POLICY SEMINAR

Can agricultural policies deliver better value for money for people, the planet, and the economy?

Co-Organized by IFPRI and World Bank Group

FEB 2, 2022 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EST

The massive support provided to agriculture by governments — $639 billion per year during 2016–18 — has not incentivized sustainable patterns of food production and consumption, leading to calls to “repurpose” this support. A new IFPRI-World Bank study, Repurposing Agricultural Policies and Support : Options to Transform Agriculture and Food Systems to Better Serve the Health of People, Economies, and the Planet, shows that the present system of support, if left in place, would do nothing to staunch the rapid increase in global emissions from agriculture. Unfortunately, many seemingly appealing options for repurposing are either ineffective or involve harsh side effects such as raising food costs, poverty and agricultural land use. The study’s authors therefore call for a more fundamental change in incentives that advance both productivity enhancements and reductions to greenhouse gas emissions.

This seminar will present a summary of the latest IFPRI-World Bank research findings and feature speakers discussing the need for more rapid adoption of technological solutions that foster less emissions-intensive productivity growth across developed and developing countries alike.

Opening Remarks

Mari Elka Pangestu, Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank

Presentation of Research Findings

Madhur Gautam, Lead Agriculture Economist, Agriculture Global Practice, World Bank

Will Martin, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Rob Vos, Director, Markets, Trade and Institutions, IFPRI

Panel Discussion “How to get from here to there”

Incentivizing high productivity & sustainable farm technologies & practices

Theo De Jager, President, World Farmers’ Organisation (TBC)

Ruben Echeverría, Senior Advisor Agriculture Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dirk Jacobs, Director General, FoodDrinkEurope

International coordination: roles for the UN and the G20?

Anabel González, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO)

Nick Bridge, Special Representative for Climate Change, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)

Ann Tutwiler, Senior Adviser Just Rural Transition

Closing Remarks

Martien van Nieuwkoop, Global Director, Agriculture and Food Global Practice, World Bank

Johan Swinnen, Global Director, CGIAR Systems Transformation Science Group & Director General, IFPRI

Moderator

Charlotte Hebebrand, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, IFPRI

LINKS

The World Bank Group: https://www.worldbank.org/en/home

Repurposing Agricultural Policies And Support (Report): https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36875

More on the seminar: https://www.ifpri.org/event/repurposing-agricultural-support-how-deliver-triple-wins-healthy-planet-economy-and-people

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