Register now for the SIANI Annual Meeting 2025: Building Resilient Food Systems
Every day, our food systems are challenged by conflicts, extreme weather events, natural disasters, loss of biodiversity and land degradation. These challenges also reveal structural vulnerabilities in how we produce and access food.
In times of recurring and protracted crises, there is an increasingly urgent need to transform our food system to be more resilient and inclusive. How do we get there? How can the SIANI network come together and contribute?
The Annual Meeting is an opportunity to network, share ideas, and exchange experiences to further rights based and sustainable food systems. We look forward to meeting you again in person, reconnecting, and jointly taking on new challenges.
Joint action is needed to make food systems more sustainable and just, especially where they intersect with forests and landscapes. To provide more opportunities to connect across topics, this year’s Annual Meeting is organized alongside Focali’s Annual Meeting on 13 March.
Preliminary programme
9:00 – Arrival and coffee
9:30 – Welcome and introduction, Cecilia Nordin van Gansberghe, Chair SIANI Steering Committee.
9:40 – Environment, climate and food systems at Sida – what’s new, Ola Möller, Policy Specialist, Sida.
9.50 – Resilient food systems from a researcher’s perspective, Klara Fisher, Senior Lecturer, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
10:00 – Resilient food systems for farmers and vulnerable communities – what works? Helena Forslund, Africa Regional Desk Officer, Swedish Red Cross, Akram Abdulrahman, Environmental advisor and Desk Officer, Islamic Relief Sweden
10:25 – Break
10:40 – Around the world with SIANI expert groups: presentation of new groups, Milena Arias Schreiber, Gothenburg University, Small Scale Fisheries in Latin America Expert group, Monica Nderitu, Vi Agroforestry, Dryland Agroforestry in East Africa Expert group (online) and Tatiana Stebneva, Centralasiengrupperna, Reviving the Roots Expert Group (online). Moderator: Jonna Wiklund, SIANI.
11:00 – Insights from SIANI expert groups 2024, Paul Egan, Researcher at the Department of Plant Protection Biology , SLU, Pollination in Asia Expert Group, Linus Dagerskog, Research Fellow, SEI, One health approach to Wash in Burkina Faso Expert Group, Caroline Delgado, Senior Researcher and Director of the Food, Peace and Security Programme, SIPRI, Land rights in Latin America Expert Group, Ivar Virgin, Senior Research Fellow, SEI, East African Agrobiologicals Expert Group
11:30 – Roundtable discussions
12:30 – Lunch
13:30 – Reporting back from roundtable discussions
14.00 – Connecting food systems to landscapes, Laura Kmoch, Research Fellow, The University of Göttingen.
14:15 – Connecting food systems to landscapes – panel discussion, Laura Kmoch, Research Fellow, The University of Göttingen, Klara Fisher, Associate Professor Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Hasitha Priyashantha, Milk quality expert, the Federation of Swedish Farmers, Shishanthi Jayarathna, teacher, Folkuniversitetet. Marie-Claire Feller, Alnarp’s Agroecology Farm, Leon Pepe Buindo, Alnarp’s Agroecology Farm. Moderator: Madeleine Fogde, SIANI.
15.00 – Summing up and way forward
15:15 – Fika and mingle
Speakers
Cecilia Nordin van Gansberghe is a dedicated expert in the fields of global food security and the fight against antimicrobial resistance. Cecilia is the chair of SIANI steering committee.
Ola Möller is a Policy Specialist in Agriculture and Food Security at the Policy Support Unit at Sida.
Helena Forslund is the Africa Regional Desk Officer at the Swedish Red Cross.
Akram Abdurahman is the environmental Advisor & Desk Officer at Islamic Relief Sweden working with project coordination in West Africa, Horn of Africa and South/ Southeast Asia. Akram is the focal point for environment and climate both in program as well as in office operations.
Milena Arias Schreiber is a researcher at the Institution for Global Studies at Gothenburg University. Her research is focused on values and governance of small-scale fisheries in the Baltic Sea, social dimensions of ecosystem-based management and fishers’ job satisfaction and motivations to fish.
Monica Nderitu is the regional Environment and Climate Change Advisor at Vi Agroforestry with experience in delivering sustainable improvements.
Tatiana Stebneva is a board member at Centralasiengrupperna (Central Asia Solidarity Groups) and pursued her master thesis on democratization processes in former Soviet countries.
Paul Egan is a researcher at the Department of Plant Protection Biology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp. Paul is experienced in developing biodiversity-based strategies for sustainable crop protection.
Linus Dagerskog is a Research Fellow at SEI with expertise in sustainable sanitation and natural resource management. Linus has experience in wastewater treatment, EcoSan programs, and international development projects.
Caroline Delgado is a senior researcher and Director of the Food, Peace and Security Programme at SIPRI. Caroline works on issues related to sustainable peace and the triple nexus.
Ivar Virgin is a Senior Research Fellow at SEI and holds a PhD in biochemistry. He works with issues around global bioresources and how countries, mainly in Africa, can access modern bioscience. Ivar also runs a farm in Västergötland, Sweden.
Laura Kmoch is a Research Fellow at the The University of Göttingen and holds a PhD in Energy and Environment. Laura is specialized in agroforestry, rural transformation and smallholder livelihoods with experience across Morocco, Myanmar, Australia, and Nepal.
Klara Fischer is an associate Professor in Rural Development at SLU with expertise in how sustainability challenges in food production and natural resource management are negotiated and turned into practice, in particular how marginalized groups are affected.
Hasitha Priyashantha is a milk quality expert at LRF and holds a PhD in Food Science. Hasitha is also a member of the Swedish National Secretary of the International Dairy Federation.
Shishanthi Jayarathna is a teacher and supervisor at Folkuniversitetet. Shishanthi holds a PhD in Food Science.
Marie-Claire Feller is the Chairperson at Alnarps Agroecology Farm in Skåne Sweden. Marie-Claire holds a MSc in Agroecology.
León Pepe Biundo is engaged in the work of Alnarp’s Agroecology Farm. León holds a MSc in Horticultural Sciences.
The maximum of onsite attendance has been reached.
If you wish to be added to the waiting list, please reach out to oyku.gunes@sei.org
SIANI does not cover any travel, accommodation, meal, or visa expenses related to attending the SIANI annual meeting.