Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs’ Post

Here’s the paper co-authored by the Network Co-Leads, myself and all of this years Food Champions plus many other contributors from the #AFNNetwork+. Thanks to all. *This is not just for academics!* *And it’s not just for the Sustainability team in your organisation.* Innovation throughout our businesses will sustain them to grow and thrive into an uncertain future. This work is for all teams; strategy, operations, commercial, people, finance, operations, technology, property and brand. To have a sustainable business is to have a successful and viable future. Innovation is the beating heart of horizons 2 and 3 when business planning. This free resource is a pointer to where your business will need to adapt, respond and innovate. In this report are some of the big questions and how they can be addressed. This document lays out the collective view from the Agri-Food system of research and policy priorities to help accelerate net zero progress in UK Agri-Food this year. If there is something in here which resonates with you or you’d like to understand more about please get in touch. If your priority is not referenced or you’d like to add or amend to drive innovation towards net zero for your part of the system please get in touch. This is a collective effort and is going towards defining which work will be funded by UKRI Agri-Food Network+ this year. With £600k to invest there is plenty of scope. I believe this is a valuable resource and starts to connect the dots in a broad and deep, complex industry, to inform and progress our approach and plans. Let’s work together and make sure we are prioritising the work which will start to shift us to a sustainable economic model for UK Agri-Food as we look to meet our net zero commitments in a way which drives success and a thriving ecosystem.

Attending INFORMS? Interested in Food SMEs? Then please stop by to learn more about our research, performed with my colleagues Llord Brooks, MSGL, CLTD and Sofía Pérez-Guzmán! Sofia will be presenting our research on Tuesday, October 22, and we look forward to a great discussion! More information about the session is included below. Exploring Sustainable, Community-Focused Cooperative Ecosystems among Food Small-Medium Enterprises Tue, Oct 22 3:09 – 3:27 PM PDT Summit - 447 Part of: TD55 – Disaster Response Operations and Social Responsibility Short abstract: The well-being of poor and underserved communities primarily depends on their direct access to vital resources in their vicinity. However, research concerning societal well-being and sustainability is often limited to the influence of large enterprises, while the role of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) still needs to be expanded. As such, this study aims to assess the generalization of inter-organizational systems designed to engender cooperative ecosystems that encourage inclusion, address bias towards SMEs, and impact how they serve their communities. University of South Florida Muma College of Business #USFSupplyChainInnovationLab

Interested in learning more about the policy innovations and structural changes to enhance youth participation in Africa’s Agrifood Systems? Download The Malabo Montpellier Panel’s latest report YOUTH AHEAD: https://shorturl.at/fmvCO The report provides examples of successful and emerging interventions being implemented across Africa to empower youth and facilitate a thriving environment for their leadership and engagement in sustainable food systems transformation.

Farmer poverty in the Global South has business and human costs When farmers don’t make enough money, their families and communities struggle. Consequences include hunger, lack of education, and poor health. Businesses throughout the supply chain can also face consequences. Poor farmers can’t pursue opportunities to increase productivity or invest in more sustainable practices. For example, without capital and credit, they can’t buy fertilizer or other technologies that might improve their crops – and keep global supplies steady. Businesses also see demand from consumers for socially responsible products that don’t impoverish farmers. Want to read about possible solutions? Read the article by Basak Kalkanci for Network for Business Sustainability (NBS) … much to do in this space, locally, natirionally and internationally. https://lnkd.in/g49CuANN

