Better lives through livestock
Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL)
and the UN FSS
Shirley Tarawali
Assistant Director General, International Livestock Research
Institute (ILRI)
Chair, Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock
IFIF-FAO annual meeting
24 September 2021

Online platform
Pre-Summit (July)
Summit (September)
STRUCTURE AND GOVERNANCE OF UNFSS
Secretariat
(Global Engagement (IFAD); Evidence, knowledge Policy (FAO); Communication, advocacy, mobilization (IFAD))
Special Envoy (Agnes Kalibata)
1
Scientific
Group
UN Task
Force
Food Systems
Summit Dialogues
Champions
Network
Action Tracks
2 3 4 5
Levers of Change
1 – Member State
Dialogues
2 – Global Dialogues
3 – Independent
Dialogues
Advisory Committee
Group of
Friends
Member
States
Civil Society
Group
Private
Sector
Group
253
6
463
Dialogue numbers as of 1 June 2021

Guided by five Action
Tracks, the Summit will
bring together key
stakeholders from all over
the globe to achieve
tangible and positive
changes to the world’s food
systems
Ensure access to safe and nutritious
food for all
Shift to sustainable consumption
patterns
Boost nature-positive
production
Advance equitable livelihoods
Build resilience to vulnerabilities,
shocks and stress
1
2
3
4
5

100 Quality Game Changers
(from wave 1 and wave 2 combined and vetted more)
Rally Behind Food Systems Action
Areas
Transformed
Food Systems to
Meet the SDGs
> 2000 Ideas collected from people from all over the world Inviting, Listening, Scanning
Assessing, Developing, Mobilizing
Integrating, Collectivizing, Operationalizing
Set of key galvanizing objectives
SDG Targets
September-May
December-May
March-July-September
March-July-September
AT1 AT2 AT3 AT4 AT5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
15 tentative Action Areas & a few cross-cut Action Areas
The Summit journey and
destination
.0
Food system
transformation
journeys, post Summit
October onwards
Process of food system transformation
accelerates
GASL-ILRI
independent
dialogue
GASL members
involved in AT and
AA clusters, notably
sustainable livestock
and restoring
degraded
ecosystems
GASL supported
livestock coalition
submission
Many GASL
organizations
leading/involved
Pre-summit:
GASL participation in
side-events eg Net-
zero dairy and IMS
events
GASL action plan
aligned with UN FSS
actions

100 Quality Game Changers
(from wave 1 and wave 2 combined and vetted more)
Rally Behind Food Systems Action
Areas
Transformed
Food Systems to
Meet the SDGs
> 2000 Ideas collected from people from all over the world Inviting, Listening, Scanning
Assessing, Developing, Mobilizing
Integrating, Collectivizing, Operationalizing
Set of key galvanizing objectives
SDG Targets
September-May
December-May
March-July-September
March-July-September
AT1 AT2 AT3 AT4 AT5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
15 tentative Action Areas & a few cross-cut Action Areas
The Summit journey and
destination
.0
Food system
transformation
journeys, post Summit
October onwards
Process of food system transformation
accelerates
GASL-ILRI
independent
dialogue
GASL members
involved in AT and
AA clusters, notably
sustainable livestock
and restoring
degraded
ecosystems
GASL supported
livestock coalition
submission
Many GASL
organizations
leading/involved
Pre-summit:
GASL participation in
side-events eg Net-
zero dairy and IMS
events
GASL action plan
aligned with UN FSS
actions
GASL-ILRI
independent
dialogue
GASL supported
livestock coalition
submission
Many GASL
organizations
leading/involved

By sector
Agric/crops
Livestock
Agroforestry
Environment
Education
Communication
Food processing
National govt
Other
Independent Food Systems Summit Dialogue: Overview
o Why?
• Livestock needs to be part of this global
conversation to contribute to future food
systems
• Who else if not GASL and ILRI!
o Who?
• 62 participants
• Plus: convenor, curators, supporters,
facilitators, notetakers
o What?
o Key messages
By stakeholder SME
multnat coop
small farmer
med farmer
local NGO
Int NGO
science
govt/NARs
REC
UN
Convenor: Shirley
Tarawali
Curators: Eduardo
ArceDiaz; Michael Victor
Supporters: Peter
Ballantyne, Cynthia
Mugo, Simon Leiva; Jana
Stankova
10 facilitators
10 notetakers

18 May 2021; 2.5 hours……….what did we do?
o Introductions, instructions
(follow dialogue principles)
o Short punchy plenary comments
o Discussion groups
o Feedback
o Submit report http://www.summitdialogues.org/dialogue/12562
Food
Environment
Sustainability
Discussion topics
‘…to what extent …and how….can changes in
livestock…..’
1. Providing equitable access by all to diverse as well
as safe and nutritious foods
2. Achieving just and balanced consumption of
diverse food sources
3. Staying inside planetary natural and
environmental boundaries and tackling the
climate emergency
4. Growing economic opportunities without
compromising our sustainability goals
5. Building resilience to overcome food system
vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses

Key messages
Embracing change:
new connections
Embracing
change: action
in the livestock
sector
Harnessing
diversity and
nuancing
communication
Divergence?
- Sector reluctant to tackle
hard issues; trade-offs; who
pays, how, how much….
- Communicating/ engaging
without being defensive
- Role of ‘synthetic livestock
products’

Embracing change: new connections
Embracing change:
new connections
Embracing
change: action
in the livestock
sector
Harnessing
diversity and
nuancing
communication
 Further engagement: outside livestock; ‘anti’ livestock – FSS; MSPs
 Beyond ‘production’….farmers, consumers……
 Expand and continue conversation

Harnessing diversity and nuancing communication
Embracing change:
new connections
Embracing
change: action
in the livestock
sector
Harnessing
diversity and
nuancing
communication
 Polarized debate ‘all good’ or ‘all bad’ is
unhelpful: nuance not generalities
 Most-cited lack of recognition of diversity:
consumption and environment
 These as well as other (One Health, etc) areas
need more credible, well-communicated
scientific evidence
 Communication to incorporate diverse and
multiple roles of livestock

Embracing change: action in the livestock sector
Embracing change:
new connections
Embracing
change: action
in the livestock
sector
Harnessing
diversity and
nuancing
communication
 Embrace change; recognize its diverse
 Tackle hard, problematic areas
 Robust evidence; engagement beyond sector
 Collective action
 Commit and take action; provide and embrace
solutions to mitigate challenges and harness
opportunities for livestock in sustainable future
food systems

Synthesis of
103 independent dialogues
GASL-ILRI dialogue quoted and
one of only FOUR reports
included in full

Sustainable Livestock Coalition
o Letter and draft coalition proposal submitted to perm. reps to UN in Rome and NYC
• Private sector associations including IFIF
• Highlighting GASL as part of the implementation
o Sustainable livestock coalition registered

GASL action plan and UN FSS
o GASL support for implementation fits very well with GASL’s objectives and modus
operandi which for the new action plan 2022-24 are being developed around its
Theory of Change:
• Evidence and practice change
• Dialogue
• Policy change
• Taking a Theory of Change approach means that greater, more intentional
engagement with global (non-livestock) processes and their ambitions – such as UN
FSS, COP, N4G etc will be included