A new coalition known as the Forum for Farmers and Food Security is launching to drive tangible action to transform global food and agriculture systems.
Founded by Producers Trust, Pegasus Capital, and Food Tank, the Forum aims to help producers around the world transition to more sustainable practices that build resilience, improve livelihoods, and strengthen global food security.
As many as 828 million people—10.5 percent of the world’s population—went hungry in 2021 and 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in World. And as the climate crisis advances, the hunger crisis is only expected to worsen.
A study backed by the United Nations reports that food and agriculture systems are responsible for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. And while Keith Agoada, Founder and CEO of Producers Trust says that he hears a lot of talk about sustainability, it “has become a huge buzzword.”
Achieving net zero emissions by 2040 or 2050 are often goals laid out by stakeholders, Agoada tells Food Tank. “But if you look at the actual timeline, we are just getting started. Because the ambitions are not matching up to the action.”
Agoada says he has left U.N. Climate Change Conferences and similar events “a little bit empty sometimes because we don’t feel like there’s something driving real action.”
But with the launch of the new Forum comes an opportunity to catalyze change. Bringing in leading voices from the public and private sectors as well as the philanthropic and financial communities, the Forum will leverage the power of strategic partnerships.
Cultivating these connections provides an opportunity to establish new purchase commitments to provide a stable market for farmers, unlock financial support for farmers to transition to regenerative practices, connect producers with technology and knowledge they need to thrive.
“It’s about commercial action, investment action, and then knowledge and technology transfer action,” Agoada tells Food Tank.
And as the coalition convenes on a regular basis, members will develop plans of action to continue forward progress. Meetings will “give everyone a kick forward,” Craig Cogut, Founder, Chair, and CEO of Pegasus Capital tells Food Tank. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“Let’s make sure the farmer is making money and living well,” Cogut says, “and then we can have nutritious, reliable food for all.”
Listen to the full conversation with Keith Agoada and Craig Cogut on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to learn more about the Forum for Farmers and Food Security, what Cogut and Agoada expect—and hope—to see in the leadup to COP28, and why consumer education represents a vital piece of the new coalition’s success.
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Photo courtesy of Kabai Ken, Wikimedia Commons
