Agenda

Agri-food systems, covering food production to disposal, are becoming increasingly globalized, concentrated, industrialized, and science and capital-intensive. Consumer preferences are changing because of various factors, especially rapid urbanization and increases in income levels. GHG emissions from the agri-food sector, including methane, have increased sharply. While food production surged in 50 years, malnutrition shifted from inadequate intake to unhealthy diets causing obesity and chronic diseases in areas like Central Asia. Agri-food systems also face food safety issues, transboundary diseases, and food waste. Current systems are socially, economically, and environmentally unsustainable, necessitating policy changes. awareness of the concept of agri-food systems, the advantages of adopting an agri-food systems approach and the challenges of transitioning to more sustainable systems are still not fully understood by all stakeholders. The UN Food Systems Summit held in 2021 and the recent Food Systems Stock-taking Moment held in July 2023 represent important attempts to raise awareness of these issues Accordingly, Technical Session 1 will clarify the concept of agri-food systems, the advantages of adopting this approach, the complexities of shifting toward sustainability. This is crucial for landlocked countries facing challenges in global value chain access because they do not have direct access to the sea, which the host country, doubly landlocked, exemplifies. Lasting for one hour and 15 minutes, Technical Session 1 will start with a 6-8 minute stage setting introduction, followed by a panel with five speakers, each delivering a 5-6 minute talk (or presentation), who will provide insights on selected issues. The moderator of the panel discussion will facilitate a Q&A session with the speakers and the audience and summarize the conclusions of the session. on an aspect of agri-food system sustainability. The speakers will a) provide an overview of the food systems approach and what it means for a food system to be sustainable, with special attention to the problems faced by landlocked countries, b) describe the political aspects of moving towards sustainability, c) analyze the practical aspects of managing the transition to a more environmentally sustainable one, d) discuss the key conclusions of the UN Food Systems Summit and the Stock-taking Moment and e) describe the key elements of the food system of Uzbekistan.

Despite the adoption of Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end hunger, the prevalence of hunger has grown. Projections for 2030 indicate that around 670 million people, 8 percent of the global population, will remain hungry, equivalent to the 2015 SDG launch figure. Moreover, one-third of the global population suffers from other forms of malnutrition including obesity. Global Nutrition Targets 2025 are also unmet, emphasizing the challenge of providing affordable, nutritious diets to vulnerable populations due to inequities in societies and food systems. Technical Session 2 aims to enhance conference attendees' understanding of current food security and nutrition conditions, exploring potential solutions rooted in food systems to enhance access to healthy diets. It draws on discussions at the UN Food Systems Summit and the subsequent UN Food System Stock-taking Moment. The 'holistic' food systems approach will be emphasized to bolster nutritional outcomes, highlighting the significance of multi-sectoral collaboration and cooperation in addressing food security and nutrition issues. The session is organized around selected food systems-based solutions pertinent to the Eurasian context, encouraging feedback from participants. These solutions encompass the development of national food-system based dietary guidelines for agriculture and nutrition policies, advocating for healthy diets rooted in local ecosystems, integrating nutrition-sensitive social protection to enable vulnerable households' access to healthier diets while fostering local food systems, and enhancing the impact of school feeding programs to benefit children and promote co-benefits across food systems. The session will last for 1 hour and 15 minutes. It will commence with a stage-setting presentation of 6-8 minutes on the current food security and nutrition landscape and potential food system-based solutions for access to healthy diets. This will be followed by a panel with three speakers, each delivering a 5-6 minute talk (or presentation), who will provide insights on selected solutions, including food system-based dietary guidelines, nutrition-sensitive social protection and school food programmes. The moderator of the panel discussion will facilitate a Q&A session with the audience and summarize the conclusions of the session. Overall, the session at the conference underscores the urgency of addressing food security and nutrition challenges through comprehensive food system solutions.

