CFS 46 Side Event: Consultation on Establishing an international Digital Council for Food and Agriculture
18 October - 8:30 to 10:00 AMLebanon Room, FAO Headquarters, Rome
Background
In January 2019, at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), the agriculture ministers of 74 countries adopted a number of resolutions in a political communiqué about digitalization in agriculture. The common voice of the ministers stated the need for an International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture that will take action on global digitalization of agriculture and food sector.
Through the communiqué, the ministers called upon FAO “to draw up, in consultation with stakeholders including the World Bank, African Development Bank, IFAD, WFP, OECD, WTO, ITU, OIE and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) a concept for the establishment of an international Digital Council for Food and Agriculture”.
During the process of developing the concept note, FAO has established an internal taskforce in consultation with the nominated stakeholders (GFFA focal points) holding regular meetings and different online and on-site consultations through an approach of co-creation and full-participation from multi-stakeholders. FAO has requested technical support from Deloitte based on their successful cooperation with UN Innovation Reform and ability to think out of the box. Key activities are highlighted below.
The Council will advise governments and other relevant actors on digitalization in the agricultural sector and enhance the exchange of knowledge and experiences, as well as help everyone harness the opportunities presented by digitalization.
FAO, jointly with the above-mentioned organizations, leads the coordination of activities, in particular to:
- Implement an open multi-stakeholder consultation and co-creation process to develop the proposal for the establishment of the Digital Council for Food and Agriculture; including
- Pre-consultation meeting at the Digital Agriculture Transformation Seminar.
- Design thinking workshops on the Digital Council at AGRF in Accra and at the E-Agriculture Forum in Budapest
- One-on-one interviews with GFFA focal points
- Online multi-stakeholder consultation on Digital Council through FSN Forum
- Multi-stakeholder consultation on the Digital Council through CFS 46 Side Event
- Deliver a Concept Note as a consensus-based proposal on the Terms of Reference (purpose, scope, functions, roles and responsibility, and operating model) to implement the Council, together with a roadmap.
The joint efforts aim to ensure a full-participatory and inclusive engagement with stakeholders in the development of the Concept Note, from conception to drafting and finalizing.
Goals
The goal of this side event is to have a final open multi-stakeholder consultation regarding the needs, scope and functionality of the International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture proposal.
Agenda
During the session the main content of the Concept Note will be presented, including:
- Rationale and need: (a) why create a Digital Council; (b) how this Digital Council will close gaps in the Agriculture sector and rural areas;
- Scope and functionality: (a) What will be the role of this Council; (b) How the Council will execute its role; (c) what type of functionalities and decision-making framework will be the most adequate.
|
Duration (85 min) |
Session | Presenter |
| 5' | Welcome and introduction | YE Anping, Senior Advisor, FAO ODG |
| 10’ | Presentation on concept note | Samuel Varas, FAO CIO Director |
| 20' | Multi-stakeholders representatives’ review and feedback on concept note |
Kolloge Sabine, Head of Division 626 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, G7/G20, Policies against Hunger, The Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (Germany) Theo de Jager, President of the World Farmers Organisation (WFO) Cor Wattel, Researcher, Wageningen Economic Research Srinivasu Pappula, Global Head - Digital Farming Initiatives, Tata Consultancy Services |
| 45' | Open discussion | All |
| 5’ | Wrap-up and Next Steps | George Rapsomanikis, FAO EST Senior Economist |
Output
The outputs of this consultation process are as follows:
- Identify feedback and comments regarding the proposed note of the International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture in terms of: (a) Rationale and Need, and (b) Scope and Functionality;
- Identify risks and challenges to the establishment of the International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture.