Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Since 2018, FAO and the Federal Government of Switzerland encourage innovation by publically recognizing best practices through the International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The award does not only acknowledge digital innovation, but also new or existing products or practices that are used in a specific context, to increase effectiveness, competitiveness and resilience. The second edition of this Award has been launched, which is open to individuals, private companies and institutions. It comprises two categories:

• Category A awards excellence in digitization and innovation for sustainable food systems (USD 30 000)

• Category B recognises an innovation that empowers youth in sustainable food systems (USD 30 000)

In the spirit of the forthcoming Food Systems’ Summit in 2021 and aligned to the aspirations and goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the candidates should demonstrate the important role of their innovation in transforming food systems through sustainable food and agriculture and the improvement of food security and nutrition for all, particularly in the face of increased environmental challenges. In line with the requirements and technical competencies of the Federal Office of Agriculture of Switzerland, all innovations must apply to agriculture and pastoral systems only. 

This call is open until 19 March 2021.

More information on this call and on how to apply can be accessed here. 

The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) is an international conference on central issues of global agricultural and food policies, held in Berlin on an annual basis. The 2021 event will take place virtually on 18–22 January focusing on the topic of how can agriculture provide the world with food in the long-term for a balanced diet despite pandemics and climate change.

As in the past years, FAO will participate in the GFFA at several levels, including the following events:

CFS: Water and climate recommendations to feed the world

18 January 2021, 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (CET)

The discussion, organized jointly by FAO and the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), will look at water as the primary medium through which we all feel the effects of climate change.

More information

Managing city region food systems – Enhancing strength and resilience against pandemics and climate change

19 January 2021, 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. (CET)

The joint panel discussion of FAO and the Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems, will provide a forum for urban and national representatives to share experiences and review how the City Region Food Systems approach has helped them deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to define a vision on the way forward.

More information

How can innovation help strengthen the sustainability of food systems and prevent future pandemics?

19 January 2021, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (CET)

The panel will bring together a group of high-level policy makers, including FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, to discuss the impacts of the pandemic on food and agriculture and the role of innovation in this respect.

More information

Attending these virtual events is free of charge, it only requires prior registration through the GFFA website here.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the University of Évora present the

SALSA Project Final Conference

Can small farms and food businesses improve people’s access to more and better food in our globalized world?

Thursday, 25 June 2020 from 10:00 to 11:00 and from 11:30 to 13:00 (CET)

Please register to follow the virtual event through the Zoom conferencing platform.

The webcast will be streamed live on YouTube in English.

For more information click here.

The Research and Extension Unit (AGDR) of FAO participates in SALSA – Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security, an EU-funded research project of the Horizon2020 program which run from April 2016 to July 2020 with the aim to provide a better understanding of the role of small farms and small food businesses in meeting the sustainable food and nutrition security (FNS) challenge.

SALSA – Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security, is an EU-funded research project of the Horizon2020 program which run from April 2016 to July 2020 with the aim to provide a better understanding of the role of small farms and small food businesses in meeting the sustainable food and nutrition security (FNS) challenge. SALSA pioneered a novel integrated multimethod approach in 30 regions across 19 countries in Europe and Africa using the most recent satellite technologies, transdisciplinary approaches, food systems mapping and participatory foresight analysis.

The Final Conference will take place on 25 June 2020 and will be divided into two main parts:

Part A – 10:00 – 11:00 (CET)

Overview and highlights of main results from the SALSA project

The first part of the Conference aims to summarise and illustrate SALSA’s main results including:

• new concepts and theory developed by the project with respect to small farms and food businesses;
• the validated SALSA methodology, used for identification of small farms crop types, crop area and production estimates, as well as regular monitoring of small farms’ production;
• the novel typology of small farms identified and their importance within food systems;
• Food systems’ maps which unveil the role of small farms and their market linkages within the food systems.

Part B – 11:30 – 13:00 (CET)

Enabling governance and policy recommendations for small farms and small food business

SALSA has aimed to contribute to strengthen the role of small farms and small food business in regional food systems.

This second part of the Conference highlights two of the main SALSA’s contributions in this regard:

• the identification and characterisation of enabling governance frameworks for small farms and small food business;
• tailored and fit-for-purpose multilevel policy recommendations.
• These are particularly crucial in the midst of relevant processes of policy reform in the European Union (CAP and its National Strategic Plans, ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘Biodiversity’ new strategies, EU-Africa Strategy), as well as in the frame of the current COVID-19 crisis and its impacts on the food system.

The two sessions will welcome the active participation and questions from the audience.

The Programme of the Conference and the bios of the speakers are also available at this link