GRA at the Global Forum on Food and Agriculture
The 11th Global Forum on Food and Agriculture (GFFA) “Agriculture Goes Digital – Smart Solutions for Future Farming” was held in Berlin, Germany from 17th to 19th January.
The GRA organised an expert panel “Blue skies for green farms: a 21st century research agenda,” which was chaired by the GRA Council Chair, Dr. Wolfgang Zornbach, Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Germany. Participating in the panel were the GRA Special Representative, Hayden Montgomery, Daniel Tudela Staub, Thünen Institute of Farm Economics, and a panel of young farmers from the World Farmers Organisation, including Tero Sarkala, Finland; Martha Agyemang, Ghana; Brian Rushe, Ireland; Sarah Crofoot, New Zealand. The panel discussion addressed plausible agricultural development pathways to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and included a presentation of global mitigation research being conducted through the Global Research Alliance by its members and partners across livestock, crops and rice production systems as well as a deep-dive into soil research and farm economics being conducted by Germany and collaborators in the Agri-Benchmark initiative.
The GRA Special Representative at the Global Forum on Food and Agriculture.
World Farmers Organisation young farmers panel.
The GRA Special Representative also participated in an event organised by the World Farmers Organisation (WFO), which explored the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation for young farmers as well as the ways in which businesses and industry can help farmers achieve sustainable food security.
The GFFA is an annual international conference, organised by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. The aim of the conference is to address key questions regarding the future of the global agri-food industry. The conference provides representatives from the worlds of politics, business, science and civil society with the opportunity to share ideas and enhance their understanding on a selected topic of current agricultural policy, and is the world’s largest conference of agriculture ministers. To read more about the GFFA click here.