Governments are beginning to recognise the urgent need to transform our food systems. This has been made even more pressing by the current health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to the already prevalent crises such as food insecurity, climate change and biodiversity loss, all of which our current food systems are major contributors to.

There is a growing number of innovative policy examples around the world, however, that try to show a way out of these crises, and which are introducing and implementing the principles of organic agriculture and agroecology.

The pre-conference brings a comprehensive overview of these policies from all corners of the world presented by the policymakers themselves or experts deeply involved in these. Experiences will be shared about policies that have gone a long way by now such as Sikkim or Denmark and which are brand new like Uganda or Sri Lanka. The event will show the driving force of good policies from the regional level in the African and the European Union to the level of municipalities such as New York City, Bogotá and cities and villages in Asia.

The conclusions and messages drawn from the Pre-conference will not only feed into Organic World Congress (OWC)’s sessions but also the Food Systems Summit called by the UN Secretary-General for 23 September 2021.

Main Topics:

• Experiences and challenges in innovative policymaking;
• How can policies at the level of districts and municipalities bring positive change for people and food systems;
• Using the power of public contracts and procurement;
• Developing organic and agroecological action plans;
• Building a coalition of the willing and linking it with existing networks;
• Debating policy making that considers the true cost of goods;
• How to mainstream progressive policies on organic and agroecology and highlight them in global processes such as the UN Food Systems Summit.

Objectives:

• Advance the development of policies driving sustainability in agriculture and food systems;
• Facilitate peer-to-peer exchange and strengthen the links among local, national and regional-level policymakers and experts on best practices and experiences;
• Offer hands-on experiences of progressive policy-making for the members of the Food Policy Forum for Change;
• Utilize participants’ experience to provide strong examples and connect to networks in all continents.

Expected Outcomes:

• Insight on success factors and challenges in developing policies conducive for driving sustainable food systems;
• Raising awareness about the Food Policy Forum for Change;
• Best practices, experiences and examples that can feed into the Scaling Up Agroecology Initiative;
• Inspiration for policymakers to join the forum and continue the exchange;
• Messages fed into the main OWC sessions such as Leadership Forum 1 - Policies as levers and best practices in advocacy.

Format:

• Digital using the Zoom platform;
• Workshop with presentations, interactive discussions in panels and with the audience;
• Main language English, with Spanish and French interpretation.

For registration click here. To consult the agenda, click here.