Global leaders who gathered at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos Wednesday called for “step up to scale up” efforts for strengthening the world’s food security by improving sustainable food production. Working through the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Agriculture initiative, more than 250 organizations are collaborating to improve sustainable food production and opportunities for farmers in 11 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to a news release posted at forum’s website (www.weforum.org). Together these activities will directly impact over 12 million smallholder farmers in the next three to five years, according to the news release.
“We have created new partnerships and new opportunities for smallholder farmers through our work with the New Vision for Agriculture initiative,” said Cao Duc Phat, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam. The initiative helped to form and support a public-private task force engaging 30 organizations to focus investment and innovation on five crops prioritized by Vietnam’s national agriculture plan. The group is implementing projects to train, finance and engage smallholder farmers to increase sustainable production and farmer incomes.A new report launched this week in Davos, titled Achieving the New Vision for Agriculture: New Models for Action, assesses progress to date and recommends action steps to advance progress in the 11 countries. Strengthening environmental sustainability, expanding access to finance, broadening stakeholder engagement and investing in local capacity-building are among its key recommendations.“The New Vision for Agriculture has provided a way for stakeholders to align efforts to achieve sustainable agricultural growth,” said Michael Mack, Chief Executive Officer of Syngenta. “As a result, our company has developed significant new investments and partnerships in coordination with country leaders.”The World Economic Forum and its constituents are hosting 12 sessions related to food security, nutrition and agriculture during Davos. “We are committed to engaging all stakeholders to create a stronger global food system,” said Sarita Nayyar, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum. “Engaging the private sector is an important part of that effort, to bring investment, innovation and efficiency into partnership efforts.”Eight African countries are working with New Vision for Agriculture partners through Grow Africa, a partnership jointly convened by the African Union, NEPAD and the World Economic Forum. In Davos, African and global leaders will discuss implementation of more than US$ 3 billion in private-sector investment commitments in 2012. More
