to the environment and the global climate? The panel should thus advance the discussion on the environmental sustainability of the food system, in particular in view of converging MDGs and SDGs in the post 2015 framework and help in better defining the EU’s contribution to transforming the global food system with the ultimate goal of achieving food security in a just and sustainable way.

Boosting resilience, food and nutrition security through innovative partnerships
Effectiveness and resilience can be enhanced by promoting economic growth. Innovative partnerships encompassing the private sector, development agencies, civil society, governments and researchers are a promising approach to achieve this. But first, best practices and potential pitfalls in high-level partnerships must be identified, together with safety mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable stakeholders.
Food, fuel and fibre – how can we ensure healthy land for future generations
Members of the panel gave their views on the growing threat of land degradation, the measures that can be taken to combat it and the environmental, social and economic benefits of doing so.
Leveraging private sector and trade for inclusive and sustainable development
The panel analysed the challenges faced when working with the private sector. It then highlighted potential benefits of Trade Facilitation and Trade Capacity Building advisory, especially for SMEs. Discussants will showcase tools to effectively engage with the private sector and will prioritize next steps needed to overcome the obstacles discussed. The debate explored the necessary conditions for fruitful public-private cooperation to catalyse trade-related reforms and achieve development results.


Besides a number of labs related to Agriculture in Africa were organised:

Agriculture in Africa today
The project is a collaborative effort between the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, Cornell University, Yale University and the Maastricht School of Management.

Improve livelihoods by sustainable trade
By leveraging and accelerating the investments of European private sector companies, EU Member States contribute to the public good through trade by upgrading and integrating large groups of smallholder farmers and local MSMEs into commercial supply chains. Building on the drive of these parties to upgrade supply origins in line with demand opportunities in regional and international markets, public leverage funding contributes towards strengthened cooperation and impact on the ground.

Upscaling climate risk assessments
The Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre has developed interactive approaches to inform and apply climate risk assessments, which are used by a wide variety of actors, from smallholder communities in Africa to the World Bank and IFAD. This interactive session will (i) feature brief examples from the field, showing how local risk assessments can directly inform policy and practice, (ii) present tools to overcome uncertainties and link information to action, and then (iii) ask participants to brainstorm solutions to enhance the integration of climate risk assessments into decision-making at all scales.

Climate financial instruments
This brainstorming session aims to identify good practices and standards to enhance both the effectiveness and the supervision of innovative mechanisms.

Small farmers, big business?
Drawing from the experience of the “Small Farmer Big Business Platform” initiated by GIZ, UNIDO, SNV, COLEACP and AFD, this brainstorming session will discuss how innovative public-private partnerships can join efforts, benefit from synergies, and create up-scalable business models that promote inclusive agricultural growth as well as food and nutrition security.

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs): Have we considered all the implications?
In this session, COLEACP wishes to share its 12 years of experience as a private sector association supported by the European Development Fund (EDF), in building partnerships and working with African, Caribbean and Pacific private agriculture value chains.

Soil data and information for development
How to protect Africa’s soil resources? The first Soil Atlas of Africa, the result of a collaboration between the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation–EuropeAid, uses informative maps and texts and stunning photos to explore how to protect Africa’s soil resources

Strengthening the role of the private sector in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth
Stakeholder consultations on the future EU approach to private sector development and engagement of the private sector for development. DG DEVCO is working on defining a clear policy that formulates in more operational terms its strategy for implementing the directions given in the ‘Agenda for Change’ on working for and with the private sector in development cooperation. This session will provide a space for discussion of the issues and options that should be addressed in a future EU policy on private sector development and engagement with the private sector for achieving sustainable and inclusive growth.

Innovative solutions for food security
A problem-solving workshop to enhance resilience to the challenges of food insecurity. This session will provide an overview of the challenges, followed by small group brainstorming exercises to explore innovative solutions.

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