To achieve a future where every person has access to affordable and healthy food, where food production protects the environment and biodiversity, and where the people who produce our food are paid decently for their labour, food systems must radically change, and the needs of rural people must be at the centre.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is calling on decision-makers to address the failures in food systems that leave hundreds of millions of people poor and hungry at the UN Food Systems pre-Summit that begins in Rome today.

Policymakers, farmers, academics and civil society will discuss how to make food systems more sustainable and equitable during the three-day summit. IFAD will be hosting the following events:

WHEN: 27 July 2021

09.00-09:50 (CET / GMT +2): Bold Actions for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Food Systems with IFAD Goodwill Ambassador Sabrina Elba. This session will discuss priority investments for achieving gender equality and supporting women’s empowerment across food systems, and present commitments to mobilise increased resources and initiatives to give more opportunities to rural women to become successful food producers.

11.30-13:30 (CET / GMT +2): Action Track 4: Ensuring No One is Left Behind: Equitable Livelihoods in Food Systems. IFAD is a lead for the Food Systems Summit Action Track 4 with co-chair Care USA and and Vice-Chairs WorldFish and the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. The session will focus on advancing equitable livelihoods in food systems for small-scale farmers and other food producers in developing countries, so that they can obtain a better income and increase their bargaining power.

13:30-14:20 (CET / GMT +2): Rural Voices: Listening to small-scale producers and agri-entrepreneurs. In collaboration with Farm Radio International, this session gives a voice to small-scale producers and agri-entrepreneurs in poor and marginalized areas who may not otherwise be heard by decision-makers. Their participation in the Summit, and opinions on the future of farming, food distribution and value chains, are vital for sustainable and impactful change.

17:30-18:20 (CET / GMT +2): Official session: Mobilizing trillions for food systems transformation - Financing for impact, leveraging the pivotal role of the Public Development Banks (PDBs). IFAD is leading a group of public development banks to help shift agricultural investments to more environmentally sustainable and fairer food systems.

WHERE: Virtual platform. Register here: https://www.unfoodsystems.org/registration/