The Rockefeller Foundation's annual Impact Report is out, highlighting critical work in food security, climate change, and global development. The Foundation's efforts aim to ensure a sustainable future for both people and the planet. In 2023, I'm proud to say our Food team - shoutout Good Food Purchasing, School Meals, Food Security and Regenerative Ag - and partners made a significant impact: 🍎 137 million people gained improved nutrition security 🥕 100,000+ produce prescriptions reached patients 💰 $3.3 billion directed towards nutritious, equitable, and regenerative institutional purchasing and toward local underserved farmers! Discover more about our global food and agriculture work here: https://lnkd.in/ezK7t-mA Moreover, collaboration across Energy, Health, and Innovative Finance teams led to: ⚡ 1.2M people accessing improved energy 🩺 Training and support for 500K+ community health workers 💰 Mobilization of over $1B for global development Explore the full report to learn about how these diverse initiatives are improving outcomes on the ground: https://lnkd.in/e38AdVYk #foodsystems #sustainabledevelopment #climatechange

A transformation of #foodsystems is urgently needed, possible, and offers enormous #economic benefits. The net benefits of achieving a food system transformation are worth 5 to 10 trillion USD a year, equivalent to between 4 and 8 percent of global #GDP. Combined with #transitions taking place outside the realm of #food, notably to low-emission #energy, a food system transformation can ensure that #globalwarming stays well below 1.5 degrees C at the end of this century. The economic and planetary case for transforming our food systems is compelling. But #negotiating change across a multitude of diverse #stakeholders with unequal power and varying prospects from the transformation is an enormous challenge. The #report confronts this challenge head on, highlighting practical ways to dismantle barriers to change and develop achievable transformation strategies. Evidence shows that embracing #equity and #inclusion is key to making a transformation politically viable and thus essential for success. That is why putting #NatureOnTheBalanceSheet would allow us to achieve such goals. The #truevalue of food needs to be defined by the true value of #nature and therefore rewarding #farmers is key to ensure #foodsecurity in the future and #restore planetary health. It adds #corporate value by considering an #asset rather than a cost in the P&L and allows #investments in supply-chain resilience. Time is now. The Landbanking Group Great report from Food System Economic Partnership

Our current economic and social web needs adaptation too. Just thinking we can change the way we grow food and leaving everything else the same is a scary fallacy. It is a recipe for disaster. We need to get more people in Eco-villages and less people in big cities. Yes, I know that is a challenge. But it is our way of all living together in such large numbers that causes us to create so much pollution. It is also the reason we choose mono-culture in agriculture. Most of our food needs to be produced outside of  the city and brought in. This needs lots of additives to be added to the food to keep it good looking, smelling and preserve for some time, wrapped in plastic, and transported over quite a distance. Living in Eco-villages will reduce the need for transportation and can completely remove the need for additives to our food. It also allows local farmers to grow without pesticides or herbicides. Headhunterzz.com..Use your Brain for a Change! #investing#energy#sustainable#eco#globalwarming#climatechange#carbonneutral#shareholderactivism#finance#parisagreement#banking#Risk#chemicals#pollution#solution#alternative#solutions

The economic and planetary case for transforming our food systems is compelling.

Understanding the economics of the food system and end to end value chain is imperative. #regenerativeeconomy #regenerativefarming #wastereduction #soilhealth #toxinfree working together to create sustainable #foodsystems #reducecarbonfootprint and consumption is winning! Let’s make change! Good read on the Economies 👇🌳🌾

📣 New #brief Recognising the interconnectedness of agrifood #supplychains is key to effectively address #social #impacts and systemic issues and drive meaningful change in landscape approaches. Despite values created from agricultural commodities, there remain significant imbalances and social inequalities in global #agrifood supply chains. In a latest brief prepared by Heli Sihvonen et al, on behalf of GCRF Trade, Development and the Environment Hub (TRADE Hub), experts explore the importance of addressing these systemic challenges beyond immediate supply chain and suggest opportunities for businesses to consider. The brief recommends businesses to: 🍀 Pursue a holistic understanding of #humanrights and strive for a rights-based approach 🍀 Adopt an integrated approach to consider social and environmental #sustainability  🍀 Ensure that risk identification and management processes are in place 🍀 Invest in landscape-level action beyond immediate supply chains to address systemic issues Find the full brief here: https://lnkd.in/difvU7TT