Webinar: “What are the ‘sticky’ factors that prevent food system transformation?”
Second in the webinar series Taking Food Systems Transformation Seriously hosted by the CGIAR Initiatives on Low-Emissions Food Systems and Nature-Positive Solutions
Are you interested in hearing from CGIAR scientists and systems practitioners why it is so difficult to embrace food system transformation? What are the “sticky” factors that prevent systems change? And what does this mean for the CGIAR’s ambition to advance the transformation of food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis?
Join us on May 9th for the 2nd Food System Transformation Webinar as part of the series organized through a collaboration of the CGIAR Research Initiatives on Low-Emissions Food Systems (Mitigate+) and Nature-Positive Solutions (NATURE+). This webinar will stimulate exchange of ideas on how the integration of systems approaches was imagined in the current research Initiatives (2022-2024), how it has been implemented and what challenges may remain in the Portfolio 25 process.
We will hear opening remarks from Cargele Masso, Director of the Environmental Health and Biodiversity Impact Area, followed by three short presentations from our panel and a discussion/Q&A.
Panel speakers include:
Mandla Nkomo, Chief Growth Officer at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Mandla is the DELIVER Work Package Lead and Chief Growth Officer for the CGIAR Excellence in Agronomy Initiative. He is an Agricultural Development Executive with over 23 years sector experience. He has worked within private sector agribusiness companies, as well as in consulting and within NGOs operating in the sector. His work has covered experience in South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, the USA, the Netherlands, the UK, and Zimbabwe.
Chris Béné, Principal Scientist at the Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT
Chris Béné is Principal Scientist and Senior Policy Advisor working with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) headquartered in Cali, Colombia. He is currently affiliated to the CGIAR Systems Transformation Science Group and seconded to Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He has 20+ years of experience conducting inter-disciplinary research focusing on poverty alleviation and food security in low and middle-income countries. In 2022 and 2023, he was listed in the top 1 percent of the world’s most cited scientists by Clarivate/Web of Science in the domain of cross-field research. Before joining CIAT in 2015, he worked for different research organizations including the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in UK, the WorldFish Center (in Egypt and in Malaysia), and the Economic Department of the University of Portsmouth (UK).
Arwen Bailey, Advisor and Knowledge Management Specialist at the Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT
Arwen Bailey is an Alliance knowledge-sharing specialist, and manager of the Knowledge Sharing Unit. Arwen has an MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice. Her systems thinking practice informs her work, providing tools and methods for exploring complex and intractable situations, and nudging them towards a better state. Her passion is strategically connecting people and connecting ideas, and increasing access to information and opportunities for dialogue inside and outside the Alliance in order to foster new knowledge.
Cargele Masso, Director, CGIAR's Impact Area Platform on Environmental Health and Biodiversity
Cargele Masso is Director, CGIAR's Impact Area Platform on Environmental Health and Biodiversity. Previously, Masso was IITA’s COMPRO-II Project Leader from July 2012. Cargele alsol worked as a regulatory officer in Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Soil and Environmental Science; M.Sc. in Environmental Science; and M.Sc. and B.Sc. in soil chemistry and plant nutrition. He also holds a Certificate in Project Management. His scientific publications are in the area of soil analysis and improvement, and fertilizer quality.
Wei Zhang, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Wei Zhang is a Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead on Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit at IFPRI. She is the co-lead of the CGIAR Research Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems (Mitigate+) and leads the Work Package on Living Labs for People. Trained as an agricultural and environmental economist, she conducts and leads policy-relevant research on the intersection of agriculture, development, nature/environment, and climate change.
Hanna Ewell, visiting researcher, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
Hanna Ewell is a visiting researcher with the CGIAR Initiative Mitigate+ and is pursuing her Ph.D. at Wageningen University and Research. She was previously an advisor to GIZ's Fund for International Agricultural Research.
Agenda
|
Welcome and Introductions |
9:00 - 9:05 |
|
Opening Remarks |
9:05 - 9:10 |
| Presentations |
9:10 - 9:35 |
|
Discussion and Q&A |
9:35 - 9:55 |
|
Closing Remarks |
9:55 - 10:00 |
