FOLU Growing Better Report Launches in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, and Germany
The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) recently launched its landmark report Growing Better: Ten Critical Transitions to Transform Food and Land Use in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, and Germany. The launches brought together a broad array of national stakeholders and experts, including members of the FABLE Consortium co-led by SDSN, to discuss national priorities, challenges, and opportunities to sustainably transform food and land-use systems.
The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) recently launched its landmark report Growing Better: Ten Critical Transitions to Transform Food and Land Use in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, and Germany.
ColombiaIn November 2019, FOLU Colombia launched the Growing Better report and the Colombia and Quidío roadmaps at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá and at the Jardín Botánico in Quindío. These events brought together public and private sectors, government representatives, academia, and civil society. FOLU Global Director Melissa Pinfield and FOLU Director of Geographic Deep Dives Edward Davey presented the report while FOLU Colombia ambassadors José Antonio Ocampo and Nicolás Cock presented the roadmaps and national diagnostic of Colombia’s current food and land-use systems. The FOLU ambassadors also called for more integrated approaches to increase sustainable agricultural production, restore ecosystems, achieve food security, and reduce food loss and waste. In a lively discussion that followed, panellists also emphasized the need to consider geographical, technological, cultural and gender-specific issues. FOLU Colombia brings together more than 140 private sector and civil society and is led by E3- Ecologia, Economia y Ética with the support of WRI and Systemiq.
Ethiopia
On January 9, 2020, FOLU Ethiopia launched the Growing Better report in Addis Ababa. More than 100 key stakeholders from the donor community, private sector, government, and civil society attended. The event was moderated by World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa Director Wanjira Mathai while Edward Davey presented the Growing Better report and FOLU Ethiopia introduced its Action Agenda for a New Climate Economy in Ethiopia , a report that presents the necessary transitions for Ethiopia to achieve sustainable food and land-use systems.
IndiaIn January 2020, FOLU India , a joint initiative of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and WRI India , launched the Growing Better report in New Delhi. S. Vijay Kumar, FOLU India Country Advisor, opened with an introducing the FOLU India Platform followed by Prof. Ramesh Chand of NITI Ayog formally launched the Growing Better Report. This was followed by a panel discussion with FOLU Ambassador Ajay Vir Jakha) and representatives from International Food Policy Research Institute and the Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network on the challenges and opportunities of a greener agricultural revolution and the need to shift towards more ecologically-friendly agriculture. Coming out of the launch event, FOLU India plans to publish an India-specific version of the Growing Better report by the end of 2020.
Germany
On February 3rd, SDSN co-hosted the German launch of the Growing Better report in Berlin. The report’s lead author Per Pharo took part in the panels with members of the Federal Ministries of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; Food and Agriculture; and Economic Cooperation and Development; as well as representatives of the German Agency for International Organisation, the German Advisory Council on Global Environmental Change, and the German Farmers’ Association (DBV). The panels stressed the importance of involving the private sector, civil society, and farmers to achieve a more circular system. Several speakers also addressed the economic cost of unsustainable farming with low food prices that don’t take into account negative externalities, but also encouraged us to look beyond monetary value.
About FOLU
Established in 2017, the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) is a community of organizations and individuals committed to the urgent need to transform the way we produce and consume food and use our land for people, nature and climate. FOLU supports science-based solutions and helps build a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities to unlock collective, ambitious action. The Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium , co-led by SDSN and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, operates as part of FOLU and has teams in 20 countries developing the data and decision-support tools needed to map out long-term actionable pathways towards sustainable food and land-use systems.
Core partners responsible for FOLU currently include: Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA ), EAT , Global Alliance for Nutrition ( GAIN ), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis ( IIASA ), Sustainable Development Solutions Network ( SDSN ), SYSTEMIQ , World Business Council for Sustainable Development ( WBCSD ) and World Resources Institute ( WRI ).
