Food Security and Climate Change

Sustainable Livestock and Climate Smart Agriculture: Joint Actions for Common Challenges?

International Workshop

Co-organized by the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture, FAO and the International Livestock Research Institute

25 June 2015, 2:30 – 6pm

Swiss Pavilion, Expo 2015, Milan

Agriculture and food security face great challenges. More than 800 million people still suffer from hunger, while over 2.5 billion are affected by malnutrition. In 2050, agriculture will have to feed 9 billion human beings. To say it in a nutshell, agricultural productivity must grow.

But business as usual will not do. We will only be successful if we are able to find answers to the many challenges while respecting the needs of future generations. Meeting the consequences of climate change will be particularly important. Greater numbers of floods and periods of drought will influence yields. Diseases and new pests will add further stress on agricultural productivity. The future of agriculture and food security can only be successful if we give innovation sufficient space in politics and society, in the lab and on the field.

Objectives of the Workshop:

What do these challenges imply for the livestock sector, the biggest agricultural land user? There are numerous international initiatives dealing with questions like this.

The workshop will base the discussions on the status quo of the following three initiatives:

• Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock: GASL is a multi-stakeholder process. The agenda is inclusive and has brought together a very broad array of stakeholders with a very wide range of objectives within the livestock sector.
• Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture: GACSA is a voluntary farmer-led, multi-stakeholder, action-oriented coalition committed to the incorporation of climate-smart approaches within food and agriculture systems.
• Global Research Alliance: GRA is focused on research, development and extension of technologies and practices that will help deliver ways to grow more food without growing greenhouse gas emissions.

Leaders of these initiatives will provide an overview of the objectives and the major areas of activities of each of these international processes. The seminar hopes to identify potential areas common interests and of collaboration towards sustainable livestock development in view of the emerging Sustainable Development goals post 2015 (SDG’s post 2015).

We would be pleased to welcome you to this interesting discussion. Your views on the issues at stake and contribution to the discussion is much valued. Please let us know ([email protected]) by May 15, 2015 whether you intend to participate. Please note that the number of seats is limited and registrations will be accepted on a first come - first serve basis. We will confirm your registration with more information as quickly as possible in the days after May 15, 2015.

Concept note: 

Context and Terms of Reference for Speakers (GASL, GACSA, GRA):