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A new study published in the journal Global food security reports that food systems are associated with a third of global human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, agricultural yields are threatened due to the impacts caused by climate change.
However, a complete picture of the various elements of the agricultural research and food production ecosystem is still missing.
To address this issue, researchers conducted a survey of 262 participants at the 2019 Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Bali, Indonesia, which included researchers, end users and donors. funds. The aim was to assess the main levers needed to radically shift the food system to a new location.
According to Dhanush Dinesh, a CIAT Researcher and Head of Partnerships and Outreach at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), one of the main conclusions is that to achieve climate and sustainability goals, it is necessary to consider farmers as research partners. They must contribute while being beneficiaries.
Change of thought
Dinesh adds that conventionally, farmers have always been “policy makers” and not “decision makers”.
Researchers can design new research tools, but to help farmers we need to know their financial and political needs. This is all a transfer of power from researchers as powerful providers of knowledge to a place where funders, farmers and researchers are all equal and are shaping it fairly … It is not happening now, but we recognize that has to change.
Dhanush Dinesh, Researcher and Head of Partnerships and Outreach, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, CIAT
According to Bruce Campbell, CIAT researcher and CCAFS director, a considerable part of the research effort must shift to a mode of action: participatory action research or “learning by doing”.
By working closely with farmers to test the things they want to test, researchers can present a basket of testing possibilities and farmers can select what they want to test and also contribute their own knowledge of what should be tested. tested..
Bruce Campbell, Researcher and Director of CCAFS, CIAT
Campbell added that experience shows that the study can then take unexpected directions.
“For example, the research may have planned to examine the dominant corn crop, but speaking with the farmer, the research shifted to examining intercrops, with more effort focused on intercropping than on intercropping. corn cultivation., “he noted.
New funding models
Dinesh explained that another crucial aspect for the success of future food systems are innovative financing models. He added that RaboBank, a leading international bank, has already developed a new fund called AGRI3. The Dutch government has invested, thus minimizing the risk for the bank.
“They can then lend to farmers to implement climate smart agriculture, but to deliver at scale they need to develop monitoring systems.,” he added.
As Laurens Klerkx, co-author of the study and professor of Agri-Food Innovation and Transition at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, explains, some examples of innovative funding models that improve outcomes for researchers and farmers are role models that include establishing a common agenda where farmers can decide on priority setting, proposal direction and decision making, and induce ownership.
“These include R&D systems financed by royalties, farmers’ juries, etc.. Klerkx added, noting that although they are not completely innovative, they can be part of the agriculture for development (AR4D) context.
Campbell adds that blended funding models can promote transformative, high-impact projects in areas that are initially unable to secure commercial funding, but have the potential to become commercially viable over time.
There is a great example in Rwanda with Africa Improved Foods: they have put in place a food processing plan for the production of nutritious foods (e.g. cereals) with the raw material coming from smallholders and the first phase of the project costs approximately $ 65 million in capital expenditures. and working capital.
Bruce Campbell, Researcher and Director of CCAFS, CIAT
“It would not have taken off without a blended finance model, with a mix of sources of finance, some concessional … It also included technical support to farmers to meet the challenge of producing high quality products for the value chain.“, Campbell concluded.
Journal reference:
Dinesh, D., et al. (2021) Adopting theories of change for transforming food systems in the context of climate change. Global food security. doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100583.
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