Updates on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems

The Thematic Group on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems had a busy October! On October 8th and 9th, 2015, the country teams for the solutions initiative National Transformation Pathways for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems met in New York City, USA, to share their past work and chart next steps. Participants discussed the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September, how to bring additional stakeholders (including youth) into the process, and methodology. Country teams from China, Uruguay, and the United Kingdom also shared their models, targets, and draft pathways. This event was co-hosted by the SDSN, Rothamsted Research , and IDDRI.

Following the workshop, members of the project traveled to Ithaca, USA, for the 2nd International Conference on Global Food Securityco-hosted by Cornell and Columbia Universities. Marie-Hélène Schwoob presented a poster on the National Transformation Pathways for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems initiative, while Lauren Barredo, Achim Dobermann, and Rebecca Nelson led a workshop café on the importance of the SDGs in improving global food security. The results of this workshop café were summarized and presented in plenary at the conference. Dobermann and Nelson also chaired sessions on Sustainable Intensification: Improving Crop-Soil Systems and Health and Nutritional Consequences of Environmental Change.