E6: Digitizing Fields to maximize Yields: Data & Tech in Agriculture

Special Episode #2: Strengthening Future Food Systems – From Hands-On Farming to Multilateral Policy

In this special episode from the Green Week in Berlin, we dive into the big questions facing agriculture and food systems. With sub-Saharan Africa's population expected to double by 2050, how can agriculture meet the surging demand for food while ensuring sustainability, inclusivity, and resilience? Host Katie Gallus is joined by Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and Mologadi Madisha, founder of Morgan BL Farming in South Africa. Together, they explore the vital role of local farmers, the effects of external shocks like avian flu, and the transformative power of youth and women in agriculture. This episode offers a unique blend of perspectives—from hands-on farming to multilateral policy—on how we can build food systems that are both sustainable and resilient, capable of thriving in an ever-changing world.

Special Episode #1: P4C Nairobi: Post Malabo, Partnerships and Development Cooperation

At the network meeting "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future" in Nairobi, Kenya, over 200 stakeholders and international partners from around the globe came together to discuss the transformation of our agricultural and food systems. In this episode, we listen to moderator Kah Walla and Paul Garacuchea summing up the event. Kah Walla is an activist, entrepreneur, and political leader from Cameroon. In 2008, she was recognized as one of seven women entrepreneurs working to improve the business environment in Africa by the world bank. Paul Karagochea is the current director for sustainable supply chains, agricultural and food systems at the German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ). He was also head of the Multilateral Policy Issues Division at BMZ, among others, during the 2022 German G7 Presidency.

E8: “Just” Trade: Rethinking Economic Power Structures

No matter where we live or what we are doing in our daily lives – all of us are consumers of one thing or another. You might not realize just how many of the goods you consume are imported from other countries. This makes us dependent on global trade. Today we face many challenges in our established trading structures, such as price dumping, import dependencies and the exclusion of marginalized groups. How can we make our trade systems more just?

E7: Land for Equity

In many countries having secure and documented land rights has proven to be essential, especially for smallholder farmers. One of the reasons is rather simple: Land property is often used as collateral to access financial services. But there’s a huge risk. If farmers can’t repay the loan, they might lose their land. In this month’s episode we delve into the challenges that affect smallholder farmers when it comes to land tenure and access to financial services. In this context, we also look at the aspect of gender equality.

E6: Digitizing Fields to maximize Yields: Data & Tech in Agriculture

Nowadays, we have a vast array of digital services at our disposal – weather its ordering groceries, checking the weather forecast, refreshing the news or social media to stay up to date on current events, or listening to this very podcast – it's hard to imagine what life would look like without technology in our lives. Experts say: leveraging digital tools to support food and agricultural transformation offers great potential to transform the food system, work towards the goal of SDG 2 (zero hunger) and put less pressure on our natural environments while conserving more biodiversity. Let’s take a closer look. In this episode Katie Gallus talks to Neth Daño (ETC Group), Sonja Vermeulen (CGIAR), Meron Sileshi (Lersha) and Paul Zaake (AgriShare Uganda Limited).