المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

My name is Robert Mutisi from Zimbabwe.  A forester and Beekeeper by profession.

One story I need to share in support of SDG 2 is that of a sunflower project that we set up in one of the farms in our community. The project emphasized the importance of bees in pollination and how honey bees can be integrated to crop farming. The improved seed production and honey ensures improved food security and the reduction of hunger. The stages of the project are seen in the attached document which I produced and it is a story that can be shared. We are encouraging farmers to grow sunflowers and put bees for pollination. During the process farmers can also get honey that can be used as food and medicine. The seed from sunflowers can be used for oil production and cake for stock feed. 

Two additional stories share the importance of bees and were realised by Mrs Bhebhe and Chitora primary school. 

I would also like to share a presentation I was invited to give by Umbowo Development services.  It highlights the importance of beekeeping for farming activities to a group of farmers in Zvishavane. One major point that came out was that of enhancing crop production through pollination. This will eventually improve food security in the country thereby reducing hunger and vulnerability.

The Green Revolution, especially use of improve varieties and chemical fertilizers and other inputs, is one such wizardry of ecological upward manipulation. Adding chemical fertilizers and other inputs to crop varieties vastly improved by the breeder’s art: experimental crosses and hybridization, was among the factors credited with averting starvation in the last decades of the 20th century. 

I worked for a Green Revolution Institute, the International Crops Research Centre for the Semi-Arid Tropics, (ICRISAT) during the 1980s. There I found a common assumption that people in subsistence economies, in developing nations, were suffering frequent short falls of food production. it was also assumed they had hit a ceiling of carrying capacity: they were not able to keep up with their rising population. Adding improved crops, augmenting soil fertility with chemical fertilizers, and yield improvement though other inputs like herbicides, pesticides and fungicides; these were the wizard’s gifts to prevent famine and starvation.  

Here is my own dilemma: I did not find starvation within the rural areas where I was stationed in Burkina Faso, which was then one of the poorest countries in the world (lowest $.day figures). 



My genealogical data indicated that for the period prior to aobut 1960, a rate of infant and childhood mortality that was  close to 30%, on average. Annually, factored against the death rates for all adults, this gave a modest annual growth rate of .07% to .05%.  I also did not see evidence of extreme poverty – if families were put at risk by illness or the death of a parent, they were allotted sufficient cereal from the headman’s granaries (consisting of the collective surpluses of all households in the lineage) until they could recover.



The youngest families in the genealogies, however, had much lower infant and childhood mortality. Their completed family sizes looked much larger, in some families it was doubled. The differences appeared, to me, attributable to vaccination programs initiated in the country in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s.  There had been efforts through the WHO and Save-the-Children funded campaigns to extend vaccination to rural areas such as those where our study villages were located. Before this there had been a general resistance to such campaigns among rural populations in French West Africa. 



My own experience, therefore,  indicated that perhaps the take-off of population growth in these regions had more to do with the success of vaccination programs and the extension of other aspects of medical care and sanitation, which reduced infant and childhood death rates. I was particularly struck by an example of a couple who had lost all but one of a dozen children (born during the 1940s and 1950s) to what appeared, from the descriptions given, to have been tetanus infections following the cutting of the umbilicus.  This was striking in contrast to their only child, a son, who had five surviving children ranging in age from 16 years to 18 months, all born during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when I interviewed this extended family in 1983. They had only lost two children during that time, both during an outbreak of some kind of fever, possibly dengue or yellow fever. I personally got dengue while I was in the field. It is still fairly common there.



As a result of these observations, I am sceptical of the idea that most people, in traditional subsistence economies, go hungry because of inadequate yields. I found substantial surplus production was being concentrated in the granaries of headmen and village chiefs. These leaders traditionally deployed these surpluses when drought caused famine*1. 



In my own view, the Green Revolution may have saved the lives of farming people on land degraded or marginal for agriculture but it was due to the fact that the better land had been take over by colonial plantations and later by commercial ranches and crop operations. 

It was a nice idea – save the small farmer all over the world, in India, the Middle East, South America, and Africa but it was, I eventually concluded, in error when applied to tribal societies that showed no evidence of soil damage from over-cultivtion of land, no evidence that malnutrition was common, and which still had local political systems in place that secured surpluses for storage against drought. These traditional small holder subsistence farming economies were perfectly capable of feeding the people within them, and systems like slash and burn were even sustainable and protective of ecological diversity, keeping up to eighty percent of the village lands in secoundary growth and forest. This large area of common land provided supplimental food and fuel tothe villagers, as well as sustiaaning the penetration of rainfall into the water table and keeping wells, ponds, and rivers from either flooding or running dry. 

