Summary of outcomes

Agri-ProFocus Expert Meeting - September 12, 2014 Vision 2030: Making current approaches work for sustainable agriculture

This expert meeting was organised to clarify different perspectives on agro-ecology and other approaches to promote sustainable agriculture, in the context of achieving food and nutrition security for all by 2030[1]. Meeting outcomes were expected to inform the upcoming Food Security policy note of Minister Ploumen and Secretary of State Dijksma, as well as the own practice of different stakeholders. A preparatory briefing note is available clarifying key concepts used.

The meeting was attended by 87 experts from academia, civil society organisations, private sector, and the public sector[2]. They shared experiences and ideas for the policy agenda during workshops and plenary sessions. Details about the programme can be found here .

Agri-ProFocus had chosen for an open debate, in which there was room for input from different stakeholder groups of the so-called ‘Dutch diamond’ and for contributions from those working with approaches ranging from agro-ecology to climate-smart agriculture, to the landscape approach, to other ways of working without particular label. This was a deliberate choice and generated a lively debate in a good atmosphere, which confirmed the relevance of many of the existing practices of the Dutch organisations, institutions and Ministries present. Many participants evaluated this as useful, while they realised the debate mainly reconfirmed what they already knew, and added some further nuance to that.

Key outcomes[3]

1. Urgency. There was a broadly felt sense of urgency to support the further greening of agriculture in the context of the combined global food, environmental and climate challenges. Participants ranging from innovative private sector representatives, microcredit agencies, to civil society organisations agreed that food systems need to become more sustainable in order to feed the world sustainably by 2030. Many of them confirmed the need to raise agricultural productivity and the efficiency of food systems, under the condition that how this is done is subject for further (democratic) debate.
2. Complementarities. During the meeting it became clear that the different approaches to greening agriculture (agro-ecology, climate-smart agriculture, the landscape approach, etc.) all have their merits. Therefore, the upcoming Food Security policy note should create an enabling environment and financial means for these approaches to build complementarities and to work synergistically together, based on a number of principles of sustainable agriculture: addressing the social, ecological and economic dimensions of agriculture in an integrated, responsible and effective manner. The meeting started the dialogue on these principles and on how these could work in practice, but didn’t finish it yet. Agri-ProFocus sees opportunities for a longer-term joint learning and knowledge sharing agenda to deepen knowledge on what is effective, on basis of practical experiences in several LMIC countries with the different approaches.
3. Multi-stakeholder. The greening of agriculture needs a multi-scale and multi-stakeholder approach in which public sector, civil society, companies and knowledge institutions all have a role to play, with a special focus on entrepreneurial farmers producing for local and regional food markets. In this interaction between stakeholders, power dimensions are important and need to be paid attention to - including via a voice for the less powerful.
4. Consumers. Whereas producers, consumers and other private sector actors are key drivers of more sustainable value chains, if there is a clear consumer demand for ‘green’ or ‘fair’ products, this will be a powerful push for sustainability throughout the chain. The government’s role is to generate the right enabling environment: ensuring that consumers can make (more) informed decisions on their consumption; and promoting that externalities are included in product prices.
5. Nutrition security is highly important. Several approaches to sustainable agriculture also have a positive influence on the quality and diversity of food consumed, hence on the nutritional status. Consumers demand food that is both sustainably produced and nutritious. Private sector representatives at the meeting stressed this is a significant trend.
6. Resilience. Fostering the opportunities for LMIC farmers to use green approaches is a multi-faceted challenge. The local farming ecosystem needs to become a resilient system, and be part of a resilient local economy, which if it works well could positively influence national and global value chains. Access to finance, to land and other inputs are a key condition for all farmers, and in particular for female farmers. Local knowledge and (social & technical) innovation processes should be valued on their merits and supported by farmers’ organizations and others in order to generate context-specific solutions; e.g. when developing local biological pest control systems.
7. Social innovation.Innovations in the field of sustainable agriculture require change, not just at technical level, but more so at institutional level. Knowledge systems need to work for collaboration between stakeholders and for diversification. Farmers and scientists need to collaborate much more often and better. Science has an important role to play in supporting farmers developing appropriate solutions, including on complex problems there is no solution for yet, as well as for linking local players to knowledge available elsewhere and to fundamental research. In the search for appropriate solutions, the private sector often is a valuable partner too. As partner in global research alliances, The Netherlands needs to favor the social innovation approach which emphasizes participatory approaches and local innovation, and could promote stronger linkages between scientists and farmers.
8. Farmers’ voice. Farmers as key actors, through their organizations, need a strong voice at different levels, particularly when policy is defined and when research agendas are shaped and decided about.
9. Inputs. Regarding the use of local or external inputs: several participants agreed that one should not see that as either/or dilemma. Looking for example at integrated soil management: if there is a lack of nutrients in a particular context, these need to be added. At the same time, particularly at global level, the nutrient gap should be closed. Also, the relevance of ‘soft inputs’ should not be overlooked.
10. Scale. The issue of scale was discussed several times. A panelist clarified that up-scaling a good practice does not immediately require a standardization of knowledge building. Policy makers should nudge that knowledge can be (quickly) shared horizontally between practitioners.
11. Enabling policy environment. Good governance is a key aspect of greening agriculture, which Dutch embassies can address with partner countries. In addition, the Dutch government should reflect on, and where necessary adapt, its policies that are not directly related to food security and sustainable agriculture, to make sure policies are coherent. A Greening Agriculture checklist should be developed and applied for example for the Dutch Good Growth Fund, FDOV, PSD instruments, Top Sector Policy, etc.

[1] Food security for all and the other (draft) UN SDGs are the overarching aims that Agri-ProFocus intends to contribute to with this debate.

[2] Roughly 40% of participants were from civil society, 32 % from knowledge institutes, 14% from private sector, and 7% from the Ministries; the remaining percentage were others including the Agri-ProFocus team.

[3] These are recommendations based on the first available outcomes of discussions in subgroups and the closing panel. These do not reflect the opinion of individual participants or organizations present, but give an overview of perspectives that were clearly voiced and received support from others during the meeting. A full report including specific case information and links to presentations will follow soon.