On October 17th at FAO, the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) organized a side event at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 46) entitled "Strengthening Agricultural Innovation Systems for Family Farming: Multi-stakeholder processes to develop capacities to innovate for food and nutrition security". The event focused on innovation as the driving force that can transform food systems and lift family farmers out of poverty to help the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It looked at the crucial role of multistakeholder processes in fostering innovation at the local, national and global levels.

This side event showcased and discussed evidence from success stories, emphasizing the contributions of research and extension and rural advisory services among other innovation actors. It highlighted strategies for assessing and strengthening capacities to innovate and engage in multi-stakeholder processes for agricultural innovation. During the session, TAP Chair Judith Francis presented the TAP approach and experience, including concepts of the TAP Common Framework and the knowledge hub TAPipedia (www.tapipedia.org).

Selvaraju Ramasamy, Head, FAO Research and Extension Unit, gave an overview of FAO’s role in strengthening agricultural innovation systems for family farmers. The other panellists were from the Rural Development, Food Security and Nutrition Unit, DG DEVCO, European Commission, the World Farmers’ Organization (WFO) and the University of Évora (as coordinator of the HORIZON 2020 research project SALSA).

The report of the event is available at https://tapipedia.org/content/report-strengthening-agricultural-innovationsystems-family-farming-multi-stakeholder