Food.
Nature.
People.

Master of Ceremony Vania Olmos Lau is a Mexican biologist employed as a technical advisor at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Mexico City. Lau has a particular interest in how agricultural development can work in parallel with nature conservation at the landscape level, and holds a double master’s degree in agroecology and organic agriculture from Wageningen University (Netherlands) in partnership with ISARA-Lyon (France). She has been active with the Youth in Landscapes (YIL) Initiative and other youth organizations, and has field experience with rural communities and conservation organizations in Mexico, Uganda, the Netherlands, France and Paraguay. Lau is now working with public-private partnership promoting good agricultural practices to protect pollinators and native flora within natural protected areas.

Prime Minister Marape, who is also a former finance minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG), will deliver the first keynote address during the digital event Food. Nature. People. The Prime Minister will discuss how the world can move “Towards a greener economy that recognises stewardship of land as a nature positive transformation of development.” This is a cause he has championed and reflects this event’s theme of encouraging bold policy and institutional change to support food system transformation. Prime Minister Marape has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, a post-graduate Honours degree in Environmental Science, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Papua New Guinea. He was first elected to Parliament in 2007 and previously worked as Acting Assistant Secretary of Policy with the Department of Personnel Management from 2001 to 2006.

Bronaugh, who is passionate about the advancement of youth leadership in agriculture, will be discussing the key role of youth in agriculture amid work to transform agriculture, forests and land management in the face of multiple global challenges. She also has a deep interest in food security: in autumn 2020, Bronaugh helped to establish the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund and Program in the U.S. state of Virginia, the first statewide program of its kind to address food access within historically marginalized communities.

Empowering communities with decision-making skills is an important theme of this digital conference, which will examine recent research on food systems in the context of working with nature and people. That approach is a key success factor to sustainably manage land and transform food systems. Transformation of agriculture is also vital, given that it is a major driver of climate change while at the same time farmers struggle to adapt to its impacts. Integrated ecological, economic and social principles can help smallholder farming systems move towards greater resilience through diversification, recycling, and improving connections between producers and consumers. But adaption must be driven locally, with solutions led by local conditions and not imposed from outside.

Dr Rajiv Kumar is Vice Chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. He holds the rank and status of a cabinet minister. Kumar is also Chancellor of India’s Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. In his keynote address, he will discuss how NITI Aayog has become a leader in Natural Farming and agroecology; how this agro-ecological approach has supported the transformation of agriculture in India; and what further steps and behavioral changes are necessary to avoid eventual social and environmental collapse in the agricultural sector.

Food production and consumption differs from region to region, depending on rainfall, geography, soil and a host of economic, social and cultural factors. If agriculture is to become more sustainable and equitable, it will be critical to establish the policy frameworks that are appropriate for the conditions and circumstances of different regions. This discussion will hear from some of the policymakers who are enabling this critical transition. The value of this approach is underscored by the premise that working with nature and people – including their networks, relationships, solidarity, knowledge of local people – is a key success factor to sustainably manage land and transform food systems.

Empowering communities with decision-making skills, establishing farmer-centered learning systems and putting monitoring tools into the hands of people on the ground: these are among the many innovations to come out of recent research on food systems. This discussion will feature both scientists and practitioners as they look at the surprises and discoveries in research and science that have emerged and are leading to a food-systems transformation that produces food sustainably, equitably and affordably.

Such farming, in accordance with nature, can bring together local and scientific knowledge, in order to focus on the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment. This, in turn, can provide nutritious food and sustainable livelihoods while helping to address the negative impacts of conventional agriculture on climate change and biodiversity loss. In addition, there are numerous ignored, under-valued and under-researched plants producing fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains that are often very nutritious and can help diversify the current agricultural system to one that provides more balanced, more nutritious and healthier diets and is less prone to environmental shocks.

Smallholder farmer initiatives demonstrate some of the fastest changes that are taking place around the world. This panel will feature innovators who are pushing for large-scale transformation of land management for food production. They will present their nature-positive agricultural solutions to the food system crisis. These innovations will be presented alongside sustainable investors who will share insights into how innovative farmers can accelerate their businesses and ideas with financing.

Alexander Müller is Founder and Managing Director of the ThinkTank for Sustainability (TMG), a former FAO Assistant Director-General and State Secretary for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture in Germany. He has extensive experience in global sustainability governance, as Chair of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition; member of the UN Environmental Management Group; and Lead, Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Land.. As our digital event concludes, Müller will outline the next steps that have been identified by our keynote speakers and panellists during Food.Nature.People; and discuss how we can transform the insights and ideas outlined during this event, and the vision presented here, into action on the ground.