Knowledge Lab on Climate Resilient Food Systems: An analytical support facility to achieve the SDGs
Source: Posht-e Bagh (AAIP)
Climate change is affecting many aspects of life on earth. One of the most profoundly affected areas is our food system, ranging from agricultural production through storage, processing, marketing and consumption with potentially large adverse impacts on health and nutrition.
There is growing attention on the adverse effects of climate change on agricultural production, but the effects throughout the food chain are less well understood; even less is known about what works to create more resilient food systems. Given these widespread effects, systemic responses with appropriate combinations of technical, institutional, and policy options are required.
Figure: Disruptions to food system, food environments and diets.
Source: Fanzo et al. 2017
The overall objective of the Knowledge Lab is to generate evidence and actionable insights into resilience-building approaches that combine technological innovation with institutional and policy solutions emerging from financial markets, community organizations, and the private sector.
IFPRI’s experience working with markets, gender, climate change and nutrition and its extensive network of collaborations offers an unrivaled opportunity to partner with national and international research centers, local institutions and civil society organizations to address these issues with novel methods and in a systematic and comprehensive fashion. The Knowledge Lab will be developed within a set of CGIAR umbrella programs, including the CGIAR Research Programs on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM), Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), and Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). Challenges of this scale cannot be addressed by one research organization alone—partnerships are required. This initiative will bring together key research partners (IFPRI and other universities) with major actors who bring complementary knowledge, on-the-ground experience. The Knowledge Lab will partner with government agencies in search for climate resilient food systems. Partnerships with civil society organizations will help ensure that solutions build on and feed into grassroots perspectives and initiatives, and will ensure that results are rapidly applied to benefit poor women and men. Partnerships with private sector actors will tap into innovative technologies and value chain approaches.
International Food Policy Research Institute