also involve knowledge from beyond the boundaries of the scientific community. It integrates scientific knowledge and 1

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1 Food & Business Global Challenges Programme Background document to the call for proposals on transformation of food systems with a focus on sustainability and urbanization Introduction: the food system perspective The Food & Business Global Challenges Programme (GCP) aims to encourage scientific research and innovation projects on food security and related private sector development that contribute to longterm access to affordable, safe and nutritious food for vulnerable and resource-poor populations in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Food and nutrition security is a complex challenge crossing many sectors, disciplines and policy areas as well as being exposed to profound dynamics at national, regional and global level. Food and nutrition security is intrinsically linked to the significant challenges our societies face today. Onedimensional projects in splendid isolation seldom have their desired impact. Systemic change and transformation is needed, which requires a more holistic and integrated approach based on wellspecified targets. The latter is crucial since resources and the span of control of most interventions are too limited to achieve changes across all dimensions and levels at the same time. The ambition should be to define an integral approach which addresses the complex context and includes adequately targeted interventions to be successful. Food systems can be defined at global, regional, national, local and even community and household level. GCP focuses on food systems which include farming systems, markets, food processing and consumption and covers different aspects of food and nutrition security such as availability, accessibility, utilization and sustainability. More efficient food systems require not only the application of new innovations and technologies but also the sustainable use of natural resources, the building of effective, accountable agricultural and market institutions and a supportive institutional environment for farmers and other entrepreneurs. The complementary reforms in markets, policies and institutions cannot be postponed to a following phase, but should be integral part of the system change. The starting point of research in this Call can be at farming system level and the linkage with market systems, but the institutional context and policy environment should be included in the research. This GCP-Call should demonstrate which (policy) incentives induce transitions within agricultural and food systems. Research results should inform government and the corporate sector on the operational, policy and institutional changes needed to ensure system change at local and national level that lead to improved food and nutrition security; economically and ecologically resilient food systems; and sustainable use of natural resources. In addition to the quantity and quality of food, employment, income, health and ecological sustainability are also system drivers. Projects therefore need to cover technological, organizational, policy and social innovations as well as their relevance, efficiency and sustainability. Investments in the enabling policy and business environment, and consequently in the transformation and governance of key institutions, is a necessity to improve food and nutrition security. To deal with the complex food system, to achieve the required results and to increase impact, inter- 1 and trans-disciplinary 2 research is needed. Technology or market focused research is not adequate 1 Inter-disciplinarity relates to research that cuts across various established disciplines or fields of study. Interdisciplinary research seeks to interweave and integrate disciplinary assumptions and perspectives in the interest of developing new methods for understanding the research subject. It typically focuses on problems felt to be too complex or vast to be dealt with adequately with the concepts and methods of a single discipline. (definition NWO-WOTRO) 2 Trans-disciplinarity is taken to denote forms of integrative research that not only reach across disciplinary boundaries, but also involve knowledge from beyond the boundaries of the scientific community. It integrates scientific knowledge and 1

2 and socio-economic, socio-cultural, ecological and institutional dynamics have to be included. The development and implementation of the research in partnerships of relevant stakeholders 3 (scientists, decision-makers, practitioners, businesses and civil society), strengthens the integrality of the research by bundling expertise and stimulating innovation, relevance and impact. This Call would particularly like to invite private enterprises working together with research consortia, as its scope wants to address business as well as policy challenges. Comparative studies between countries, regions or cities also have an added-value understanding the implementation in different contexts. GCP-funded research initiatives should preferably be complementary to existing (field) research initiatives and reinforce these where possible. Collaboration between GCP-funded research initiatives and other relevant research initiatives (e.g. at the level of a country or region) need to be considered and, if applicable, be part of the project proposal. The scope of this Call has been identified by the Steering Committee of the Food & Business Knowledge Platform 4 in consultation with experts. Proposals are expected to address the food system, the expected results and the research methodology as described above. The proposals should also take one or both of the following foci into account: (1) Sustainable Food Systems and (2) Urbanization and Challenges for Food and Nutrition Security. The two foci match the recently published Dutch policy on food and nutrition security. 