Climate change has emerged as a significant threat to food security across the globe, with landlocked regions such as Central Asia particularly vulnerable. In Central Asia, the impacts of climate change are intensified due to its arid and semi-arid climate, which significantly affects water availability and agricultural productivity. The objective of the technical session "Climate Change Impacts on Food Security" is to facilitate a comprehensive and in-depth discussion on the challenges and implications of climate change for food security in the region. The session aims to bring together experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to explore strategies and solutions for enhancing the resilience of food systems in the face of climate change. By fostering dialogue on innovative approaches, policy frameworks, and collaborative initiatives, the session seeks to increase awareness about the specific climate change impacts that affect food security, share knowledge and research findings and foster collaboration and partnerships. It provides a platform for participants to understand the linkages between climate change, agricultural practices, and food production systems. Lasting for one hour and 15 minutes, Technical Session 3 starts with a 6-8 minute stage-setting presentation on the main challenges in the provision of food security in Central Asia in the face of climate change, followed by a panel with three speakers, each delivering a 5-6 minute talk (or presentation), who will provide insights into a) international climate agreements and commitments, highlighting the importance of aligning adaptation efforts with global climate goals; b) sharing knowledge on community-based adaptation strategies and ecosystem-based approaches that enhance food security and c) provide perspectives on policy coordination, technology transfer, and financial support mechanisms for climate-resilient agriculture. The moderator of the panel discussion will facilitate a Q&A session with the speakers and the audience and summarize the conclusions of the technical session lasting for 15-20 minutes.

Women play a vital role in food security. Across the globe, rural women are involved in agrifood systems predominantly as agricultural labourers, seasonal, part-time, low qualified, low paid, or not paid at all, or as contributing family members in smallholdings and subsistence farms. Their access to economic opportunities and working conditions are influenced by gender inequalities within the household, the community, the institutions, and the broader society. The costs of gender inequality are tremendous, not only for women but also for agriculture, the broader economy and society. Closing existing gender gaps in accessing agricultural assets, inputs and services will help to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, which are central to the transition towards sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. The session’s objectives are to acknowledge rural women’s role and contribution to agrifood systems, raise awareness on the links between rural women’s empowerment, sustainable rural livelihoods and improved food security, and provide inputs to informed policy and decision-making, highlighting best practices in policies and practices. The session will achieve it by sharing knowledge and research findings and suggesting approaches and measures that successfully address gender equality concerns in the context of agrifood systems. The session will attempt to answer the following question: How is rural women’s empowerment linked to food security and transformative agrifood systems, and what needs to be done to ensure that agrifood security policies, programmes and scientific advancements are inclusive for their effectiveness and sustainability? Technical Session 5, which will last for 1 hour and 15 minutes, will start with a 6-8 minute stage-setting presentation. There will be 4 panel speakers who will provide an overview of current trends and gaps in achieving gender equality in agrifood systems, based on the FAO comprehensive global analysis of the available evidence on gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems. The report provides policymakers and development actors with an extensive review of what has worked. This will be followed by evidence supported by cases from Tajikistan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan and other countries that link evidence, policy formulation and practice. The moderator of the panel discussion will facilitate a Q&A session with the speakers and the audience and summarize the conclusions of the technical session. The session will conclude with specific recommendations on the way forward.

Water and food security are fundamental for a thriving global population. However, Central Asia and many regions around the world struggle with water scarcity and challenges in food safety. Poor management and pollution from farming chemicals not only diminish the quality of our water and food but also pose significant health threats. This session underscores the intricate link between clean farming, water, food security, and the overall health of our communities. The main objective of this Technical Session is to highlight the importance of good water management and clean farming for creating a healthier society and environment. Attendees will understand how clean agriculture directly impacts food security, water conservation, public health and even household income. The Session aims to demonstrate that everyone, from individuals to businesses, plays a role in achieving these goals. Through shared knowledge and dialogue, this session strives to kindle a transition towards more sustainable agricultural practices, ensuring cleaner water, improved food security and family income, and healthier communities globally. Technical Session 6 also lasts for 1 hour and 15 minutes and starts with a 6-8 minute stage-setting presentation on water and food security, clean agriculture, and public health, with a particular emphasis on its importance to the Central Asia region. This will be followed by a panel with five speakers who will provide insights into a) the confluence of water and food safety, clean farming, and public health, particularly in regions like Central Asia; b) the consequences of farming chemical misuse, highlighting the dire effects these chemicals have on water, food safety, and human health, particularly the heightened risks farmers face; c) the cumulative impacts of farming chemicals and how advanced technologies can identify and reduce the environmental and health risks of these chemicals; d) how sustainable agriculture works in practice, emphasizing the interplay between clean farming practices/regenerative agriculture, water conservation, and biodiversity; and e) the significance of incentives for farmers to convert to clean agricultural practices. Each speaker should speak for about 5-6 minutes. The moderator of the Technical Session will facilitate a Q&A session with the speakers and audience and summarize the conclusions of the technical session.

