BIFAD 180th Public Meeting: Agriculture and Food Security in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts
The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development is a seven-member, presidentially appointed advisory board to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) established in 1975 under Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Act, as amended. The provisions of Title XII mandate that USAID bring the assets of U.S. universities to bear on development challenges in agriculture and food security. At the request of USAID Administrator Mark Green, BIFAD is examining issues around agriculture and food security in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, including issues around displacement and its effects on food systems.
Today, addressing food insecurity means operating amidst conflict and fragility. Last year, every country in a protracted food crisis was also engaged in violent conflict (FAO 2018). There is an urgent need to understand the unique challenges of improving the agricultural sector and food security in conflict-affected and fragile contexts or where there is a large displaced population in order to strengthen investments in evidence-based, tailored food and agriculture programming. This BIFAD public meeting begins to address this need by bringing stakeholders and sector experts together for a timely discussion on the subject.
The event will specifically address the following questions: What is the state of knowledge on the relationship between conflict, fragility and food systems? What are the implications of this relationship for food security? How can food security and agricultural investments be most effective in preventing conflict or accelerating recovery in post-conflict settings? What are the unique needs of affected populations?
A desired outcome from the meeting is a clear statement on the importance of (1) understanding the relationship between food systems, conflict and fragility for food security goals, and (2) ensuring that food security programming is tailored to the unique needs of these contexts, with a special focus on how food security can prevent conflict and accelerate recovery from conflict.
This public meeting is open to all stakeholders and the general public, but will be of particular relevance to development practitioners and NGOs; private sector entities; faith-based organizations; donors; government stakeholders; and multilateral organizations working in agriculture, food security, and nutrition in conflict-affected and displaced population contexts. The event will be made available in livestream to a virtual audience and recorded audio and video will be made available in archive form.
RSVP Information: Please find the draft agenda and a link the RSVP at our event page here. The livestream link can also be found at this link closer to the event date.