Webinar: Recovery, reactivation and resilience – sustainable food security in a post-COVID world
04 September 2020
13.00 – 14.00 (CEST)
The COVID-19 pandemic came from the wild and closed down the world – but it has also demonstrated that a rapid global response is possible!
The events of this year have shown beyond doubt that human health is intimately connected to the natural world. The pandemic has hit our agriculture and food systems hard, and its impact threatens to exacerbate poverty, especially for the rural poor whose livelihoods depend on agriculture.
Could the COVID-19 experience help us create a food-secure world through a transformative structural change?
Can we apply the lessons learned from crisis response to ensure that our actions support resilience and sustainability over the long term?
Is it possible to provide critical COVID-19 relief without losing sight of the long-term goals of food security and community resilience?
To avoid or prevent the same vulnerable group of people from being affected by the next crisis – be it a new disease outbreak, an unexpected drop in commodity prices, or a poor harvest due to unfavourable weather events or pest infestation – the resilience of rural people and rural communities and their capacity to cope with shocks need to be stronger.
Investment in rural development and agriculture makes rural people self-reliant and enables them to mitigate the impact of severe events, increasing prosperity, ensuring sustainable food systems and food security, and strengthening resilience.
IFAD and SIANI invite you to an online discussion about sustainable and food-secure recovery from COVID-19.
Moderator: Matthew Fielding, Deputy Director of the Swedish International Agriculture Network Initiative (SIANI)
Speakers
Johannes Oljelund, Director-General for International Development Cooperation, UD UrIU
Marie Haga, Associate Vice-President, External Relations and Governance Department, IFAD
Line Gordon, Associate Professor and Director, Stockholm Resilience Center
Stephen Muchiro, CEO, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation
Ruramiso Masumba, Chair of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union youth wing