5 Focus I Sustainable food systems Understanding integral approaches, innovation, and business models to enhance resilience in the face of climate change and natural resource scarcity Improvements in agricultural production have been successful in increasing the availability of food for the growing world population. Still, many people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity, while the prevalence of obesity is increasing, including in low-income countries. Whereas current food systems have improved food availability and have been a driving force for economic development in many LMICs, the improvements often came with negative environmental effects and an uneven distribution of social and economic benefits. These include loss of biodiversity, degradation of and an unequal access to the natural resource base, pollution, salinization, land conflicts, and persistent food insecurity among marginalised (m/f) farmers and Base of the Pyramid (BoP) consumers. In parallel to this, agricultural and food systems are increasingly challenged by the effects of climate change and variability, such as the increased unpredictability of rainfall patterns and greater yield variability. Projections have been made that the world population will increase to about 9 billion in 2050 and that dietary transitions, amongst other factors, will lead to the consumption of more animal protein rich diets. It is estimated that global food production needs to increase by 70% by At the same time, the food system should contribute to addressing the challenges described above and has to become more resilient. Business as usual is not an option anymore. Various paths towards sustainable farming and overall food systems extra-scientific knowledge, experience and practice in problem-solving. Trans-disciplinary research takes the diversity of life-world and scientific perceptions of issues into account and links abstract and case-specific knowledge. (NWO-WOTRO) 3 Multi-stakeholder engagement. In order to guarantee relevance and facilitate continuous uptake, research projects need to be socially grounded in society. This requires the engagement of relevant stakeholders (beyond those directly involved in the research consortium) in all phases of the research, from the identification of needs through programming and project formulation to uptake and evaluation (definition NWO-WOTRO) Letter of November 2014 from the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and the Minister for Agriculture to the President of the House of Representatives on the Netherlands contribution to global food security. 2

3 Several approaches have been developed and implemented to achieve more sustainable food systems, but more systemized and documented knowledge is required to understand current practices better and make these be able to scale (more) successfully. Examples of prominent approaches, important in the context of Dutch international cooperation, are Climate Smart Agriculture and Agro-ecology. However, all other approaches with similar characteristics aiming at the improved sustainability of farming and food systems may also be subject of research (e.g. conservation agriculture, agro-forestry and sustainable agricultural intensification). To further develop different concepts of sustainable food systems as well as effectively promote and upscale successful cases, this focus of the call covers three different research dimensions: 1.1 Integral approaches for resilient farming and food systems. 1.2 Innovation and upscaling. 1.3 The role of the private sector. Research initiatives should include at least two of these dimensions and related knowledge questions. 1.1 Integral approaches for resilient farming and food systems Advanced understanding of inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches is needed to foster sustainable and resilient farming and food systems in the context of climate change and scarcity of natural resources. Research initiatives are expected to study the effectiveness of existing and innovative 6 farming and food systems practices that have been proven to enhance food security, while contributing towards achieving multiple objectives in both social and agricultural development; improved natural resources and water management; and a reduced negative impact on the environment and carbon emissions. The landscape approach may be an example of such an approach. Several specific aspects can be addressed in the research, such as whether and how integrality was or is part of existing (indigenous) food systems practices; the feasibility of applying certain integral practices or approaches successfully in distinct different socio-economic, cultural and ecological environments as well as in different parts of food-value chains; the relevance of access to, and ownership and use of particular (locally or externally sourced) propagation and source materials, tools and instruments; and the interrelations between different stakeholder groups in developing integral solutions. 1.2 Innovation and upscaling To feed the world sustainably, farmers need to be supported to optimize existing local and regional farming systems. Strengthening their capacity to exchange knowledge and expertise would enable farmers to increasingly practise sustainable approaches and to rely on locally produced and recycled inputs more. In parallel to this, other stakeholders, including entrepreneurs in the value chain and the enabling environment, also develop innovations based on their knowledge and experience, e.g. a processing, trading, or logistic enterprise. The capacity to develop technological, financial and social innovations is possible in several activities of the value chain and the enabling environment (e.g. research institutes, NGOs, government). Smart chain solutions are often the result of a complex interaction between these actors and factors. Sustainable innovations will be successful if they find their way into the chain. Research initiatives are expected to contribute to a greater understanding of the innovation processes for triple sustainability (economical, ecological and social), as a basis for further upscaling. 6 NWO-WOTRO uses the following definition of innovation (see the calls of the Food & Business Applied Research Fund): Innovation is the process of developing new value adding ways to meet existing, new or inarticulate needs. Innovation is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, policies or ideas that are readily available to governments, markets and society. 3

