People’s wellbeing is determined by a healthy and nutritious diet, safe food and access to safe drinking water. However, children in developing countries face a triple burden of malnutrition (undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies). This threats the survival, growth and development of children, economies and society as a whole. Globally, 20 percent disability-adjusted life years are lost due to malnutrition, more than any other contributor and poor diet contributes to 6 of the top 10 risk factors for the global burden of disease. About 100 million cases of foodborne diseases (FBDs) are reported every year, and unsafe food costs the country an estimated $15 billion a year. Unsafe foods containing pathogenic microorganisms and toxic chemicals are responsible for more than 200 diseases from diarrhoea to cancer. Hence it becomes important to implement effective food safety programmes and traceability solutions as well as access to safe drinking water for all.
This session will focus on understanding the enablers which will allow for a sustainable food system towards heathier consumption by people across their life course.

Inclusive business models enable the responsible integration of small-scale producers into markets with the underlying principle that there are mutual benefits for them and the private sector. It addresses the needs of low-income groups by providing goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people living at the base of the economic pyramid by integrating them as a part of the company’s value chain. Several forms of inclusive business models are gaining prominence under the agriculture sector, ranging from production enhancing models through capacity building on good practices, contact farming models with assured market linkages, enhancing price realisation through technology interventions, etc.

The session will focus on showcasing the various forms of inclusive business models which are proving to be successful globally, the benefits they provide both to industry as well as farmers, and deliberate on opportunities towards scaling up towards maximising impact.

Empowering and better price realization for producers and other actors in the value chain is crucial for a prosperous food system. This can be achieved through better terms of trade, cooperation, and most importantly, collectivisation of farmers. Further, promoting and enabling of primary processing towards enhancing rural incomes through value addition will help secure livelihoods of the people.

Focusing on local employment is a crucial enabler towards prosperity, hence there should be efforts on developing local employment and entrepreneurial opportunities and maintaining biologically diverse landscapes for sustainable intensification of agriculture. The food systems transformation should be anchored around the small and medium-scale production, family farmers, indigenous peoples, women and workers in food value chains to advance equitable livelihood.

This session will look at understanding the enablers which will allow for a gender responsive food system that empowers farming communities towards better price realisation for producers alongside stable prices for consumers, allowing for a prosperous ecosystem.

Micronutrient deficiencies cause morbidity and mortality in individuals, affecting human potential worldwide. We now know that the three-decade old estimation that over 2 billion people worldwide are affected by micronutrient deficiencies (based on estimated anaemia prevalence) is a gross underestimation of the actual prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies. It is estimated that 56% of children 6 – 59 months and 69% of non-pregnant women aged 15 – 49 years worldwide have at least one form of micronutrient deficiency. Also known as hidden hunger, it affects a significant portion of the population globally, regardless of income status.

Micronutrient deficiencies can be prevented and even eliminated if optimal quantities of micronutrients are consumed by populations on a regular basis. The three key strategies identified to address micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) are: (a) dietary diversification and improvement; (b) micronutrient supplementation, and (c) food fortification. Concerted, holistic efforts are needed to understand, mobilize action and resources across partners to bring about tangible impact.

This session deliberates on the key strategies and proven interventions that hold promise to mitigate micronutrient deficiencies at the population level. Also, it brings together key partners from the government, research agencies/ think tanks, and the private sector to discuss key takeaways and evidence-based strategies, with specific focus on low-and- middle income countries.

Today's food system is faced with the dual challenge of improving productivity while also being environmentally friendly. Therefore, there is a need to adopt farming practices that are more nature-friendly and biodiversity-supporting, which involves limiting the use of inputs and promoting polyculture farming practices. There is a growing acknowledgement of the significance of incorporating agro-ecological practices in food production. This approach can potentially reconcile productivity and sustainability by promoting biodiversity, reversing land degradation, restoring ecosystem services, and ultimately strengthening the food production system. The mounting evidence shows that agro-ecological practices such as improved pollination and soil regeneration can lead to an increase in food production. There are various initiatives undertaken separately to restore pollination, soil health improvement in many countries including India. The need of the hour is to stitch a system level solution, embracing complexity, overcoming the silos and integrate interconnectedness between nature and production system.

