Today the United Nations Special Envoy, Agnes Kalibata, announced experts across the fields of food, agriculture, health and climate change who have committed to advance solutions to make food systems more resilient and inclusive through the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021.
"The action tracks will draw on the expertise of actors from across the world’s food systems – both inside and outside of the UN system," Kalibata said highlighting the fresh approach.
Unlike a traditional platform, the Summit will be driven by leaders in their areas of expertise and the culmination of global dialogues and efforts across five action tracks, or priority areas, to encourage commitments from across food systems, including public and private sectors, research and civil society.
"Together they will ensure that priority areas for action will not sit in silos," Kalibata said. "They will explore how key cross-cutting levers of change such as governance, finance, data, indigenous knowledge, human rights and law, innovation, and the empowerment of women and young people can be mobilized to meet the Summit’s objectives."
The five action tracks include:
- ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all,
- shifting to sustainable consumption patterns,
- boosting nature-positive production at scale,
- advancing equitable livelihoods and
- building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses.
They will explore how key cross-cutting levers of change such as governance, finance, data, indigenous knowledge, human rights and law, innovation, and the empowerment of women and young people can be mobilized to meet the Summit’s objectives
"I am very honoured to be asked by the UN Special Envoy Agnes Kalibata to Chair Action Track 1 of the Summit," GAIN’s Executive Director Dr Lawrence Haddad said. "Action Track 1, like all the Action Tracks, will be inclusive. The Action Track team will work together with Dr. Kalibata and the Summit Secretariat team, with the other Action Tracks, with the FAO and other UN Agencies, with the Member States, with the Champions Group and with the Science Committee. We will listen to, draw in and share back the ideas of tens of thousands of people from all walks of life in all corners of the world to identify evidence-informed, game changing, country driven actions," Haddad added.
The Summit will be driven by leaders in their areas of expertise and the culmination of global dialogues and efforts across five action tracks, or priority areas. © Shutterstock / i_am_zews
The aim of the Summit is to deliver progress on all 17 of the SDGs through a food systems approach, leveraging the interconnectedness of food systems to global challenges such as hunger, climate change, poverty and inequality. The Summit will also be guided by an Advisory Committee representing every region and an independent Scientific Group, which met virtually for the first time in July.
I want to be able to look back on from 2030 and say that the Food System Summit of 2021 will forever be remembered as the moment the world reset and began to transform its food systems.
Member States will have until the end of September to express their interest in engaging around the five action tracks before work gets fully under way towards the Summit.
"I want to be able to look back on from 2030 and say that the Food System Summit of 2021 will forever be remembered as the moment the world reset and began to transform its food systems," Haddad said.
Other GAIN members will also be actively involved in the Action Tracks of the Summit. More here.