The United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) is calling for bold and inclusive actions to create a more sustainable and equitable food system for people and nature. To highlight landscape partnerships’ potential as an inclusive and integrated food systems solution, the partners of the 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People initiative proposed “Strengthening Landscape Partnerships” as a “game-changing” solution. FAO North America and EcoAgriculture Partners held an independent dialogue on March 30, 2021, to explore the external support Landscape Partnerships need to support food systems transformation, for nature-positive production, resilience, sustainable development, and human rights around the world.
This independent dialogue is a part of an ongoing series of discussions focusing on agriculture, landscapes and climate change jointly organized by EcoAgriculture Partners and FAO North America since 2009. While the roundtable takes place in Washington, DC, this virtual dialogue engaged a global audience of more than 340 participants, with over 890 registrations, and included a dynamic Q&A session, poll feedback, as well as an interactive ‘chat’.
The virtual session featured an overview of the Summit process by the UNFSS leadership, the voices of four landscape leaders from Africa, Latin America and the United States, and the perspectives of four national and international Landscape Partnership support organizations. As part of the official FSS, input from speakers and participants have been submitted through the official process to the summit. For more information on the event you can access the agenda and information about the panelists, the event recording, and the notes from the chat.
The Role of Landscapes and Seascapes in the UN Food Systems Summit
“Landscapes are a perfect example of how to manage the complexity [of food systems transformation] because on a piece of land the interdependencies of water, grazing, cropping, consumption and pollution become clear. And it’s in a landscape where you can organize people to work together” explained Martin Frick, Deputy to the Special Envoy for the UNFSS. He highlighted the summit aims to solicit inputs around the world through independent national and global dialogues.
Joao Campari, Lead of Action Track 3 on ‘Nature-Positive Production’ and Global Food Lead from WWF, highlighted the essential role of food systems for nature, biodiversity and climate, linking it to the developing work at the UNFSS. He was emphatic that “our goal is to boost nature-positive production systems to meet the fundamental human right to healthy and nutritious food for everyone within planetary boundaries”. He concluded that Landscape Partnerships can play a crucial role in aligning ecological processes with sustainable food production.
Sara Scherr, President and CEO of EcoAgriculture Partners, opened her remarks by saying that “landscape patterns and processes affect outcomes at the household, farm, and market-level”. Landscape approaches have the potential to change the overall outcome of our food system and manage competing demands, added Vimlendra Sharan, Director of FAO North America.
Landscape and Seascape Partnerships: Opportunities and Requirements
Our landscape leaders stressed the need for systems and institutions responsive to the needs of an integrated landscape management approach. Given the evolving social and environmental needs of Landscape Partnerships over time, they highlighted vital areas for support to be promoted by the UNFSS:
- Governmental support creating enabling conditions for developing and supporting landscape partnerships to transform food systems, while managing socio-ecological needs through effective governance.
- Market development for natural capital value, mainly through payments for ecosystem services, giving value to landscapes and seascapes currently not accounted for.
- Linking results-based financing to impacts on biodiversity and livelihoods impacts.
Maria Sengelela of Solidaridad Network, shared their experience of working with Landscape Partnerships to bring local and national actors together to promote sustainable agricultural, forestry and natural resource management in the Mount Kilimanjaro landscape. “This process does not only guarantee areas for food production but also ensures critical ecosystems are mapped out for conservation,” said Sengelela.
From Peru, Percy Summers of Conservation International, shared their experience aiming to reduce deforestation in the Alto Mayo Landscape, working with Awajun Indigenous communities and migrant farmers to become effective stewards of the landscape, through actions ranging from developing markets for sustainable production of native plants and coffee, creation of an investment platform and leveraging carbon credits towards conservation efforts.
Pat O’Toole, from the Ladder Ranch and Family Farm Alliance in Wyoming, U.S. and Board Member of Solutions from the Land, noted the need for partnerships to improve the forests near headwaters of the Colorado River and valuing ecological services these landscapes provide. “You don’t solve a million-acre problem with a 100-acre solution,” said O’Toole. “These forests need significant work. It’s going to be the landowners, the forest service, the timber industry, and the local communities that are potential problem solvers.”
“Going forward, mainstreaming landscape and seascape community governance approaches is crucial,” said Leonel Requena of UNDP Small Grants Programme in Belize, who works on Landscape Partnerships to safeguard small-scale fisheries, nature-based tourism and protect the barrier reef. He also added the need for landscape and seascape financing, with returns from those investments linked to biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods.
How can Landscape Partnerships be more effective?
Our landscape support organizations reiterated the need for long-term institutional support for landscape partnerships. They highlighted the following key areas for the UNFSS to mobilize support:
- Technical support through data, tools, technology, and knowledge exchange for improved scenario planning and decision-making.
- Government coordination and public finance to de-risk investments from the private sector
- “Green growth” business transition, incubation and acceleration support for local entrepreneurs and businesses.
- Increased support and funds for landscape partnerships to develop a common vision through planning processes that involve all stakeholders
Ernesto Herrera, CEO of Reforestamos in Mexico, noted that financing available for landscape initiatives is limited. In response to this, Reforestamos is working to create an entrepreneurial and impact investment ecosystem. A key element to this work is transparency. He emphasized that governments need to make key information readily available to help with decision-making.
“There is a need for stronger facilitation by governments through the use of public finance to open up space and de-risk investment from the private sector,” said Phemo Kgomotso, Senior Technical Advisor from Sustainable Land Management and Restoration at the UN Development Program in Turkey.
Mathilde Iweins, Project Development and Implementation Expert of Forest and Landscape Restoration at FAO, emphasized the need to have a common vision with all stakeholders involved and the importance of securing funding for a collaborative process among different agencies and stakeholders to develop a single, shared spatial plan.
Areas of Divergence in the Dialogue
Our dialogue brought together a diverse set of people and perspectives, with some areas of divergence that are important to consider for the FSS:
- Perspectives on the influence of supply chains, with some warning of lack of resiliency of food systems and being over-exposed to the market disrupts, while others emphasized potential innovations in supply chain processes supporting sustainable landscapes.
- Perspectives on stakeholder interests that need to be prioritized, based on unequal power dynamics, and the need of integrating more farmers and indigenous rights.
- Finance in the right ways can be a solution, others see financial actors as a threat, especially coming from industries that will drive a short-term agenda.
The independent dialogue confirms the need for institutionalizing support for landscape partners to be effective agents of change for food systems transformation. In the build-up to the official UNFSS in September or October of 2021, EcoAgriculture Partners and 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People will continue advocating for landscape partnerships as a central approach to food systems transformation responding to the needs expressed by leaders and supporters, with an emphasis on ensuring local governance and landscape finance for food systems transformation.
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