Today, like other traditional indigenous economies, people in these systems are being systematically converted to a much riskier, unsustainable, and ecology-simplifying food production system that is creating socio-economic stratification. Norman Borlaug’s work – arising out of his desire to help people in degraded farming lands, has been turned to the further commercialization of the remaining landscape of the planet. 

Of course some families in the ICRISAT villages appeared more prosperous than others. All human societies are marked by disparity of effort and luck, which sometimes manifests as a difference in family size, and may also translate as differences in conservative “traditionalists” and progressive “entrepreneurs”. 



I observed this difference deepen through the extension of Green Revolution technologies to the rural Sahel villages. As chemical fertilizers became available, the primary effect was an increase the length of time a piece of land could be cultivated. Instead of being fallowed after a few years and thus returned to the commons, such land was now cultivated for decades with only brief fallows. And it was even being passed down within the family, as a kind of “farm tenure”. 

Secondly, the chemical fertilizers, and other inputs like herbicide and insecticide, were subsidized for farmers who were willing to grow a commercial cotton crop. This was done through policies of the agricultural extension services operating in Burkina Faso at the time. I am certainly not suggesting that all of this was down to the “green revolution” efforts of scientists at my institute. They were more interested in promoting cultivation of the sorghum and millet varieties they had been developing. The increased length of cultivation on any one piece of land, and the fact that this pattern was often tied to a commercial crop meant that “entrepreneurial” farmers generally had far more land under cultivation than traditional subsistence farming families. Only some, of the traditionalists, were able to afford the chemical fertilizers. Others often lacked the extra labour (being younger households or those with few sons) to tackle clearing extra land for a commercial crop, as well as for a food crop. 

Social stratification was beginning to appear, as well as a shift in land tenure, as land use intensification occured.*2 

A few of the bigger and more entrepreneurial family farms enlarged their holdings from year to year, while everyone else continued to farm small and temporary plots. Some particularly small or older households began to work as additional labourers for larger households. When this was not arranged along lines of kinship, but rather as a contract paid “in kind”, they got some of the crop. If it was arranged by kinship, these households were provided for during the rest of the year from the granaries of their lineage headman. Essentially, however, a landless class of rural labourers was being created. The children of these landless families got discouraged and migrated out of the village to seek work on plantations in the Ivory Coast, or in the growing cities like Bobo-djuolasso or Ougadougou. It was among these migrants, in the poor neighbourhoods of these cities, that I saw some evidence of malnutrition.



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*1 People who were promenant in these communities were not wealthy, except in the trust of other people. They were the peace-makers, the truth tellers, and the moral examples that the young modelled themselves after. “Big men” and chiefs were not so much exercising power over others as they were exercising responsibility to others.Let me give an example to show what I mean: I was interviewing households in an African village in Burkina Faso, on the subject of how much grain they had in store after harvest. Every one of them had cultivated more than they needed in order to contribute to the stores of the village headman. I then interviewed this headman, and he proudly showed me granary after granary.He told me there was enough grain in store to feed the village through seven years of drought.This was a moment of revelation for me. I had been thinking of him as a powerful and greedy man, who was enriching himself through his political position. Suddenly I saw the man for what he was – an ethical, methodical, and diligent person striving to live up to the great responsibility entrusted to him. He had to constantly monitor those granaries, checking for damage by rot or vermin, and carefully assess all withdrawals from this common fund. 



*2 Boserupian intensification has helped explain land clearing even in the deep past (Ruddiman and Ellis 2009). At present, as human populations are growing and urbanizing, agricultural demand has increased so much that the most intensive agricultural systems are becoming dominant. The good news is that the most intensive systems tend to focus on the most productive land – marginal lands are increasingly abandoned and left to regenerate ( the “forest transition”; eg. Rudel et al. 2009). So even as we go off the end of Boserup’s chart, disaster is not the result and intensification continues- though the planet will never be the same- our agriculture has now transformed the planet for the long-term (Ellis et al. 2010).

http://ecotope.org/blog/saved-by-ester-boserup/?fbclid=IwAR03YMtSeiKNSz…

Soil biodiversity has to be included in any management policy if we aim at increasing soil health, promoting food production and reducing costs. Soil organisms play a key role in delivering ecosystem services and their abundance, diversity and functional structure must be preserved. Soil protection must include soil biodiversity and management practices have to be implemented to ensure soil biodiversity: stop removing crop residues, keep a plant cover over the soil surface, and decrease the additions of agrochemicals.

