AC&SD 2016 will bring participants from all world regions to debate about the role of agricultural value chains in implementing global and local frameworks and partnerships for translating the Sustainable Development Goals into reality. Agricultural value chains form spaces where local and global challenges to sustainability connect and within which local and global actors experiment and negotiate innovative solutions.

Distinguished keynote speakers and up to 250 delegates, including key actors from developing countries and innovators from the field, are expected at the conference venue in Montpellier. This conference is organized by Cirad in partnership with AFD, Agropolis International, Agreenium, Agrinatura, AgroParisTech, the CGIAR consortium and CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), IDS (University of Sussex), Inra, IRD, Michigan State University, Montpellier SupAgro, the Moringa Fund, the RIMISP, and Wageningen University, and with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The conference aims at:

• Nourishing the dialogue with decision makers for enriching policy and strategy formulation towards sustainable development, using agricultural value chains as effective levers for action;
• Engaging further scientists and experts into innovative experiences for an inclusive and sustainable economy and in imagining new models of development;
• Shedding light on new patterns of public/private partnerships and investments and on multistakeholders’ alliances for sustainable value chains.

Participants will be called to share knowledge, innovative practices and ideas through plenary sessions and a series of parallel sessions, where both communications and posters will be discussed.

The debates will be devoted to the following 3 themes:

1. Performance and evaluation of agri-chains with respect to the SDGs
2. Public policies and agri-chain governance mechanisms at different scales in support of the SDGs
3. Concrete innovations and partnerships for building and transforming agri-chains towards sustainable development

Particular emphasis will be placed on sessions mixing disciplinary perspectives and a showcase of innovative approaches from the field.

Calls are now open for Special Sessions (closing on June 27) and Communications (presentations and posters) (closing on July 25). Registration for the conference will open in July 2016.

For more information, visit the CIRAD website.