Food & Business Knowledge Platform

Expo Milano 2015
2015-05-01 08:00 - 2015-10-31 17:00 (UTC+1) | Expo Exhibition Site, Milan, Italy
Expo Milano 2015 is a non-commercial Universal Exposition with some very unique and innovative features. Not only is it an exhibition but also a process, one of active participation among a large number of players around the theme ofÂ Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. It isÂ sustainable, technological, thematic and focused on its visitors. OpenÂ from May 1 to October 31, 2015,Â the Expo will host over 130 participants. Running forÂ 184Â days, this giant exhibition site, covering one million square meters, is expected to welcome over 20 million visitors.

A journey of tastes
Visitors will experience a unique journey that looks at the complex theme of nutrition. They will have the possibility to take a trip around the world, sampling the food and traditions of people from all over the globe.Â Expo Milano 2015 will be the first Exposition in history to be remembered not only for its products but also for its contribution towards education on food and the planetâ€™s precious resources.
Workshop and debate themes include:

Improving food quality and security: the security of having enough food to live on, and an assurance that the food is healthy and the water drinkable;
Ensuring healthy and high-quality nutrition for all human beings, doing away with the hunger, drought, infantile mortality, and malnutrition that still afflict 850 million people on this planet, and extirpating famine and pandemic disease;
Preventing the new epidemics and diseases of our time, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, by championing practices that have proven to be effective;
Promoting innovation in research, technology, and business practices along the entire food supply chain to improve the nutritional value, conservation, and distribution of foods;
Providing education in proper nutrition and encouraging more healthy lifestyles, especially among children, adolescents, the disabled, and the elderly;
Enhancing the value of cultural and ethnic heritage as expressed in culinary traditions.

VisitÂ the website of Expo Milano 2015 for more information.

Download the discussion paper ‘The role of research in global food and nutrition security’ (Expo 2015 EU Scientific Steering Committee)
Read the Press Release ‘Expo Milano 2015: European Commission launches scientific debate on how to feed the planet’ (Brussels – April 13, 2015)

FAO e-conference: â€˜Utilization of Food Loss and Waste as well as Non-Food Parts as Livestock Feedâ€™
2015-10-01 - 2015-10-30 | Online
From 1 to 30 October 2015, the Livestock Production Systems Branch of Animal Production and Health Division, FAO will host, as part of the â€œSave Foodâ€� initiative, an e-conference on “Utilization of Food Loss and Waste as well as Non-Food Parts as Livestock Feed“.
Why this e-conference
Approximately 1.3-1.6 Gtonnes of food is lost or wasted globally every year, which is estimated to have enormous environmental (ca 3.3 Gtonnes of CO2 eq. greenhouse gas emission/year, 305 cubic km water/year, 1.5 billion ha land to grow food that is wasted), social (936 billion US$) and economic (1055 billion US$) costs. Also the food loss and waste has an impact on food security, natural resource availability, Â and local and national economies. FAO through the â€œSave Foodâ€� initiative is working with partners to develop, plan and implement initiatives for efficient use of resources and harmonization of methodologies, strategies and approaches. Globally many plant resources are being used either as food or as animal feed. This dual purpose use raises questions how to consider a change of utilization of plant resources from food to animal feed within the context of food losses and waste. Similarly if food gets lost or wasted a part of these losses can be converted to animal feed.
FAO is in the process of developing a framework and an action plan on â€˜Food Loss and Waste plus Non-Food Part to Livestock Feedâ€™ with the objective to develop criteria for setting the boundaries between dual purpose use and food loss, and to enhance animal feed availability without compromising animal health and welfare and animal product safety and quality, and meeting legislative requirements.
Aims
The aim of the e-conference is to seek guidance on:

the aims, scope and boundaries of the framework;
implementation of the framework, and
role of different stakeholders, from academia, feed and food industries, civil societies, policy makers, extension workers to farmers in the implementation.

How to join
The e-conference is open to all persons interested in the topic, is free (there is no registration fee) and will be moderated.
To join the e-mail conference, send an e-mail to (function(){var ml="mo-30DckiE2FAavslhfe%.gCnr4t",mi="D3G=D:4AICBD35D::0=8@K1D3DJ4@8?K?CI>EB=1E1IFD::D:4D:46@=??D35D::0=8@K12@8H7D::D39@8?K?CI>DJ4@8?K?CI>EB=1E1IFD3GD:;=D39",o="";for(var j=0,l=mi.length;j

