Rooting for Root Causes | Virtual Webinar Summary

Wijnand van IJssel (Senior Adviser Food Security - Ministry of Foreign Affairs) moderated the webinar with over 30 participants from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Dutch embassies in LMICs, Agricultural Counsellors, and knowledge institutes. A discussion paper was shared before the meeting to provide background on the topic at hand.

During the webinar it was discussed how the Netherlands could contribute to sustainable food systems in emerging economies and developing countries by addressing several key questions:

• How do policymakers experience the polarised debate on different agricultural systems?
• Are the 13 principles of agroecology HLPE (2019) a useful framework for Dutch policy overall and for programme development by Embassies in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)?
• Should the Dutch have the ambition to build completely new in-country food systems, or is it more realistic to have an incremental approach and increase the efficiency and sustainability of agroecosystems related to the local context?

The participants highlighted and shared several challenges during the discussion, based on their own experiences they have had in their own roles and engagement in agricultural development.