Trade and innovation

Protracted crises are among the most challenging contexts in which to fight food insecurity and malnutrition. Driven by multiple underlying causes such as recurrent natural or human made disasters, weak governance and unsustainable livelihood systems, protracted crises affect an estimated 366 million people worldwide.

In the past scaling-up in agriculture was all about the ways extension could help informing farmers more effectively and about application of the good agricultural practice research.

There is a growing need for a deepened knowledge among different stakeholders in Sweden and globally about the need for a transition of the agriculture sector to an approach based on biodiversity and ecosystem services (as for example biological control, water regulation, nutrient circulation processes) and on local knowledge, creativity and initiative combined with cross-learning over networks

The world is becoming a more urbanized place, currently about 50% of the worlds´ population lives in cities and the proportion is expected to increase to almost 70% in 2050. The increase is likely to be particularly prominent in Africa and Asia, where urban population is expected to double between 2000 and 2030.

The development of knowledge based bio-economies is increasingly seen as a pathway towards a sustainable economic growth based on renewable resources, moving away from the fossil fuel economy and responding to pressing local and global challenges, including climate change.

Conference organizers have managed to facilitate stimulating discussions in spite of the very short time at hand and, while I am not learning that much about resilience, there are many other insights to be gained!

The demand for protein sources of animal origin is increasing worldwide and the hunt for alternatives is on. Insect derived protein for human consumption and for animal feed is a hot topic and the 2013 FAO-report on the same topic states that innovative ways of producing food to support the growing world population is inevitable.

The best quote of the day: Question: Have you fed the larvae with human biosolds? Presenter: Human biosolids? You mean shit?!!

Presented at the Seminar on Responsible Agricultural Investments in Developing Countries: How to Make Principles and Guidelines Effective? Organized by Swedish FAO Committee & SIANI.