Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin Jan. 18-20
This week, from Thu through Sat (18–20 Jan 2018) several ILRI scientific directors and staff (Jimmy Smith, Shirley Tarawali, Dieter Schillinger, Lutz Merbold and Kristina Roesel) will be participating in the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), held in Berlin, Germany. This location is particularly appropriate as Germany is an important and long-standing donor to ILRI and livestock research for development in general.
This annual German three-day international conference is focused on the future of the global agri-food industry. GFFA is organized by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in cooperation with the Berlin Senate, Messe Berlin GmbH and the GFFA Berlin e.V. This is the tenth year GFFA, which takes place just before International Green Week (19-28 Jan 2018). The 83rd International Green Week, a large Expo-like event, was founded in Berlin in the 1920s. It is a one-of-a-kind international exhibition of the food, agriculture and gardening industries. GFFA also includes the Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference, the world’s largest conference of agriculture ministers. The 10th Berlin Agriculture Ministers‘ Conference will unite political decision-makers from all continents to discuss the key topic of the GFFA. A final communiqué of the summit will formulate the common position of the agriculture ministers and will be fed into international discussions on agricultural policy.
ILRI’s involvement in GFFA this year includes the following.
Thursday 18 January
1pm: Plenary kick-off: ‘Shaping the future of livestock—Sustainably, responsibly, efficiently’
3:30pm: Expert panel: ‘Food of animal origin 2030: Solutions to consumption driven challenges’, hosted by Switzerland and the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL), with Shirley Tarawali giving keynote address.
Friday 19 January
10am: Expert panel: ‘Sustainable solutions for the livestock sector: The time is ripe!’, hosted by ILRI, GASL, the Livestock Global Alliance, GIZ and BMZ, moderated by Shirley Tarawali
2pm: High-level panel: ‘The future of livestock production’, hosted by the EC, with Jimmy Smith on the panel
Saturday 20 January
9am: Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference: with Dieter Schillinger and Jimmy Smith attending and providing inputs into the final GFFA communique.
Follow along on Twitter via #GFFA or by following @ILRI, @Livestock_Lab, @CGIAR, and @GermanyInKenya.
