Sustainable Food Systems - Maximising Irish Impact

This paper, compiled on behalf of Dóchas (the Network of Irish International NGOs) and published in June 2023, explores the path to sustainable food systems and makes key recommendations for getting there.

The global food system is not working, hundreds of millions of people are under fed and even more are overweight. Nutritious food is not easily accessible - even in the richest countries in the world. Small producers struggle to access markets where they can sell their food, while large commercial interests influence policy and donor spending decisions in their own interests. Our environment and climate are suffering as we continue to produce food in ways that damage the long-term viability of the planet.

But the seeds of a way forward are there. The world has committed to ending hunger by 2030, and governments across the world are adopting policy positions that commit them to sustainability in the food system. Food systems thinking offers a way to navigate that journey.

Nigeria’s turbulent 2020

2020 was a year of significant challenge and change. Our Director of Research Eniola published several interesting articles on what was a turbulent year for Nigeria:

In July 2020 for The Guardian she wrote ‘In Nigeria, colonial thinking affects everyone. It is time we found new heroes’ where she argued that “It is not enough to reveal the lies and tear down the statues, though this we must. We have, also, to build things in their places.”

In October 2020 her article appeared on the #EndSARS movement appeared on the front page of the International edition of the New York Times ‘We Dared to Assemble. For That, We Were Killed’.

Somalia – climate related security risk assessment

december 2018

This report for The Expert Working Group on Climate-related Security Risks co-authored by Roger Middleton, Camilla Born, Pernilla Nordqvist, and Karolina Eklöw explores the interaction of climate change with Somalia’s conflict and political system.

Somalia is making significant progress towards a durable peace after decades of conflict.However, progress is extremely fragile; formal governance structures are contested and community capability and resilience to deal with shocks and disputes is low. As Somalia decides the shape of its future developmental and political model, climate-related security risks add a further dimension to the country’s fragility. A high carbon development path presents a range of cascading risks, from affecting livelihoods to compromising national stability. Climate-positive development, by contrast, could offer opportunities to further stabilize the country, and strengthen community and state resilience.

The report identifies four priority risk areas and offers a set of suggested mitigation actions.

About the Expert Group:

The Expert Working Group on Climate-related Security Risks aims to produce high-quality and policy-relevant assessments of climate-related security risks, which can strengthen decision-making and programming on those risks within the United Nations. In 2018, the expert working group – together with external researchers and the working group secretariat – have produced research on four geographies: Iraq, Lake Chad, Somalia, Central Asia. The reports build on research and insights from the field to provide integrated risk assessments of climate-related change and security – as well as other social, political and economic aspects.

Read the report here.

Reports

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