Vijverberg Policy Dialogue on 30 November 2021

FoodFIRST and ECDPM cordially invite you to a ‘Vijverberg’ policy dialogue on African food systems and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy: (un)intended impacts? which will take place online on Tuesday November 30, 2021, 15:00 – 16:30 CET.

Please register for the event via this LINK – you will then be sent the meeting link.

On 11 December 2019, the European Commission announced the European Green Deal to transform the EU into the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. At the heart of this Green Deal is the 2020 ‘Farm to Fork (F2F)’ strategy which aims to accelerate the EU’s transition to a sustainable food system, while also promoting the global transition. As a result, the strategy will have a global impact on food and agricultural supply chains. During this session, we will not only discuss the F2F strategy’s impact on African food systems, but also how to mobilize EU and Dutch policy instruments – including trade policy, investment facilitation, development assistance, and international diplomacy – to support developing countries’ efforts to improve the sustainability and resilience of their own food systems.

Join us on Tuesday, November 30 via Microsoft Teams for the second policy dialogue in our series on the external perspectives of the EU’s F2F strategy. Our first session discussed the impact study of the US Department of Agriculture, which analysed the economic consequences of several proposed targets in the F2F strategy based on three strategy adoption scenarios, finding a reduction in global agriculture production, higher food prices, less trade, and increased global food insecurity by 2030, particularly in Africa. Read our report of the first session with USDA here.

During this second session, we want to zoom in on the implications of greening Europe for Africa’s food systems, its food security and its smallholder farmers. Given the interconnectedness of the trade and food systems on both continents, we want to have a discussion about the (un)intended impacts for Africa and policy responses to any spillover effects of the F2F strategy. So as to promote this objective foodFIRST has teamed up with ECDPM.

Speakers for this session are Koen Dekeyser, Policy Officer ECPDM and co-author of the thought-provoking briefing note “A greener Europe at the expense of Africa” and Professor Ken Giller, renowned agroecologist and Professor Plant Production Systems within WaCASA (the Wageningen Centre for Agroecology and Systems Analysis) whose research has focused primarily on smallholder farming systems in sub-Sahara Africa. The session will be chaired by Gabriéla Versteeg, Manager Agri-advice at Agriterra. Please find some recommended readings for this session here.

Should you know someone from your organisation or outside who would be interested in joining the session, please encourage them to join this webinar and register for the session. Please keep in mind that this session will be recorded solely for internal reporting purposes.