Our research has shown that intensive management practices reduces soil biodiversity and soil becomes depleted in nutrients. Consequently, these nutrient losses might not compensate the investments in mineral fertilizers. See more:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.13744

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00686/full

Our current studies also suggest that organic farming promotes not only soil biodiversity but also increases the nutrient content of the fruits produced.

English translation below

Los Objetivos del Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) fueron declarados para lograr la prosperidad de todos los pueblos en el mundo a través de actividades que protegen el planeta. Entre estos destacan como ODS2: seguridad alimentaria, gestión sostenible de los recursos naturales, producción responsable a través de una agricultura sustentable, acción por el clima y protección de la vida de los ecosistemas terrestres.

La agroforestería dinámica consiste en la asociación de cultivos y/o frutales con “especies acompañantes” en forma de alta densidad y diversidad. Sistemas agroforestales dinámicos imitan la naturaleza, son diversos, ofrecen servicios ambientales múltiples, producen alimentos agroecológicos y al mismo tiempo es protegido el ecosistema local y los recursos naturales. La utilización del material de poda en forma de biocarbón activado y madera rameal fragmentada es un aporte a la mitigación del cambio climático.

En Mollesnejta – Centro de Agroforestería Andina se está experimentando desde 20 años con éxito la asociación de cultivos y/o frutales con especies nativas e introducidas que apoyan como vegetales acompañantes a las especies productivas a través de:

• la protección contra la insolación, las temperaturas extremas y la evapotranspiración, ofreciendo condiciones amigables para la flora y fauna;
• la simbiosis con bacterias y micorrizas a nivel de las raíces logran la nitrificación del suelo, la disponibilidad de fosfatos y de otros nutrientes, lo que hace innecesario la aplicación de fertilizantes químicos;
• la capa de mulch y el aumento de la materia orgánica en el suelo por la hojarasca, el material de poda y la constante renovación de raicillas mejora la fertilidad del suelo y su capacidad de almacenar la humedad;
• por sus exudaciones que actúan como repelente contra plagas y logran un equilibrio natural contra enfermedades no hay necesidad de aplicar pesticidas.

Las ramas que se obtienen por la poda de las especies acompañantes pueden ser procesados en Madera Rameal Fragmentada que (1) se utiliza como material de mulch para conservar la humedad en el suelo; (2) es introducido a la capa arable del labrado con el fin de aumentar su contenido de materia orgánica para fortalecer la biota y su capacidad de almacenar la humedad.

Las ramas más gruesas pueden ser carbonizadas (biocarbón) y después mezcladas con guano, compost, orina y otros sustratos que contienen nutrientes para los vegetales. Este carbón activado esta aplicado en los cultivos y/o frutales. Una característica particular del carbón es su capacidad extraordinaria de almacenar nutrientes y humedad, manteniéndoles disponibles a nivel de las raíces de las especies cultivadas.

La poda en las parcelas agroforestales dinámicas es una actividad necesaria. Mayor densidad de plantación más se debe podar para asegurar el espacio, la ventilación y la entrada de la luz para los vegetales productivos.

Tanto la utilización de la madera rameal fragmentada como el carbón aumentan el carbono en el suelo. Entonces, estas prácticas son un sumidero de CO². Aparte de fertilizar el suelo y darle la capacidad de almacenar la humedad aportan a la mitigación del cambio climático.

Resultados obtenidos en MOLLESNEJTA bajo las condiciones de un suelo erosionado y pedregoso, un clima semiárido y temporadas de sequía que duran hasta ocho meses:

• La aplicación del mulch, de la madera rameal fragmentada y del carbón activado está permitiendo reducir el riego para el cultivo de la cebolla y los frutales (manzano, pera, cítrico, pacay, níspero, guayaba) de manera considerable (aproximadamente la mitad).
  
  Investigaciones de:
  
  Marcelo Bustamante: Ahorro de agua de riego con la aplicación de carbón vegetal y sach’a guano en la producción de cebolla. Tesis de licenciatura en Ingeniería Ambiental, Universidad Católica Boliviana, Cochabamba/Bolivia 2016.
  
