10 July 2023

The Shamba Centre for Food & Climate is pleased to announce its contribution to several official side events taking place during the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UN FSS+2) taking place at the FAO headquarters in Rome from 24-26 July.

The Shamba Centre’s three Co-founders, Carin Smaller, Francine Picard and Oshani Perera, will provide their insights during side-events covering innovative donor approaches to sustainable finance and achieving sustainable food systems in a time of multiple crises. In addition, the Shamba Centre is helping to organize a side-event on private sector ambition, action and accountability towards food systems transformation.

As notes Carin, “The UN FSS+2 is a stepping stone on the road to the UN SDG Summit, Committee on World Food Security (CFS), and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28). It continues the journey since the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, pushing us to go beyond focusing on single problems, like hunger, or single solutions, like increasing corn yields. It sends a powerful message to world leaders to look at problems in a systemic way and to find solutions that can achieve multiple benefits. For example, if we want people to have access to more and better quality food without destroying the climate, then investing in better storage and handling practices to reduce food waste from farm to fork, is an effective way to get big wins.”

Innovative donor approaches to sustainable finance

Together with the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD), the Shamba Centre is organizing a virtual side-event to better understand how donors can make their funding more catalytic. It will provide insight from donors how they are balancing the competing demands and interests during difficult geo-political and economic times and explore their initial steps in innovative finance including blended finance and the concept of pay for performance. Fund managers will provide their thoughts on the necessary conditions for blended finance to succeed. Oshani Perera, Director of Programmes from the Shamba Centre, will moderate the session.

This side-event will take place on Monday, 24 July from 18h00-19h00 CEST. Further information, including registration details is available here.

Achieving sustainable food systems in a time of multiple crises

In a hybrid side-event organised by the Government of Malawi, the Shamba Centre and its partners will present the achievements of the Zero Hunger Coalition and launch a visionary strategy to accelerate food systems transformation for sustainable and nutritious outcomes to end hunger. This side event is a call-to-action to urgently boost the financial and environmental resilience of food systems while improving healthy outcomes and end hunger. The Shamba Centre’s Executive Director, Carin Smaller, and Director of Partnerships, Francine Picard, will both participate in the panel discussion.

This side-event will take place on Tuesday, 25 July from 13h30-14h30 CEST in the German room at the FAO headquarters.

Private sector ambition, action and accountability towards food systems transformation

The Shamba Centre, as part of its coordination of the Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge, is co-organizing a hybrid side-event to review progress on the implementation of commitments by the private sector towards advancing the zero-hunger goal and sustainably transforming food system. Representatives from leading companies will reflect on their investments pledged and further options for mobilising private sector action.

This side-event will take place on Wednesday, 26 July from 13h30-14h30 CEST in the Philippines room.