Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Re: What are the barriers and opportunities for scientists and other knowledge holders to contribute to informing policy for more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems?

PROBLEM: RESEARCH to FARM GAP(s)

There is a significant GAP between what's happening in the universities, research centres, policy makers structures and what's happening in the farms, in the input providers and downstream supply chain.

The GAP is at the level of direct "people's connection", understanding of practical daily priorities, perspective.

Unless these worlds are more connected daily, global policies, innovations, opportunities will be missed and there will be a mismatch among what science focuses on and what the farm (and overall agri sector) needs.

(POSSIBLE) SOLUTION(s)

1. Farmers closer to university-research: identifying key farmer's representatives to be regularly involved in the decision making process of policies and researches, through interviews, easy presentation of the ongoing researches and activities; such representatives should have a power of vote.

The same should happen with the representatives of the upstream (input providers) and downstream (food supply chain) of the agri value chain. Involving equivalent representatives in the academia and policy institutions as active members.

2 . university-research to farm: leading universities have their internal farm(s) where they actually produce and test all innovations. This approach should be followed (and even expanded) by all agri-universities and research centres, allowing the scientist to put themselves in the shoes of the farmers and translate the research into practice. 

3. innovator farmers: farmers with an attitude to innovate should be invited regularly to the above described University farms, where they can see and "touch" what's happening on the research side. They will also provide feedbacks and further ideas to these farms. Ideally some of them will also be invited to directly participate in the activities of such farms. 

Finally the "innovator farms" should be able to access at low-cost or no-cost the results of the innovations & test the new policies. Being selected by an open attitude towards innovations, they would likely embrace such innovation allowing a second level test for further fine tuning. In exchange for the access to innovations at better conditions they will indeed be demanded to provide clear feedback.