By Aoma Keziah,
Insight to Impact: A Decision Maker’s Guide to Navigating Food System Science flagship report, has been officially launched by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) during its Science Week at the United Nations Office at (UNON) campus.
“This report is a game-changer. It distills decades of world class science into insights that are not only accessible but immediately useful to the people who can make the biggest difference,” said Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR.
This Global report translates decades of cutting edge research and innovation by CGIAR and its global partners into actionable guidance for policymakers, investors, and leaders working to transform food systems in the face of compounding global crises.
“We have come to the ground to actually feed people nutritious foods that actually can be value-added and these foods tend to be very gender sensitive, they favor the youth and then they’re very gender-friendly, particularly women. Issues of using the digital space in terms of coming up with science solutions, there was, quite a bit but those that touch a lot are women ,issues of gender, nutrition, the issues of biodiversity. Because we’re losing it, we have to go back to re-greening our landscape and this report brought them out and I’m really excited about that,” explained Lusike Wasilwa Director Crop Systems KALRO.
With a focus on turning knowledge into impact, the report offers a curated synthesis of scientific evidence, best practices, and real world case studies, to help decision makers better navigate the complex intersections of food, climate, nature, and development, and to accelerate the transition to more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems.
“We have heard the challenges but it requires strong evidence on sound research to develop sustainable solutions. The research needs to tackle questions that policy makers are grappling with every day because too often researchers present ideas to policy makers without taking the time to talk to policy makers, to get their perspectives and address the challenges that they are facing. we also have to be aware of the political economy scientists in general and so it’s important to understand the decision making process,” noted Lain Wright Vice Chair HLPE-FSN, CFS.
Shakuntala Thilsted, 2021 World Food Prize Laureate CGIAR pointed out that in villages they’ve worked many women are engaged with nutrition sensitive pod Polyculture.
“Many women are engaged in it, and it’s now part of the agricultural sector. In Bangladesh, men and women use pod polyculture as part of their agricultural Practices. in some villages we had targeted women to be engaged in pod polyculture with large and small fish, we worked together with an Australian project that was in Bangladesh that was talking about communications, and they provided the women who engaged in pod polyculture with phones and taught them how they could produce small videos,” she explained
Bringing together scientists, government officials, development experts, and civil society leaders from across the globe, the event served as a platform to discuss how evidence based strategies can address challenges such as food insecurity, environmental degradation, and climate vulnerability.
“I think one of the main challenges is institutional fragmentation. The food systems go across many ministries, many institutions and So we need to look at a more multistakeholder approach. We have been working more with our ministers for agriculture, but we need the environmental ministries, the decisions on water, the decisions on health, on the table in the discussions to work and setting policies, so that you can have policy coherence,” highlighted Muhammad Ibrahim, Director Technical Cooperation IICA
As global food systems face unprecedented pressure, the Insight to Impact report arrives as a necessary that equips stakeholders with the knowledge they need to shape a better future for people across the continent.
