Programme events and workshops

Where are prices of cereals headed over the next ten years? And what does this imply for policy?

These questions were addressed at a workshop with presentations from Merritt Cluff of FAO, Dirk Willenbockel from IDS and Chris Gilbert from Trento University. All agreed that prices are likely to fall a little in real terms, but will remain well above the levels seen in the early 2000s.

A panel of specialists chaired by Simon Maxwell, with Brendan Bayley from HMT, Bettina Prato from IFAD, Benoit Daviron from CIRAD, and Ruth Kelly from Oxfam, shared their views on the policy implications of a world facing sustained higher food prices and possible increased volatility.

A report of the event, a blog outlining key messages from discussion, as well as presentations and videos from key speakers can be found on this page.

With funds flowing again to African agriculture, what can be done to help make Ministries of Agriculture more effective in the field? Is funding the issue, or is their use more important? What, in any case, should be the roles of the ministry at the district level? And thus what roles should NGOs and private enterprise play?

This meeting will discuss emerging insights from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.

Which technologies are needed to further developments in African agriculture and how should the implementation of these be organised and governed?

How can the world food system be managed better? How can this contribute to reducing hunger and malnutrition? What is the role for international public agencies, and the UN in particular, and how can this role be fulfilled?

This meeting reported the findings and experiences of Action Against Hunger from Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Nepal and Sierra Leone.

This meeting focused on village-level rural development aiming to meet the MDGs. It aimed to highlight challenges and opportunities of village-based initiatives and identify the additional actions and support needed to enhance sustainability of investments and prospects for scaling up.

The objective of this meeting, held on World Food Day, was to discuss the consequences of seasonality on hunger and malnutrition as well as the impacts of shocks, like the recent and ongoing food price crisis.