  Lorenz Beister: Conservación de la humedad del suelo a través de la aplicación de la madera ramal fragmentada en el valle semiárido de Bolivia, Investigación de pasantía, Technische Universität München/Alemania, 2015
  
  Marco Guarachi Condori: Efecto de la Madera Rameal Fragmentada (MRF) en un suelo con cultivo de cebolla (Allium Cepa) con bajos porcentajes de humedad y materia orgánica en la estación experimental de Agroforestería andina MOLLESNEJTA en Combuyo- Cochabamba/Bolivia, Tesis de licenciatura en agricultura, Universidad Pública de El Alto/Bolivia 2017
• La asociación de la vid (Vitis vinífera) con el Tagasaste/Árbol falso de Alfalfa (Chamaecytisus proliferus ssp palmensis) es beneficioso, dado que el Tagasaste es leguminosa, quiere decir nitrifica el suelo, tiene simbiosis con micorriza deliberando fosfatos en el suelo, sirve de tutor para la vid, le protege contra mal tiempos y la insolación durante su estado juvenil, es fácil de podar y como su ciclo de vida es de unos 15 años, se auto elimina cuanto el fuste de la vid esta estable; además las ramas del Tagasaste son forraje.
  
  Constatación a través de observaciones de la asociación vid con Tagasaste.
• Se ha constatado la presencia de micorriza en las siguientes especies nativas en la región andina: Chacatea (Dodonaea viscosa), Tipa (Tipuana tipu), Jarc’a (Acacia visco), Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), Chirimolle (Zanthosylum coco), Pacay (Inga feuillei), Tara (Caesalpinia spinosa), Chilijchi (Erithrina falcata) y Lluvia de oro (Tecoma cochabambansis) que lleva a un desarrollo favorable y una mayor resistencia a la sequía en los cultivos asociados. 
  
  Investigaciones de:
  
  Fabian Sauter: Agroforestería andina en el Valle de Cochabamba, Investigación de pasantía, Technische Universität München/Alemania, 2017Philipp Lichtenauer y Maxim Schunewitsch: Especies nativas en el Valle de Cochabamba y su asociación con micorriza, Investigación de pasantía, Beuth Hochschule für Technik, Berlin/ Alemania 2019
• Se ha podido observar los beneficios productivos de las especies micorrizadas arriba mencionadas en los frutales asociados. En noviembre 2019 se comenzará un ensayo con la Chacatea (Dodonaea viscosa) y el Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus proliferus ssp palmensis) en asociación con cultivos comunes en la zona.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a call for action to achieve global prosperity while protecting the planet. Some of the key targets are improving food security and ensuring sustainable food production systems (Goal 2), achieving the sustainable management of natural resources (Goal 12), taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (Goal 13) and protecting terrestrial ecosystems (Goal 15).

Dynamic agroforestry involves planting agricultural crops and/or fruit trees and integrating "supportive species” in the same space to create dense environments of high diversity. Dynamic agroforestry systems mimic nature, are diverse, offer multiple environmental services, produce agroecological food and protect local ecosystems and natural resources. The use of their pruning material to produce activated biochar and ramial chipped wood contributes to mitigate climate change.

In Mollesnejta (Andean Agroforestry Centre) agricultural crops and/or fruit trees have been successfully integrated with native and introduced species for 20 years. These support the productive species by:

• providing protection against sunshine, extreme temperatures and evapotranspiration, and providing favourable conditions for flora and fauna;
• enabling the symbiosis with bacteria and mycorrhizae at root level that nitrifies the soil and makes phosphates and other nutrients available, making the application of chemical fertilizers unnecessary;
• creating a layer of mulch and increasing the organic matter in the soil due to the forest litter, pruning material and continuous root renewal, improving soil fertility and soil moisture storage capacity as a result;
• oozing out different substances that repel pests and provide a natural protection against diseases, removing the need for the application of pesticides.

Pruning branches from the supportive species can be processed into ramial chipped wood which (1) is used as mulch material to preserve soil moisture; (2) is introduced in the topsoil to increase its organic matter content with the aim of strengthening the biota and increasing its moisture storage capacity.

Thicker branches can be carbonized (producing biochar as a result) and then mixed with guano, compost, urine and other substrates containing plant nutrients. This activated carbon is then applied to agricultural crops and/or fruit trees. One of the key features of this carbon is its extraordinary ability to store nutrients and moisture, keeping them available at root level of the productive species.

