5 December: Agri-food System Day

Agri-food Systems Day at UNCCD COP16 is dedicated to promoting sustainable land management to support healthy soils, resilient crops and nutritious food. With agriculture needing to produce 50 per cent more food by 2050 while up to 40 per cent of our lands are already degraded, urgent action is needed to restore lands, protect ecosystems and meet the demands of a growing population. 

Our current agri-food systems contribute to environmental degradation including deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss. Agri-food Systems Day will address these pressing issues by engaging all stakeholders in discussions on resilient and sustainable food systems aligned with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Event focus

1. Promoting sustainable practices: Highlights the adoption of sustainable land management  and agricultural practices that ensure healthy soils, resilient crops and nutritious food while protecting land, water and biodiversity. This includes showcasing approaches like agroecology, regenerative agriculture and conservation agriculture
2. Engaging the private sector and farmers: Stresses the importance of private sector and farmer participation in transforming food systems with examples of successful partnerships that foster inclusive and resilient food production
3. Advocating for inclusive transformation: Emphasizes the need for integrated, inclusive and sustainable food systems transformation to support economic recovery, address food security and reduce poverty.

Objectives

• Promote sustainable practices: Encourage sustainable land and agricultural management to enhance soil health, food resilience and biodiversity protection.
• Strengthen partnerships: Foster collaboration between the private sector, farmers and other stakeholders to drive food systems transformation.
• Highlight inclusive transformation: Address social and gender inequalities within agri-food systems especially for vulnerable communities.

By aligning with the goals of UNCCD and the SDGs, Agri-food Systems Day at COP16 aims to drive meaningful change in food systems to ensure food security, protect natural resources and build resilient sustainable economies.