Agri-food trade can make a crucial contribution to the welfare of rural households by opening up possibilities for earning income and thereby increasing consumption including food consumption. But the extent to which these households can benefit from trade depends on the comparative advantage of the country and on trade costs. In the case of Uzbekistan, the issue is complicated by the fact that it is a double landlocked country. Because it is generally far more expensive to transport bulky, low value goods overland than by sea, products like foodgrains can become effectively non-tradeable because of high costs. However, this need not apply to high-value agricultural commodities. The Government of Uzbekistan has expressed a desire to join the WTO in the hope of increasing trade in inter alia agri-food products. At the same time there are growing uncertainties about the prospects for agri-food trade and the global economy in the next few years, including slowing economic growth, continued inflation, especially for staple foods, high oil prices and slower growth in trade, including trade in agri-food products. The turmoil in foodgrain and oilseeds markets particularly is expected to continue. The principal objective of this technical session is to analyze the challenges of agri-food trade promotion for landlocked countries in the context of growing uncertainties. It will also explain explore some key considerations regarding WTO accession, which the government of Uzbekistan, along with other countries in Central Asia and elsewhere is interested in pursuing. As with the other Technical Sessions, Technical Session No. 7 will last for 1 hour and 15 minutes and will begin with a 6-8 minute stage-setting presentation on the main challenges in agri-food trade promotion and food security. This will be followed by a panel with 3 speakers, each delivering a 5-6 minute talk (or presentation), who will provide insights into a) the key challenges for agri-food trade in the context of growing uncertainties; b) trade facilitation measures to overcome the handicap of being landlocked, including transport corridors and other measures; and c) some key considerations in conducting negotiations on WTO accession. The moderator of the panel discussion will facilitate a Q&A session with the speakers and the audience and summarize the conclusions of the technical session lasting for 15-20 minutes.

The technical session on Innovation and Digital Agriculture at the International Conference on Food Security will explore the pathways and policy options for leveraging the agricultural development and making agrifood systems more efficient, resilient, and sustainable through innovation and digital agriculture. The session will zoom in on the experiences of landlocked countries that face bigger challenges and where innovation needs are more pertinent. The technical session will discuss the role of science, technologies and innovation in agricultural development, expound on the science-technology – policy interface in enabling digital agriculture to unleash its dividends and minimize divides (rural, digital and gender) and stress the importance of building strong and collaborative national and regional Agricultural Knowledge and Innovations systems – networks of stakeholders - farmers, researchers, academia, policy makers, advisory services and non-governmental actors that bring new products, processes and forms of organization to address context challenges, ensuring sustainable development, resilience to crises, and equitable access to safe and nutritious food for all. The session aims at fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the identification of effective approaches to leverage innovation and digital agriculture for transformative outcomes. It will revolve around critical topics such as youth, gender and elderly inclusion and equitable access to knowledge and innovations, capacities to innovate at all levels to pave the way towards sustainable transition. Participants will leave with actionable knowledge, practical examples and recommendations for policy and strategy development. The technical session will offer a dynamic and inclusive platform for discussion, spanning 75 minutes. Beginning with a 6-8 minute stage-setting presentation, the session will feature three panelists, who will share their insights on the topic. The moderator of the panel discussion will facilitate a Q&A session with the panel and the audience and summarize the conclusions of the technical session lasting for 15-20 minutes. The session will culminate in the presentation of key recommendations, summarizing the collective insights garnered during the discussion.