4 This can include understanding how farmers (m/f); farming communities; farmers support systems; traders and retailers (SMEs, larger companies); processors and actors in the enabling environment; develop and/or learn about new sustainability-oriented approaches, how they experiment with, implement and/or mainstream these approaches, how they collaborate or compete. This also includes understanding the technical, social, economic, political, gender, cultural aspects of innovation and the interrelations between these. Research could particularly look at successful models for upscaling and outscaling. Areas of attention are the role of value chain and sector development; the role of farmer organization and contract farming systems; equitable revenue distribution; the level of education of farmers and other entrepreneurs (f/m) in the food system and their access to additional training. 1.3 The role of the private sector The private sector (farmers, SMEs) is supposed to play a key role to foster innovations and scaling, contributing to more sustainable farming and food systems. The public interest in food and nutrition security; minimising waste of natural resources and produce; reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment; could motivate governments to support sustainable systems. However, these systems can only be sustainable when there is a business case that supports them. Scaling successful innovations needs sustainable business models. Research initiatives are expected to study how individual farmer entrepreneurs (m/f) and other private value chain actors, including local traders and retail, optimally capitalize upon business opportunities as part of the innovations in the sector. Further understanding is needed on how consumers, the national and international private sector, trade, the government, etc. affect the success of the business models used and the bottlenecks experienced. Taking into account the dimensions mentioned above, results of the funded research should: 1. Provide innovations to support farmers, SMEs, large companies, civil society and regional and national governments as well as intergovernmental bodies, in defining programmes which build triple sustainable food systems based on integral approaches, innovation and upscaling, and successful business models. 2. Provide an evidence-base of inspiring case studies and a set of key lessons, which clarify how successful integral approaches work, how innovations and upscaling are enhanced using appropriate business models. This knowledge provides corporate and governmental policymakers a basis for decision-making on future interventions. 3. Advise on a set of principles, possibly with specific indicators, to assess the effectiveness of interventions to achieve resilient food systems. Focus II Urbanization and challenges for food and nutrition security The world has been undergoing a rapid increase in urban population over the past few years, with Africa and Asia urbanizing more rapidly than other regions of the world. One of the main reasons of such rapid urbanization is rural-urban migration. However, such rapid urbanization is accompanied by increasing urban poverty and inequality, food insecurity and malnutrition in the cities. 7 These problems are particularly pervading in the slums and informal settlements where about a quarter of the world s urban population lives. 8 7 Garvelink, W.J. and Wedding, K. (2013). Report: Nutrition and Food Security in the City. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Washington DC. 8 UN-HABITAT (2014). Background paper on World Habitat Day 2014 Voices from slums. Nairobi. 4

5 To address the challenges that urbanization brings to the urban and rural population and the environment, several issues deserve attention within the research agenda of food and nutrition security. City region food systems and rural-urban linkages are critical to sustainable food systems in the future. Food systems link agriculture to urban centres of cities and secondary towns. They include food production, distribution, processing, marketing, trade, retail, consumption, waste, as well as infrastructure. Rural-urban linkages concern the drivers and contexts of food systems to include labour, migration, ecosystem services, input and output markets, etc. Meanwhile, it is important for policies and interventions to ensure that the increasing numbers of urban poor are not neglected. The food dimension of poverty in urban areas has still not been translated into sufficient policy action in many countries. The acknowledgement in policies of the roles of urban and periurban agriculture, horticulture, poultry and aquaculture in urban development not only ensures urban food supply but also strengthens livelihoods of poor urban producers. This focus of the call therefore covers two different research dimensions from which research initiatives may choose one or combine the two: 2.1 City region food systems & rural-urban linkages. 