Food systems are simultaneously a casualty and a contributor to climate change. As governments prepare to negotiate how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture will be a key agenda item. With its Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action, the UAE has already called on national governments to align their national food system strategies with their climate action plans.   

Join us at COP 28 this year to discuss the linkages between climate action and food system transformation. Our Vice-President, Seyni Nafo, will once again be leading the African negotiators. Two of our co-founders, Francine Picard and Oshani Perera, will be onsite, together with our Senior Policy Advisor, Lysiane Lefebvre. 

Our activities are also highlighted on the Hesat2030 COP 28 Pavilion and the 12 Days of COP campaign on LinkedIn.

The Shamba Centre side-event during COP28 

The Shamba Centre for Food & Climate is pleased to announce that it is co-organizing a side event, Making Domestic Financing work harder: Catalytic Instruments and Enabling Environments for Net-zero and Resilient Food Systems.  

A recent report by the Shamba Centre and the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD) indicates how blended finance offers the opportunity to mobilize greater investment with US$1 of concessional finance potential bringing in a further UD$4 of commercial finance in the agri-food sector. This side event will explore how national leadership and governance rules can shape the conditions to encourage low-carbon investment in net-zero and resilient food systems by crowding-in foreign and domestic lending through blended financial arrangements. 

Hosted by the Honorable Jeremy Lissouba, Member of Parliament, Republic of Congo, this side event will take place on 8 December at 15h30 GST on the Congo Basin Climate Commission Pavilion. It is co-organized by the Government of Congo, Commission Climat du Bassin du Congo, African Food System Parliamentary Network (AFSPaN), African Development Bank, Akademiya2063, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD) and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Ammad Bahalim, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

• Chizuru Aoki, Global Environment Facility

• Rachel A. Aron, Global Ethical Finance and Tugo Cwiny Management Consulting

• Muhammad El Demerdash, Engazaat (solar water company)

• John Mundy, One Acre Fund

• Closing: Hon. Jeremy Lissouba, Member of Parliament, Republic of Congo, African Food System Parliamentary Network. 

The event will be moderated by the Shamba Centre’s Co-founder and Director of Programmes, Oshani Perera.

Zero Hunger Coalition side-event 

Food systems transformation and climate action are critically important for a sustainable future. Policy interventions are needed that can eliminate hunger, improve nutrition support smallholder farmers while also ensuring climate resilience.   

To better understand the areas for common action between climate and agriculture, the Zero Hunger Coalition is co-hosting a side-event entitled A Prioritization of Policy and Programmatic Options: What are the actionable points of synergy between Agri-food Systems Transformation, Nutrition, Poverty Reduction and Climate Action?

It will showcase the complementarity between climate action and food system transformation by identifying areas for synergies and resource optimization. Francine Picard, Co-founder and Director of Partnerships as the Shamba Centre will moderate the event.  

The side-event is co-organized by the Republic of Congo, the Congo Basin Climate Commission, the African Food Systems Parliamentarian Network (AFSPaN), Network of Central African Parliamentary Alliances for Food and Nutrition Security, the Zero Hunger Coalition and the FAO and will take place on 10 December at 10h00 GST on the Congo Basin Climate Commission Pavilion. 

Both events will be livestreamed on the Congo Basin Climate Commission’s Facebook and YouTube channels.