Photo copyright: BMEL/Photothek
Last week, under the theme “Food Systems Transformation: A Worldwide Response to Multiple Crises”, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) hosted in Berlin, from 18 to 21 January 2023, the annual Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA).
The President of the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), Mr Arnold Puech d’Alissac, and the Secretary General Arianna Giuliodori were at the GFFA 2023 to follow the discussion and contribute to the debate.
Many WFO Members were present, including LTO Nederland, Kenya National Farmers’ Federation (KENAFF), Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI), Deutscher Bauernverband e.V.(DBV), Boerenbond, MTK, Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund (LRF), Landbrug & Fødevarer (DAFC), National Farmers’ Federation (NFF Australia), Landwirtschaftskammer Österreich (LKO) and others.
The GFFA represents an excellent opportunity for networking between WFO Members and other stakeholders, including partners, on crucial agri-food systems issues.
Here, in a nutshell, are some highlights from WFO participation.
WFO-AHA Expert Panel at GFFA 2023
On January 19, WFO and Andreas Hermes Akademie (AHA) co-hosted the Expert Panel “Investing on Local Farmers’ Solutions to address Global Food System Challenges”.
The event aimed to explore the challenges and the opportunities of a strong and active role of Farmers’ Organisations in shaping more sustainable Food Systems at the national and global levels.
The panel was composed of farmer representatives, multilateral financial partners and multistakeholder platforms.
WFO at the WOAH Expert Panel on Animal Health
On January 20, the WFO President brought the WFO global independent voice into another expert panel: “Animal health: a substantive input to the transformation of food systems through the One Health approach”, organized by the WFO Partner World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Dr Monique Eloit, WOAH DG, opened the discussion by underlining the urgency of acting immediately and boldly to transform food systems holistically: “how animal health can input this transformation through a multistakeholder approach is the key topic of today.”
Mr d’Alissac didn’t miss the opportunity to remark on how relevant is the “One Health approach” to WFO Members who have adopted over time a policy on sustainable livestock production and another on the use of strategies to combat Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and enhance animal welfare, human and planet health, proving farmers’ commitment to proposing and developing farmer-driven solutions and strategies to reduce AMR and enhance the One Health approach.
WFO Young Farmers at the GFFA International Young Farmers’ Forum
Furthermore, for the seventh time this year, at the invitation of BMEL, a delegation of 10 WFO young farmers have been engaged in the GFFA International Young Farmers’ Forum, working on a joint statement delivered at the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture on January 21.