The United States and Brazil agreed in June 2015 to “…jointly promote the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda Sustainable Development Goal on food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture by working bilaterally and through the United Nations”. 

In the framework of this initiative, the Tropical Agriculture Platform (a G20 initiative facilitated by FAO) organizes a joint conference aimed at bringing together the issues of capacity development, agricultural innovation, and food security and nutrition with the objective of developing recommendations for policy-making.

A paper providing background information and introducing the topics of the conference is available here.

The e-conference will discuss the following questions:

1. Which policies or instruments would be effective for developing capacities of food security and nutrition-sensitive Agricultural Innovation Systems (FSN-AIS) at the organizational and systems levels?
2. Once the capacities have been developed, how can they be kept strong despite changes in management and staff turnover? Could you mention cases where capacities were successfully built and kept for at least five years? What were the factors for success?
3. The concept “institution” comprises a number of formal and informal “rules of the game”, including relationships between organizations, regulations and behaviours. Which are the most essential institutions that should be strengthened to foster innovation in FSN-Agricultural Innovation Systems and why?
4. Which initiatives for developing capacities for FSN-Agricultural Innovation Systems are being implemented or planned in the country where your activities are devoted to the achievement of SDGs 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and well-being) and 12 (responsible consumption and production)?
5. Which indicators would be relevant to measure improvement of capacities that support collective learning and adaptation in food security and nutrition-sensitive initiatives?
6. Till recently nutrition problems in low and middle income countries were characterised mainly by undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. An additional form of malnutrition is now present in the same communities: obesity. How can the framework for capacity development for FSN-Agricultural Innovation Systems be adapted to address the more complex nature of food security and nutrition issues?
7. When implementing the framework for capacity development for FSN-sensitive Agricultural Innovation Systems, how can the needs of often voiceless actors (e.g., small farmers, young people or female-led households) be incorporated and addressed?

How to participate

If you or your colleagues wish to subscribe to the e-conference, you should send an-email message to  with only the following line in the body of the message (i.e. leave the subject line blank and have no other text, such as an e-mail signature, in the message):

subscribe CD4AIS-L firstname lastname

Firstname and lastname refer to the person’s first and last name. For example, if the subscriber’s name is Clara Smith, then the line should be:

subscribe CD4AIS-L Clara Smith

More information

For more information on the e-conference, please refer to the background paper.

For more information on how to participate, please contact Cristina Sette (), the conference moderator.