Let’s get to work - Building a food secure future

One of our biggest challenges of the 21st century, is how to feed 10 billion people in 2050. Expected patterns of consumption and production will put more pressure on already scarce resources in the future. Climate change will undermine agricultural production in many regions, making it more difficult to achieve food security and nutrition goals.

The governments of the Netherlands and Vietnam organised a Regional Food Security Conference on 22 and 23 March in Hanoi, Vietnam, with the theme Under the theme “Let’s get to work. Building a food secure future”. The event focused on the implementation of SDG 2: "End Hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture." The conference brought together different actors from the public and private sector, international organisations and knowledge institutes. The event aimed to create practical deals amongst stakeholders to create a food secure future. In addition, participants shared knowledge and best practices from the region as well as challenges and innovative ideas.

Under the ‘Sowing the Seeds of Change’ project, implemented between 2012 and 2015, SNV introduced an innovative, efficient and environmentally-sustainable rice production system, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), that increases resilience and yield, while reducing GHG emissions and requirements for water, seeds, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and labour, especially tasks performed by women. Between 2016 and 2020 SNV is upscaling the uptake of SRI under the ‘Enhancing Opportunities for Women’s Enterprises’ programme. In addition to sustainably increasing production and incomes of female rice farmers through the adoption of SRI, the project has a strong focus on promoting women leadership within farmer groups and cooperatives and transforming gender norms related to workload, control over income and leadership to increase women’s opportunities for participate and compete in economic activities.

A set of concrete food security deals were agree during the conference. In these cross-sectoral deals stakeholders committed themselves to practical action to achieve SDG 2. In partnership with the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), IAE, VAAS Vietnam, VAFIN, NIAP, CIAT, IRRI, DAN and WUR, SNV is scaling up its Climate Smart Agriculture projects from the pilot phase to the regional level. An example, is SNV's contribution to the creation of a sustainable shellfish value chain together with ICA Fish and Oxfam.