The need for international solidarity and multilateral cooperation is more conspicuous than ever. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.
This report comprises the final and complete narrative report on the activities, results and achievements of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR), under EU Contract DCI-FOOD/2013/334-913. Over the project period, and through the financial support received from the EU, GFAR has developed into a vibrant and unique movement for change in agri-food research and innovation for their greater impact in development. GFAR is now made up of over 620 self-committing organizations, from across all 13 stakeholder sectors in agricultural research and innovation.
There is good news today for the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised rural communities, as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) receives its first public credit rating. This sets the stage for increased investments in food security, employment, and rural economic growth, and is an important step towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On the first-ever observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, on September 29th, 2020 the WFO President Theo de Jager was invited to attend a special virtual panel discussion on the role of innovation.
The event, jointly organized by FAO and UNEP, aimed at raising awareness on the need to transform and rebalance the way our food is produced and consumed, accentuated even more during the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to harness and scale-up innovation and technologies to stem the problem.
The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) will organize a High-Level Virtual Special Event on Global Governance of Food Security and Nutrition, 13 - 15 October 2020. The session, in lieu of CFS 47 which has been rescheduled to 8 - 12 February 2021 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, will seek to keep food security and nutrition front and centre on the global sustainable development agenda.
Over the course of these 3 days, CFS will organize three high-level virtual plenaries, one per day, to:
GFAR has brought together stakeholders from diverse sectors to empower family farmers as the engine of a system transformation in Burkina Faso, with the support of the McKnight Foundation.