IFAD Podcast: Platform miniseries

We ask our guests to share the issues that keep them up at night, the action they are taking to make a difference, and how their relationship with the Platform has played a part in bringing donors together towards achieving Agenda 2030.

"Farms. Food. Future." invites listeners to pull up a chair, sit down and tune in to the challenges small-scale producers in developing countries are facing around food security.

In our fourth segment, the Platform interviews Satu Santala, Associate Vice President of the External Relations and Governance Department at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Satu talks about what it takes to invest in and build #resilience in #foodsystems. She shares her experience of the Platform, as both a donor in her previous position at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and now at IFAD, which is a board member of the Platform.

Satu's segment starts at the 47.36-minute mark.

Tune into the rest of the podcast. In Africa, almost 800 million people are facing food insecurity. Without access to adequate, affordable, and nutritious food, generations remain trapped in poverty, unable to take advantage of education or job opportunities. With one in five people in Africa facing hunger, investments in nutrition are crucial. Listen to how nutrition is being improved in Malawi, Nigeria, Sudan, and Lesotho.

In our third segment, the Platform talks to Willem Olthof, Deputy Head, and Conrad Rein, Policy Officer, at the European Commission. Conrad is also a Co-Chair of the GDPRD.

Willem and Conrad's segment starts at the 57-minute mark.

Tune into the rest of the podcast which focuses on building resilience in a time of famine. Dr Joseph Awange and IFAD’s Satu Santala discuss the root causes and solutions of famine. Climate specialist Paxina Chileshe looks at resilience-building for rural communities in East and Southern Africa. Two farmers in Kenya explain how they’re dealing with drought. Land tenure specialist Harold Liversage explains how better land tenure protections can reduce conflicts over land and water. IFAD's Recipes for Change campaign takes on two new exciting chefs from India, Chef Zacharias and Chef Dhondy.

In our second segment, the Platform talks to Carin Smaller, Director of Agriculture, Trade, and Investment at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and Ammad Bahalim, Senior Program Officer in Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Carin is also one of the founders of CERES2030 and Ammad is a GDPRD Board Member.

Carin and Ammad's segment starts at the 47-minute mark.

Tune into the rest of the podcast which focuses on the use of insects to feed the world – both as food for humans and feed for livestock. Dr Eric Smaling kicks off the episode with an introduction to edible insects. Other speakers include Dr Sevgan Subramanian talking about harvesting wild insects, Antonio Rota about exciting prospects for the future of the industry. Chef Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs and Shobhita Soor of Legendary Foods Africa talk about the culinary, cultural, nutrition and business side of things. Lara Gilmore, co-founder of Food for Soul, returns to discuss the connections between food waste, nutrition and sustainable food systems

In our first segment, we hear from our Platform Co-Chair Tristan Armstrong, who is Senior Sector Specialist of Agricultural Development and Food Security, at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia. Tristan shares his first-hand experience on the impacts of climate change in the Pacific Islands and at home in Canberra, and the Platform as a unique space for key donors to advocate for collective action in the food security agenda.

Tristan's segment starts at the 55-minute mark.

Tune into the rest of the podcast and hear IFAD’s Associate Vice-President Jo Puri discuss the problem of growing social inequality, Wageningen University's Professor Ken Giller on how food systems can be transformed for rural prosperity, Lara Gilmore, founder of Food for Soul, on how her and her husband, Michelin-starred Italian chef Massimo Bottura, are opening up opportunities for social and economic mobility, hear news from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and the Sea Women of Melanesia, a team recently named UNEP’s Champions of the Earth, and from farmers from Kenya and Guyana about how they're improving the lives of their communities.