2.2 Urban vulnerable groups excluded from basic services. 2.1 City region food systems & rural-urban linkages The strengthening of city region food systems plays a key role in helping to feed an increasingly urbanized world. City regions refer to megacities; the immediate, proximate rural and agricultural areas surrounding them; small and medium-sized towns that serve to link the more remote smallscale producers; and the urban centres. City region food systems (CRFSs) encompass the complex network of actors, processes and relationships to do with food production, processing, marketing, and consumption that exist in a given geographical region that includes a more or less concentrated urban centre and its surrounding peri-urban and rural hinterland; a regional landscape across which flows of people, goods and ecosystem services are managed. 9 CRFSs play an important role in strengthening the rural-urban continuum. 10 The interdependencies and the linkages between urban and rural development are central to CFRSs. An inclusive and participatory CFRS coupled with an integrated approach, assists national and local governments to achieve balanced rural and urban development. Such an approach requires collaboration between all levels of government (national, regional and local), non-governmental and community-based organizations, farmers organizations, the private sector, the research and philanthropic communities and international support. An integrated approach could for example be a landscape approach 11 or a territorial approach 12. A selection of CFRSs and rural-urban linkages include food value chains, since these are key for feeding the cities; rural innovations, which are generated by the dynamics of urbanization; and the contribution of urban and peri-urban agriculture to food and nutrition security. These aspects are examples of areas which research initiatives may address. 9 Reference: 10 World Urban Forum 7, (2014). Conference on City Region Food System and Sustainable Urban Development. 9 April Medellín, Colombia. 11 A landscape approach to food security, livelihoods, agriculture and the management of natural resources is a vital way to promote more equitable city regions with resilient and sustainable economies and ecosystems. A landscape approach takes both a geographical and socio-economic approach to managing the land, water and forest resources that are the basic components natural resource management toward goals of inclusive sustainable development. 12 A territorial approach represents a suitable framework to address the structural and emerging issues of food security and nutrition and poverty reduction, including widening within-country inequalities and disparities in so far as they allow the exploration of the multi-dimensional, multi-actor and multi-level nature of food security and nutrition and rural poverty. 5

6 Food value chains that link urban centres and consumers to agricultural producers in their vicinity and in their rural hinterlands as well as alternative food systems need to be strengthened. A more efficient value chain that supplies fresh and minimally processed foods contributes to food and nutrition security. Effective measures require insight into the impacts of policies on the sustainability of CRFSs; the impacts of distribution channels such as markets, supermarkets and small retailers on the value chain; agricultural practices and agrologistics; and the effects of urbanization on the processing and storage of agricultural commodities. Rural innovation in response to urbanization. Urbanization brings major changes in demand for agricultural products, both from increases in urban populations and from changes in their diets and demands. There will be growing demands for meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and luxury goods, which implies more energy-intensive production and more imports. There will be dietary shifts towards more processed and pre-prepared foods. 13 Fully understanding the opportunities and threats for rural areas requires identifying the regional and geographic diversity in the trends of food consumption patterns and its impacts on rural smallholder production systems. In addition, insight is needed into socio-economic aspects that include urban consumer preference, developments in gender roles and the skills necessary to enter the value chain. Rural areas may profit from the dynamics of urbanization. However, labour shortages may begin to emerge in many rural areas if migration trends continue, rural non-farm enterprises pull labour away from agriculture and changing cultural norms lead to the diminishing attractiveness of agricultural work. Basic information is needed on the consequences of scarcity of labour, e.g. on mechanization, the size and structure of farms, and how this affects production systems. 14 Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture / Horticulture (UPA/UPH) present a number of challenges, from competition for scarce available land, to degradation of the soils, pollution, as well as increased poisoning and infectious diseases. At the same time, UPA/UPH offers new potential for recycling urban wastes, saving on marketing transport costs, providing poor segments of the population with employment possibilities, alleviating poverty, and improving food and nutrition security. 15 Key information needed to exploit fully the potential of UPA/UPH includes the impact of UPA/UPH on household employment, income, food and nutrition intake, and nutritional status (for vulnerable groups in particular); the impact on intra-household relations and resource allocation; and the benefits/risks that UPA/UPH pose to the environment and public health. Results of the funded research on CRFSs & rural-urban linkages should support local (municipal), national and regional policy makers by: 1. Providing information and advice on the development of urban food demand, including on diet transitions, and to what extent urbanized food systems increase pressure on land, 13 Satterthwaite, D., McGranahan, G., Tacoli, C. (2010). Urbanization and its implications for food and farming. