SNV and CA4SH call for sustainable farming practices at UNFSS Stocktaking Moment+2
Emphasizing the critical need for sustainable farming practices, the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) and SNV held a side event on the second day of the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment in Rome, titled “From the soil up: How can agroecology and regenerative agriculture transform food systems.” The discussions underscored the urgent need for multi-stakeholder collaboration to pivot towards sustainable practices, including regenerative agriculture and agroecology, that promote the health of our soil, and by extension, our food systems.
The objectives of the session were fourfold: raise awareness on the multiple benefits of sustainable farming systems; showcase multi-stakeholder action and collaboration and facilitate further connections; highlight evidence and impact of sustainable farming practices and improvements in food and nutrition security, as well as livelihoods; and mobilize stakeholders through a call to action for food systems transformation.
Diverse expert perspectives
A diverse panel, co-moderated by SNV consultant, and long-time international development agent, Mary Njuguna and Communications Advisor Dara Elmasri, tackled the key challenges and opportunities associated with these sustainable practices. Assan Ng’Ombe, Resilience Officer at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), set the scene and highlighted challenges including the lack of clear definitions of the different sustainable farming practices, which makes it difficult to track impact, and the low adoption rates by smallholder farmers. Assan emphasized that this is due to a lack of financing, knowledge, and incentives. A few of the solutions and opportunities presented included increasing alternative investment opportunities, innovations, and public-private extension systems to fill knowledge gaps.
This was reinforced by Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki, CIFOR-ICRAF Soil and Land Health Global Research Lead and co-Lead of CA4SH, who emphasized the undeniable connection between soil health and food nutrition. “Remember, 95% of our food is grown in soil,” she reminded the audience, advocating for robust soil health for food security and healthy diets. Dr. Winowiecki also presented the goals of CA4SH and shed light on the potential of the Soil Health Resolution to steer food systems transformation. With insights from the CA4SH experience, she underscored the importance of collaboration towards a common agenda around “healthy soils, healthy people.”
Representing the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Dr. Li Lifeng, Director Land and Water Division, underscored the importance of an enabling policy environment to scale soil health and sustainable farming systems. He highlighted key resources from FAO to help governments design policies that help to scale soil carbon storage and climate change mitigation, including the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management, the International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers, and the Recarbonization of Global Soils Technical Manual.
From a private sector perspective, Stefania Avanzini of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, REGEN10, and OP2B, discussed the potential for sustainable approaches to attract buy-ins from agricultural businesses. She also underscored that supporting farmers to transition to agroecological approaches requires support and capacity building, leading to resilient and sustainable systems.
Transformative outcomes of agroecology and regenerative agriculture
The key takeaways from the discussion underscored the potential of these systems in various aspects, including:
Mitigating land degradation; a concern impacting over 3.2 billion people globally. By rejuvenating the health of soils, these systems can contribute significantly to the restoration of degraded ecosystems.
Enhancing biodiversity above and below ground, leading to ecological resilience and productivity. By fostering a diverse range of species, these farming systems strengthen ecological resilience and productivity.
Producing a diverse range of safe and nutritious foods, thus enhancing food security and promoting healthier diets.
Improving livelihoods for farmers and local communities and therefore contributing to rural development and poverty reduction
Requiring the participation of all stakeholders for a successful transformation, from farmers to policymakers. Investments, supportive policies, and education are all key components of this transition.
Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The two systems not only contribute to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 15 (Life on Land), but also to goals related to poverty reduction, health, climate action, and sustainable communities.
Calls to action
The panelists collectively emphasized the urgent need for increased understanding, funding, policy support, and action to amplify agroecology and regenerative agriculture. This led to several powerful calls to action, each panelist urging for a collective, committed approach to fully leverage these systems for food systems transformation.
“There is a convergence of different agendas within the sustainable development agenda - this is the right moment for us to push for soil health, to push for regenerative practices. We’ve seen it being linked to the economics of smallholder farmers, we’ve seen it being linked to nutrition and to biodiversity; so let’s double up on all this integration,” emphasized Assan.
Dr. Leigh called for putting soil health on the agenda during upcoming key events this year. “Let’s use the momentum that is building around soil health within the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment to make sure soil health is recognised in the climate negotiations at the upcoming COP28, and UNEA.”
From the FAO side, Dr. Li stressed policy development processes, “I really want to encourage the soil community to be closely involved in all the policy development processes related to food, water and climate, land degradation, nutrition, and biodiversity, so that we can ensure consistency and effectiveness.”
Building on the aspect of community, collaboration, and investment, Stefania added: “To scale up the transition, we need radical collaboration between public and private actors to collectively invest to regenerate soils and restore nature in and around farms. This means increased investments in agriculture and de-risking the farmers’ transition.”
The audience feedback was invaluable, calling attention to the importance of youth engagement and education in these farming practices. Suggestions to collaborate with educational institutions, especially those focused on farming, were well-received. Additionally, there were calls to reconcile incentive mismatches in the fertilizer sector in developing countries and ensure transition incentives when incomes are not as high as potentially possible.
Reflecting on the journey forward
With a collective call to action echoing from diverse stakeholders, the significance of increased understanding, policy support, and funding for these systems came to the fore. Nico Janssen of the IKEA Foundation concluded the session with poignant reflections on the day's dialogue. Having invested in regenerative and agroecological transformation for five years, the IKEA Foundation acknowledged the complexity of food systems transformation. It called for a holistic, farmer and community-centric approach, supported by knowledge, financing, and enabling policy environments, all underpinned by collaboration. Janssen’s call to action resonated with all attendees: “Let’s create more togetherness as only together we can change the food systems for people, climate, and nature.”
As we move forward, this event serves as a significant milestone, reminding us of the vital importance of agroecology and regenerative agriculture in shaping a sustainable future for all.
Watch the recording of the webinar:
About SNV
This article was co-written with Dara Elmarsi, Communications Advisor, SNV.
SNV is a mission-driven global development partner working across Africa and Asia. Their mission is to strengthen capacities and catalyze partnerships that transform the agri-food, energy, and water systems, which enable sustainable and more equitable lives for all.
For more information about the webinar or this topic contact John Belt at jbelt@snv.org
Contact CA4SH Coordination at: coordination@coalitionforsoilhealth.org