To bring about the necessary transformation, it is essential to have a robust collaboration among multiple stakeholders and levels involving researchers, farmers, governments, policy institutions, and civil society organizations. This collaboration will expand the knowledge base. Additionally, businesses and financial institutions have a significant role in mainstreaming agroecological practices in the agro food supply chain. The agro food sector, as part of the market value chain, has the potential to create new opportunities, improve the production system, de risking the supply sources and become a transformative force in institutionalizing change.

Food items available in Informal markets like open markets, wet markets, small stalls, roadside eateries, and street food are affordable and generally nutritious food which is accessible to all. However, there are high food safety risks involved in perishable food items, food of animal origin and freshly produced food. There is hence a need to create a structured ecosystem comprising of awareness, training and certification, third-party audits, hygiene ratings of informal markets covering street food clusters, fruits and vegetable markets and other clusters. These should be coupled with harmonisation with global food standards like Codex and governance at the national regulatory level. An ecosystem of public private partnerships is also the need of the hour to take a national roadmap forward.

This session will focus on ways to expand the reach of such initiatives through implementation of a framework and establishing stakeholder partnerships to execute these. The aim is to spread the good practices model to low and middle-income countries that have a high degree of informality in merchandising food products and facilitate development and execution of a global framework and national roadmaps.

Youth represent the best opportunity for our planet’s immediate future, yet their health and welfare are beset by enormous challenges. The food environment around them is changing rapidly, and climate change, conflict, and disease are causing an escalation of the speed of change. For teenagers, food choice is an expression of autonomy, motivated by social influences and the desire for agency. How teenagers make their decisions about obtaining, procuring, and consuming food is different from any other age group. This session, designed by the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, will highlight ways to improve the food environment for adolescents in a way that benefits people, planet, and prosperity. Participants will be inspired by practical advice and countries’ experiences with policies and actions to address the challenges facing the adolescent food environment.

Globally, the farm sector contributes to almost one-third of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This includes CO 2 emissions due to the conversion of natural ecosystems, mostly forest land and natural peatlands to agriculture use and non- CO 2 emissions (mostly methane) from livestock activities and crop production.

The total global emissions from agriculture and related activities reached 9.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Gt CO 2 eq) in 2018. While land use change activities were responsible for nearly 4 Gt CO 2 eq, livestock farms contributed 5.3 Gt CO 2 eq. which was more than half of the total emissions. Of the non- CO 2 emissions, enteric fermentation (39 percent), livestock manure (20 percent), synthetic fertilizers (13 percent) and rice cultivation (10 percent), were the highest contributors. The livestock sector alone was a major contributor to an extent of two-thirds of total non- CO 2 emissions. The Global Methane Pledge (GMP) targets to achieve at least a 30 percent reduction in anthropogenic emission of Methane by 2030 as compared to 2020. There is a need to take up initiatives across the agriculture supply chain through innovations and technologies which can bring down the GHG emissions.

The information technology revolution is changing the face of agriculture. Further private investments especially on research and development as well as Governments’ efforts to regularly engage with all stakeholders to get feedback and reorient policies based on mutually desired objectives are creating a framework for enhanced cooperation between different parties. These efforts become extremely critical given the threat of climate change and the need to increase global food production by 60% to 70% in the next three decades. Action on climate change is also closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, and SDG 13, SDG 14, and SDG 15.

Given the above background, the thematic session will provide a platform to deep dive into emerging areas of cooperation in genome editing, plant breeding, food processing, packaging, traceability, value addition, enhancing shelf life and reducing food waste amongst others. The session will also dwell into a framework for deployment of next generation technology under a collaborative approach in the G20 countries.

The session will showcase successful examples around acceleration of technology deployment in agri & foods sector from across G20 countries. Focus will also be on interventions around leveraging Digital Technologies to deliver state-of-the-art Products and Services to Small Farmers and MSMEs Food Technopreneurs.