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Policy Advantage Keynote - Vitumbiko Chinoko CARE International
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In this presentation, key elements and local experiences with transformative agriculture policies are presented. The presentation was held by Vitumbiko Chinoko CARE International at the Policy Advantage event, part of the Agriculture Advantage 2.0 series at COP24.
CCAFS | CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
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Policy Advantage Keynote - Vitumbiko Chinoko CARE International
- Role of Policy • Systems-level change • Create incentives, address barriers • Foster level playing field • Catalyse finance and investment • Across sectors • Local, national, regional, and global levels
- Key areas of policy change • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions in food systems – across the value chain • Increase resilience in food systems – among actors and across the value chain • Shift diets to promote nutrition and sustainability • Tackle inequality, power dynamics, governance
- Reduce emissions & Build Resilience • Production practices: subsidies • Support to farmers: extension & investment • Food loss and waste • Measures across the value chain: energy and transport sector
- Healthy, Sustainable Diets • Shape behavior of consumers & food industry • Dietary guidelines – health and environment • Product labeling – health and environment • Consumption taxes
- Inequality, Power, & Trade-offs • Safety nets, social protection • Incentives through safety nets • Prioritisation of investment • Policy process
- Inclusive Policy Process • Multi-stakeholder • Citizen input • Gender-transformative policies
- Multi-sectoral/-level Policy Process • Whole of government approach • Policy making & budgeting • Municipal/district-level to national • Food systems policy
- Global Policy • Capture commitments & create accountability • Policy coherence • Standards, principles, criteria • Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture – Good practices per Paris Agreement principles – Recommendations to other Convention bodies – Criteria for climate action
- Conclusions • Preliminary and non-exhaustive ideas • Thought-provoking • Action by all • Action at all levels • Political will • Public will
Editor's Notes
- The challenge we face at the food systems-climate change nexus is not a simple one. The actors in food systems are many and varied: from producers, retailers, and consumers; large- and small-scale farmers; urban to rural populations; global north to global south countries. The challenge we face is significant; so are the Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of thte Paris Agreement. This demands a transformation toward sustainable, resilient, climate-smart, and inclusive food systems.
- We cannot achieve these goals through piecemeal efforts. A transformation in food systems requires systems change. Policy creates the environment in which different actors engage in food systems – how they operate, make decisions, and interact. It governs the resources they can access, their power to shape their own reality, and the opportunities and constraints they encounter. Policy has to create incentives and remove barriers. It must foster a level playing field among actors. It must also mobilize resources, both private and public. There is no one global food system but many food systems at different levels that cut across numerous sectors and involve numerous actors.
- The complexity of food systems means there are numerous areas where policy can catalyze change. I want to focus on just four key areas and offer a few preliminary ideas for that change.
- First, food systems must be fit to face the climate challenge. This means both reducing emissions and increasing resilience in food systems. Policy will need to respond to the unique circumstances of different kinds of food systems and the different capacities and capabilities of different countries. Policy can begin with ways to incentivize and support farmers to adopt more sustainable and resilient agriculture approaches. In modern food systems with higher reliance on industrial agriculture, governments might consider a re-examination of subsidies for agricultural production. In its 2017 review of agriculture policy in 50 countries in the OECD, EU, and among emerging economy, the OECD found that these 50 countries provided 585 Billion USD a year from 2013-2015 in support to farmers. These hundreds of billions of dollars are a ready resource that could be redirected as an incentive to promote more sustainable and resilient production. In developing countries, subsidies are an opportunity to promote more diverse production beyond commodities, particularly where a country’s population struggles to access an adequate, diverse diet. In traditional food systems that rely more on subsistence farming, governments need to deliver investment to support farmers, particularly small-scale farmers, to access resources and adopt sustainable and resilient approaches. This means addressing the barriers many farmers – especially women farmers – face in accessing key resources and information, that are key to build resilience and enhance farmers’ capacity to adopt sustainable agriculture practices. Beyond food production, governments must take real steps to address food loss and food waste. Reducing food loss requires investment in infrastructure and support for market access among small-scale food producers. For food waste, a problem more prominent in global north food systems, policies are needed to change retail cosmetic standards that lead to a rejection of what’s call “ugly produce” or to rationalize the sell by/best by/consume by dates on foods. This is only the beginning, however, as emissions and vulnerability are evident throughout food systems – and all along supply chains.
