Food Day during the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 16) was marked on 28 October. The all-day event explored mainstreaming food security and biodiversity considerations across all levels of participation – from farmers and communities to national, regional, and global platforms. It also provided the opportunity for discussions related to food security, nutrition, and peace with nature.
During the first session of the Food Day, on agriculture systems transformation for peace with nature, speakers stressed that challenges to food security are prevalent due to war and armed conflict. They also emphasized the importance of cultural dialogues around efforts to achieve food security and the need to include agricultural targets in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
A session on empowering farmers and Indigenous Peoples as stewards of biodiversity for food and agriculture highlighted the urgent need for agri-food systems transformation to address biodiversity loss and promote socio-environmental justice. One speaker lauded the recent International Symposium on Agriculture, Biodiversity and Food Security and the resulting Technical Roadmap that recognizes farmers’ contributions. Another detailed key elements for equitable campesino participation in decision making: protecting rights holders from violence and land conflicts; strengthening communal organizations; respecting traditional knowledge; broadening government participation; and increasing access to direct funding, land, and markets. Subsequent panels addressed local perspectives on processes under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). They also showcased national examples focusing on integrating biodiversity in agriculture and collaboration with governments on NBSAPs.
During a session on creating an enabling environment for sustainable agri-food systems, speakers focused on how to strengthen the enabling environment for large-scale sustainable food system transformation. The first panel considered the role of inclusive, multi-stakeholder governance mechanisms for enabling food systems policy design and implementation. The second panel addressed how to increase public and private finance to enable smallholder farmer engagement in sustainable food systems transformation.
On biodiversity for food and nutrition, panelists considered: the intersection of biodiversity, food, and nutrition; and scaling up conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food and nutrition. They highlighted that traceability of systems – from farm to market and market to table – is an important strategy in linking biodiversity and food security and that access to benefit-sharing and digital sequencing information is critical for advancing knowledge and use of biodiversity.
Another session focused on the importance of integrating agri-food systems into NBSAPs. A report on ‘Delivering on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework through Agrifood Systems’ was presented, which aligns the key elements of the agri-food system with GBF targets. The report was published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).
CBD presented its summary of findings from the regional or sub-regional NBSAP dialogues in relation to agriculture. One speaker noted that most countries regard agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors as important partners for implementing NBSAPs, and have set up national steering committees for these sectors.
During an ensuing roundtable, panelists shared examples, challenges, and opportunities from different countries on how to transform agri-food systems and mainstream biodiversity conservation. Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and Vanuatu provided examples that demonstrated engagement with multi-sector stakeholders at various governance levels, highlighting a whole-of-society, whole-of-government approach to integrating biodiversity conservation into agri-food sectors.
At the end of the day, Kaveh Zahedi, FAO, announced that FAO, which organized Food Day, was launching its Agri-NBSAP Support Initiative to help countries integrate agri-food systems into NBSAPs in a more systematic way.