Pruning in dynamic agroforestry plots is necessary. The higher the planting density, the harder the pruning to provide the necessary space, ventilation and light for the productive vegetables.

The use of ramial chipped wood and biochar increase soil carbon. Therefore, these practices can be considered a CO2 sink. Apart from fertilizing the soil and facilitating moisture storage, they contribute to mitigate climate change.

The following results have been achieved in MOLLESNEJTA, a research station surrounded by eroded and stony soil, subject to a semi-arid climate with dry periods lasting up to eight months:

• The application of mulch material -ramial chipped wood and activated biochar- is significantly reducing (by approximately 50%) the amount of water used to irrigate onions and fruit trees (apple tree, pear tree, citrus trees, pacay, medlar tree, guava tree).

Related research work:

Marcelo Bustamante: Ahorro de agua de riego con la aplicación de carbón vegetal y sach’a guano en la producción de cebolla. Tesis de licenciatura en Ingeniería Ambiental, Universidad Católica Boliviana, Cochabamba/Bolivia 2016.

Lorenz Beister: Conservación de la humedad del suelo a través de la aplicación de la madera ramal fragmentada en el valle semiárido de Bolivia, Investigación de pasantía, Technische Universität München/Alemania, 2015

Marco Guarachi Condori: Efecto de la Madera Rameal Fragmentada (MRF) en un suelo con cultivo de cebolla (Allium Cepa) con bajos porcentajes de humedad y materia orgánica en la estación experimental de Agroforestería andina MOLLESNEJTA en Combuyo- Cochabamba/Bolivia, Tesis de licenciatura en agricultura, Universidad Pública de El Alto/Bolivia 2017

• Integrating vine (Vitis vinífera) and tagasaste (Chamaecytisus proliferus ssp palmensis) is beneficial for various reasons. Tagasaste is a legume and as such nitrifies the soil, it forms symbiotic associations with mycorrhiza releasing phosphates in the soil, it guides the vine and protects it against bad weather and sunshine during its growing stage, is easy to prune, it has an average life cycle of 15 years, it decomposes itself once the vine shaft is stable and its branches can be used as forage.

These benefits have been confirmed by monitoring the integration of vine and tagasaste.

• Mycorrhiza have been found in the following native species in the Andean region: chacatea (Dodonaea viscata), tipa (Tipuana tipu), jarc'a (Acacia visco), jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), chirimolle (Zanthosylum coco), pacay (Inga feuillei), tara (Caesalpinia spinosa), chilijchi (Erithrina falcata) and lluvia de oro (Tecoma cochabambansis). Mycorrhizal fungi promote the development of the integrated crops and increase their drought resistance.

Related research work:

Fabian Sauter: Agroforestería andina en el Valle de Cochabamba, Investigación de pasantía, Technische Universität München/Alemania, 2017

Philipp Lichtenauer y Maxim Schunewitsch: Especies nativas en el Valle de Cochabamba y su asociación con micorriza, Investigación de pasantía, Beuth Hochschule für Technik, Berlin/ Alemania 2019

• The integration of the mycorrhized plant species mentioned above and fruit trees has yielded productive benefits. A trial -integrating chacatea (Dodonaea viscose) and tagasaste (Chamaecytisus proliferus ssp palmensis) into common crops in the area- will be conducted in November 2019.

Firstly in parts of Nigeria where the bulk of the food is being produced, is experiencing an upsurge in farmers/herders, clashes, some areas are seeing banditry and insurgency causing hunger and malnutrition, and deaths. 

To ensure we have a food-secure world in Nigeria, especially in rural farming communities in Nigeria, we are providing health and well-being services to the farmers and the herders in their communities, because we have learned that the health and well being of the farmers will ensure that farmers can produce food, and also save cost in accessing healthcare services, which would ordinarily be contributed to the food production.

We are also training and teaching local farmers on the need to form a cal association to access financial support from the government and other donor groups to increase food security. 

We are also training farmers on modern farming techniques, aimed at improving food production. Part of the training and local capacity building initiative include training farmers on soil health and different types of farming techniques to keep the ecosystem fit for continues use and maximize production.

English translation below

1. Notre travail à nous est d'aider les producteurs à travers les informations qui contribuent à réduire la fain et les formations sur les nouvelles méthodes et pratiques qui tendent à préserver la nature tout en assurant la sécurité alimentaire.

Après l'adoption des ODD, nous nous sommes plus focalisés dans la production agricole en vue d'apporter aussi notre pierre à l'édifice. Nous avons aussi commencé par utiliser les TIC en vue d'augmenter cette production.