- While food systems must respond to climate change, they must also deliver food and nutrition security. Yet in the face of climate change and environmental challenges, diets must be seen through a sustainability lens. Here, several policy options are available. Several countries have begun to incorporate environmental considerations into dietary guidelines, aiming to shift consumption away from animal source foods that carry a larger carbon footprint. [Netherlands, Sweden] Others have enacted labeling requirements for the food industry that make very clear to consumers that a product has high levels of salt, sugar, or fat. [UK & Ecuador also have traffic light labeling regulations; UK’s are voluntary] These policies can empower consumers with information and incentivize the food industry to change the content of unhealthy foods. These same labeling laws could be used to provide information on the environmental footprint of foods.
- Finally, inequality and unequal power dynamics in food systems shape who is hungry and malnourished and who is more vulnerable to climate change. Similarly, transformations in food systems will inevitably entail trade-offs among actors. So policy must support those potentially left behind. Governments must ensure adequate investment in social protection or safety net programs that help protect vulnerable populations from falling further into poverty. Safety net programs can be used to promote purchase and consumption of a diversity of locally produced foods, thus supporting local producers and markets while also enabling vulnerable populations to access nutritious foods. And addressing inequality may also require explicit prioritization of investment to support particular populations. * Neglected rural areas require investment in infrastructure and overall economic development. As climate impacts make farming harder and harder, rural populations living in poverty need more diverse livelihood options. * Investment may be needed in urban areas to ensure adequate access to diverse, nutritious foods – where access to fresh produce, for instance, may be limited. Addressing inequality requires that policy take into account who has power and who does not. These considerations are not easy ones, but if we want to see a true transformation in food systems, they are imperative. Policy must begin to shift these power dynamics.
- There is a risk of policies being set among those with power at the expense of those without – entrenching inequalities. Policy processes must be transparent and engage the wide range of actors in food systems. Effective participation of citizens, especially those consistently marginalized, requires targeted action and investment. Policy processes can support consultation at local levels to engage local communities and establish clear mechanisms for citizen input into policies and procedures. Such processes can help build the capacity of governments and citizens to work together to identify and formulate policies in priority areas. Gender inequality runs deep in food systems, with men and women playing different roles, experiencing climate impacts differently, and articulating different priorities. Too often, women are left behind, given their unequal access to productive resources, exclusion from decision-making, and disproportionate labor burden. Transformative policy for food systems must tackle this inequality head on through rigorous analysis of gender dynamics and the implications of policy as well as effective participation of women and men.
- Because food systems cut across multiple sectors and levels, the policy-making process itself must multi-sectoral and multi-level. A whole-of-government approach supports policy coherence and management of trade-offs. Collective effort across ministries can foster a shared sense of goals and an awareness of the value of each ministry’s contribution, so budgeting is less about competing for resources and more about finding synergies among them. Multi-level policy planning, including municipal or district policymakers with national policymakers, can help avoid conflicting policies and facilitate the scaling up of successful policies at a municipal or district level. While the concept of food systems has gained significant traction in global dialogues, policy continues to tackle particular challenges or actors within food systems rather than addressing the whole system. The approach is one of chipping away at an iceberg. Potentially the most fundamental transformation would be the simple yet complex idea of setting food systems policy, across sectors, across levels, and across stakeholders.
- Global and regional policy frameworks can capture commitments and promote policy coherence. Policy change at a global level can establish core principles or standards, as well as collective goals, to inform national and local transformations. Parties here in Katowice held the first workshop under the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture to talk about how to translate the outcomes of past and future workshops into real action. The KJWA is a significant opportunity for Parties to set standards and principles to guide policy and action. This is particularly important considering the principles in the Paris Agreement to protect and promote food security, gender equality, human rights, and ecosystem integrity. Parties must use this opportunity to provide a clear way forward. Parties can and should lay out best practices, make concrete recommendations to other Convention bodies on further guidance and support needed, and to set clear criteria for how climate action in the agriculture sector.
- The ideas shared here are preliminary and non-exhaustive. We aim to provoke thought and consideration of how policy change can catalyze a transformation. A transformation in food systems will require action from all – governments, yes, as well as food producers and consumers, and the myriad actors in the food-agriculture industry. It will require action at all levels – from the farm to the district to the national to the global level. As this transformation will demand action from all and must begin with political and public will. The challenge we face is significant, but so is the imperative to address it.
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