ADDIS ABABA – June 21, 2023 (NIPN/EPHI) - NIPN hosted a webinar panel discussion on the Circular Food System (CFS) yesterday, 20 June 2023. Researchers, panelists and virtual attendants drawn from renowned international and national universities and organizations have dealt with extensive issues in the realm of CFS.
Opening the panel discussion, Food Science and Nutrition Research Directorate (FSNRD) Director, Masresha Tessema (PhD) said that as the topic, CFS, is timely and important, helpful information will come out of the discussion. “As part of the national interest and initiatives, we would like to hear from the seminar important information that would be helpful for our program and policy”, Masresha said.
Hannah Van Zanten (PhD), Associate Professor at the Wageningen University and Research, had her presentation on the CFS by reflecting on her experiences on the potential of redesigning the European Food System towards the CFS. Hannah said that CFS is the system that all wish to work towards in the future. “It should make sure we produce enough food within the boundaries of our planet.” Hannah has put emphasis on using a little land and a little water so as not to exhaust resources while still providing enough food for everyone. Reflecting on the experiences of Europe, she raised the need to cut the consumption of animal products if there is a real desire to move towards a CFS.
Hannah touched on the CFS experience in Ethiopia. This time she used an Ethiopian PhD candidate as a presenter. Ruth Mijena (a NIPN PhD grant recipient) an Ethiopian lady working on her PhD in the Farming System Ecology Group reflected issues on “A Circular Food System for a Healthy Diet and Planet: The Ethiopian Case”.
One of the panelists, Kaleab Baye (PhD), Associate Professor, and a former Director of the Center for Food Science and Nutrition at Addis Ababa University, shared his reflections associating experiences in Ethiopia. He said that much of the circularity is being implemented in Ethiopia. Kaleab is of the opinion that it is high time to consider CFS at the country level; but not just in the way that is traditionally done in the local food system. He emphasized the significance of considering the CFS as supported by more evidence and diagnostics. What should be enquired is, “how we can optimize what we have already practiced”.
Namukulo Covic (PhD), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Director General’s Representative to Ethiopia is the other panelist who reflected views on the presentation of Dr. Hannah. Namukulo has touched on both what Dr. Hannah referred to and what Dr. Kaleab has reflected on. Raising the experiences in Ethiopia using resources to have a balanced diet, she said that there need to be asked about how to move ahead for better out comes.
Taking the case of Ethiopia, Namukulo said that to produce a healthy food baskets, we need to work on the treatment of degraded soil. The challenges are not limited, according to Namukulo. There are also challenges related to population growth and the limited availability of fertilizer. If these problems are not addressed, the food security issue will be in jeopardy, according to her.
The other panelist is Belay Terefe, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, Ethiopia Country Coordinator for SHiFT initiative. Belay reflected general views on the food system and circularity. He touched on the interactions along the food value chain from input supply and production of crops to livestock, fish and other agricultural commodities. Belay underscored the significance of safeguarding the environment, ecology, equity, including cultural and traditional socio-economic values in order for food system activities to be sustainable.
“For the Food System (FS) to work efficiently, there need to be strong coordination among all sectors,” he said. The sectors are agriculture, health, technology, education, trade, manufacturing, infrastructure, the private sector and others, according to Belay.
Belay further noted that if actors in the food system do not work in coordination, it can result in a huge impact on ecology and the climate; eventually affecting existence of the future generation.
In the course of the discussion questions and comments were posed by virtual participants through chat box. Presenters and panelists responded to the questions forwarded to them.
At long last, Dr. Namukulo has come up with the way forward. She said that the food system actors are expected to find their entry points to contribute positively. The other thing she raised is the sustainability component. The way forward should be determined by taking all these and other related issues in to consideration, according to her. Namukulo gave much emphasis on the case in Ethiopia. She raised the multiple bouts of climate challenges. To move forward the different diverse sectors in the FS need to take these challenges in to consideration, she said. “We already have a food system transformation pathway and the FS resilience program that has just been launched. The Ministry of Agriculture is implementing this. The question is how the rest of us will be involved.
Namukulo said that all should come on board to contribute his/her best. “We need to actually engage in discussion to look at different entry points… and work together building on what Keleab said. The kind of coordination that is required now is even more complex than what we failed to do when we were thinking about multi-sectoral nutrition,” she said. Namukulo stressed how we should leverage the coordination structure that has been put in place by the government.
Tadesse Zerfu (PhD), a research fellow from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) moderated the webinar panel discussion which was attended by 95 virtual audiences. (NIPN/EPHI).