2. Grâce à notre plateforme Web www.agribusinessdata.com nous apportons l'information à temps réel aux producteurs pour leur permettre de mieux analyser la situation et de prendre des décisions importantes. Pour garanti r une faim zero, il va falloir aussi travailler les modèles et techniques de conservation, et pour ce fait nous accompagnons les producteurs dans la quête de cette résolution.

3. Les producteurs accompagnés sont suivi pour pouvoir récolter les impacts que ce changement a eu dans la lutte contre la faim. La meilleure expérience que nous avons est que ces petites entreprises arrivent à se certifier en de petit label qui garantit la qualité de leur produit et par conséquence montre leur impact sur la faim et la santé de nos populations.

1. Our job is to help producers by providing information that could reduce hunger, as well as training on new methods and practices aiming at preserving nature while ensuring food security.

Following the adoption of the SDGs, we have focused more on agricultural production in order to make a contribution to the process. We also began by using ICTs to increase production.

2. We provide real-time information to producers through our web platform www.agribusinessdata.com to help them better analyze the situation and make important decisions. To achieve zero hunger, we also need to work on conservation models and techniques, which is why we are supporting producers in pursuing this resolution.

3. Supported producers are monitored so that they can capture the impacts that this change has had in the fight against hunger. The best experience we have is that these small businesses manage to certify themselves as small labels guaranteeing the quality of their products and consequently showing their impact on hunger and the health of our populations.

When George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, his mission was different. Reading this book again and again is a reassurance that it has a message for every reader. In a world where food is scare, we also need to talk about the quality of the ones we produce. Just like crops, meat is a composition of the many activities that involves its production. Unethical meat production releases harmful deposits that may cause health issues if consumed. To this end, I advocate for Animal Welfare particular in Nigeria- Africa's most populous Nation. Animal welfare can be in degrees. Animal welfare for human well being can be said to be more appropriate in Africa where human welfare is still an issue. This is a way of meeting up to SDG2, of ensuring zero hunger, of creating a food secure earth.

Valentine Odinakachukwu Obiasogu

Department of Animal Science,

University of Ibadan.

Dear All,

I would like to share my idea with you. With my more than 25 years working experience on agricultural research and development, my concept for food secure world is:

For the achievement pf SDG 2: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” by 2030 we must prioritize the need of the smallholder farmer as agriculture in the developing countries mainly undertaken by smallholder farmers who constitute over two-thirds of the global poor, food insecure and most vulnerable population. For this purpose, we need to insure the right inputs in right time, real time advisory services and ensure the selling price of the farm products.

These can be achievable if we can connect directly farmers with the input dealer, advisor and consumer in a loop using ICT tools such as mobile APP.  Currently, these linkage are broken, passes through many intermediaries and non-transparent. Consequently, smallholder farmers are not using right input, have lower yield and lower selling price while the consumer has less trust of food safety what they buy from market. If we want to create a responsible safe food system, we must create direct link between consumer and producer that will insure the higher return for the smallholder farmers.

Thank you.

Dear all,

Thank you so much for all your insightful comments.

I am particularly impressed by the multitude of issues your contributions touched upon. Aquaculture, nutrition education, food safety, nutrition, monitoring & evaluation, horticulture, access to water, extension services, youth and ethnobotany have all been mentioned.

This reflects very clearly the multidimensional nature of our struggle towards realizing SDG 2 "Zero Hunger". It also shows that one of the trickiest aspects lies in the harmonization of the work and in effective inter-sectorial cooperation.

To allow newcomers to this discussion to get up to speed, I invite you to have a look at the latest two digest that provide an overview of the exchange so far:

Digest 1

Digest 2

Thank you very much once again and keep your stories (experiences, reflections, papers, photos, videos, etc.) coming!

Max

Creation of a food secure world is a very interesting goal to achieve worldwide but I think it should not be considered the same worldwide.

Things are different in the developing world and the situation is different in many developing countries as we focus on increasing productivity and forget about food safety issues.

We have improved seeds and all sorts of improved inputs for better productivity but then the use of GAPS is very minimum.

Also, authorities that are responsible to ensure people consume safe foods, concentrate more on imports and exports, rejected food produces are returned to the countries to be consumed by citizens.

There is a gap in ensuring that citizens eat safe food of hihyalityborneith vrhigh how the food is safe Inspection.