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B (2010) 365: CGIAR ISPC (2012). ISPC Foresight Study: Agriculture Towards 2030 Changes in Urbanization and Farm Size and Their Implications for CGIAR Research. Concept Note. CGIAR Independent Science & Partnership Council. 15 Ruel, M.T., Garrett, J.L., Morris, S.S., Maxwell, D., Oshaug, A., Engle, P., Menon, P., Slack, A., Haddad, L. (1998). Urban Challenges to Food and Nutrition Security: A Review of Food Security, Health, and Caregiving in the Cities. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division. Discussion paper No. 51. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. 6

7 water, and energy resources. It should take into account the climate impacts of developing country food systems change as result of urbanization. 2. Providing successful cases and advice on the design of CRFSs and strategies, for example to achieve: The strengthening of agricultural value chains around cities (e.g. logistics, equal sharing and various forms of cooperatives) and identifying alternative food systems that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. An option could be providing training and technical assistance to contribute to employment opportunities in the food chain from producers to retailers, including informal markets. The optimal use of the dynamics resulting from urbanization by e.g. supporting technological, institutional and policy innovations to reduce costs within food value chains; supporting prospective small and local agri- and trade businesses to enter the market and supporting existing small and local businesses to expand in various stages of the food system. Opportunities for urban as well as rural development should be part of the recommendations. Additional political and institutional support to UPA/UPH and to promote technological and institutional innovations to increase production and improve the quality of produce regarding the various forms of UPA/UPH (i.e. agriculture plus nonagricultural activities such as care, education, recreation, childcare, energy production, etc.). 3. Advising on the upscaling of isolated and temporal projects to larger scale programs and of pilots and individual cities to wider uptake at local and national level. 4. Defining practical guidelines for local and national policy makers on methods and tools for city-food system assessment, planning, design and monitoring. 2.2 Urban vulnerable groups excluded from basic services Social safety nets 16 are defined as non-contributory transfers provided to people vulnerable to or living in poverty and other forms of deprivation. 17 These transfers can be in cash or in-kind, and can be conditional or unconditional. 18 Strong social protection programmes protect urban and rural poor from food insecurity that is caused by sharp increases in food prices. Social safety nets are key to mitigate the effects of food, fuel, and financial crises. 19 These are among the best-evaluated interventions in development, which have been based on experimental and other robust evaluation techniques. 20 Insight is needed into the informal coping and adaptive strategies of the urban vulnerable groups to food insecurity and malnutrition; the impacts of the formal and informal urban food system; and the opportunities for youth and female employment and entrepreneurship in the informal economy. The link between migration and food security is obvious; however, it is not addressed in national and international policy agendas, or in research and studies. 21 Most of the studies examining the impact of migration on food security mainly focus on rural population, while in the urban setting, more 16 Social safety nets are a subset of broader social protection systems. These systems aim to mitigate risk and poverty and also include insurance-related interventions (such as health insurance and pensions) and a range of labor-oriented programs (FAO, 2009; Banerji & Gentilini, 2013). 17 Banerji, A. and Gentilini, U. (2013). Social Safety Nets: Lessons from Global Evidence and Practice. The World Bank, Washington DC. 18 FAO (2009). The State of Food Insecurity in the World. Economic crisis impacts and lessons learned. Rome: FAO. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid footnote no Crush J. (2013). Linking Food Security, Migration and Development. International Migration Vol. 51 (5) 2013:

8 attention should be given on whether and how the act of migration between very different food environments impacts the food security of migrants. 22 Results of the funded research on urban vulnerable groups should: 1. Provide successful interventions in the policy and programme arena that contribute to the food and nutrition security of urban vulnerable groups. It should stimulate coordination between income, food, and nutrition programmes to work together to reduce poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity. 2. Support the formal urban food system expansion through entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation, with inclusion of the vulnerable groups. 3. Lead to a good design, implementation, operation and positive impact of safety nets in urban areas. It should improve the accessibility of the urban vulnerable groups to social safety nets and enhance food and nutrition security. 22 Pendleton, W., Crush, J., Nickanor, N. (2014). Migrant Windhoek: Rural-Urban Migration and Food Security in Namibia. Urban Forum (2014) 25: DOI /s x 8