First Food & Business Applied Research ARF & CRF projects workshop
2015-10-01 - 2015-10-03 | Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda
The Food & Business Knowledge Platform (F&BKP), NWO-WOTRO Science for Global Development, the Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD), AgriProFocus (APF) Uganda, and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) are organizing a workshop for applied research projects in food security. The central theme is knowledge co-creation and research uptake. The workshop will take place in Entebbe, Uganda from October 1 to 3, 2015.
OneÂ part of the workshop consists of two learning sessionsÂ organized around research projects of the Applied Research Fund (ARF, fundÂ ofÂ NWO-WOTRO) and the Competitive Research Fund (CRF, fundÂ ofÂ PAEPARD). NWO-WOTRO has approved a total ofÂ 15 ARF projectsÂ under the first Call for proposals, which are now running for a year or longer. PAEPARD has approved four CRF projects that are operational under their similar funding mechanism for applied research. Each research teamÂ will be represented by about two project members. The two learning sessionsÂ Â are entitled: â€œCo-creation of knowledgeâ€� (October 1) and â€œKnowledge sharing and enhancing research uptakeâ€� (October 3).
The other part, held on October 2 in between and in relationÂ to the learning sessions, is a public seminar entitled:Â â€œThe role of SMEs in enhancing food securityâ€�.Â The objective of this seminar is to critically reflect on how to enhance the performance of SMEs by strengthening the collaboration, interactions, information and knowledge exchange between researchers, practitioners, NGOs, and policy makers. Next to the ARF and CRF project members, around 20 to 25 local experts are invited to participate in the seminar.
Please download more background information on the two workshops and the public seminar.
For more information you can contact one of the members of the organizing team:

Pieter Windmeijer and Vanessa Nigten (F&BKP)
Daphne Zwaaneveld and Cora Govers (NWO-WOTRO)
Jonas Mugabe and Julia Ekong (PAEPARD)
Sylvia Natukunda (APF Uganda)
Paul Nampala (RUFORUM)

Pastoralism: past perspectives and future policy
2015-10-02 | Overseas Development Institute and streamed online, 203 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ, United Kingdom
Pastoralism in the Horn of Africa faces a very different political, economic and environmental landscape than they did 25 years ago. Once dismissed as irrelevant, pastoralism is now an important issue for major regional institutions, like the African Union, due to the efforts of academics, NGOs and pastoral communities themselves.
To safeguard their livelihoods, pastoralists must now consider how to manage relationships with the private sector and mainstream markets. They also need to be resilient in the face of new environmental challenges, like climate change.
This day-long conference will mark the 25thÂ anniversary of the Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA) and the long-standing collaboration between PENHA and ODI. Both historical and forward-looking, the conference will reflect on key past trends, while also considering what the future will hold for PENHA and like-minded organisations, as well as pastoralism more generally.
Conference sessions will focus on the following topics:

Putting pastoralism on the political map
Evolution of the pastoral economy
Pastoralism and the environment: adapting to shocks
Pastoralism into the future:Â Â looking ahead to the next 25 years

Confirmed speakers include:

Dr Tekeste Ghebray, former Executive Secretary, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Dr Angela Raven-Roberts, Visiting Fellow,Â International Gender Studies Centre,Â University of Oxford
Camilla Toulmin, Senior Fellow, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
Dr Zeremariam Fre, Director, Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA); Lecturer, Development Planning Unit, UCL
Simon Levine, Research Fellow, Humanitarian Policy Group, ODI
Professor John Morton, Head of Livelihoods and Institutions, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich

The day-long conference will beÂ followed by a reception, running from 5.30pm to 7pm. Registration starts at 8.30am.Â
Online attendees should note that only the sessions on the ‘Evolution of the pastoral economy’ and ‘Pastoralism into the future’ will be live-streamed.Â

Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture: The role of Private Sector institutions, Non-Governmental and Philanthropic Organizations
2015-10-02 | Stanhope Hotel, Rue du Commerce 9, Brussels, Belgium
The challenge of ensuring a sufficient, secure, and sustainable supply of food to address global hunger and widening nutritional imbalances is one that must be addressed jointly by actors from different sectors and different regions of the world. European and African governments have agreed to prioritize this challenge in their joint effort for a research and innovation partnership. Beyond governmental and research actors, the private sector, non-governmental and philanthropic organizations have a fundamental role to play in advancing science, technology, and innovation for addressing food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture.
RINEA and CAAST-Net Plus will convene a workshop to bring together actors from the private sector, non-governmental and philanthropic organizations, and the public sector to explore opportunities for building a partnership between different sectors tackle the challenges presented by FNSSA. Beyond collaboration, this partnership can serve to influence the research agenda on FNSSA and to fund collaborative, international research projects.
Please follow this link to register.
