Food Systems for New Realities – Actions Vi Agroforestry is taking to build resilient food systems for new realities 

More than 800 million people in the world are undernourished. At the same time, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly pushing more people into poverty and hunger. While the majority of existing food systems are drivers of biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and water insecurity, they also provide livelihoods to a vast number of people.

Just and resilient food systems can contribute to all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The theme of this year’s Agri4D conference is Food Systems for New Realities, with the core question being: ‘How can we shape sustainable and just food systems resilient to the new realities of changing climates, ongoing transformations in food production, supply and demand, health threats and pandemics?

– Everyone needs to play their part, policymakers, governments, and other stakeholders. Given the urgency and the situation the world is in today, both related to climate change impacts and the COVID pandemic ripple effects, there is a clear need to focus on the most prioritised needs. Food being one of them. This must be based on sustainable and resilient systems. Planetary and social imbalances, that have largely been caused by human activity, can be corrected if everyone plays their part, says Vi Agroforestry’s speaker at the conference, Wangu Mutua.

The conference, which takes place online on 28-30 September, aims to be a platform to take stock of the current knowledge frontier, connect science to policymaking and practice, and spark new collaborations.

The objective of the conference is to present knowledge about potential solutions and outcomes, while identifying how those solutions can enable the social and economic transformations necessary to achieve the goal of food and nutrition security for all.

Agri4D 2021 is organised by SLU Global at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and the Swedish International Agriculture Network Initiative (SIANI), with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Read more about the conference, register, and check out the Vi Agroforestry stand