ECO was amidst the cheerful crowd yesterday at what seemed to be the end of the “Sharmonivia” agriculture marathon. But if negotiators thought they have reached the finish line, ECO is here to remind them that the past ten days were just the warm-up.
During this warm-up in Bonn, there was finally an agreement for a roadmap to discuss – and hopefully deliver – much needed climate action for agriculture and food security. The cardio coaches (aka the co-facilitators) kept the athletes motivated by promising a refreshing snack at the finish line made up of low hanging fruit (and a few from the higher branches) referred to repeatedly over the course of the week.
The first miles of the main race will be covered in Baku where the online portal on agriculture and food security will be presented.
The second more difficult and promising part of the marathon will be the workshop on Systemic and Holistic Approaches to Implementation of Climate Action on Agriculture, Food Systems, and Food Security to be organized in June 2025.
Negotiators, you are in luck – ECO knows one systemic and holistic approach to deliver healthy, resilient and equitable food systems: agroecology. What will certainly not be sustainable to the pace of the runners in our race are approaches such as “climate-smart agriculture” or corporate-led techno-fixes. The 2025 workshop also provides the opportunity to go beyond agricultural production, and tackle the entire food system with a focus on interventions that secure – and do not threaten – agricultural livelihoods, and also address food loss and waste, food security, nutrition, and equitable approaches to diets.
Part three of the marathon will be focused on Means of Implementation for Climate Action in Agriculture and Food sSecurity, featured in a workshop in June 2026. Once again, ECO has many concrete ideas on how delegates can ensure that means of implementation, including finance, will be accessible and match the needs and priorities of small-scale food producers, with a special focus on youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, marginalized communities and their collectives. First, finance must be provided as grants and NOT loans. Then, we need to define and uphold safeguards so that finance flows never undermine human rights and the right to food, and respect locally-led adaptation principles. Finally, finance must enable the agroecological transformation of food systems, with farmers’ livelihoods at its heart, and never encourage business-as-usual.
But be mindful: Running does not only happen in the UNFCCC stadium. Food systems transformation is a race that must start right now in your countries and with local agroecological producers at the forefront.
By the way, where will the fruit salad be served? Maybe this was circulated on a delegates-only email list, as ECO didn’t get the memo.