PROMISE OF THE COMMONS FOR SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE FOOD SYSTEMS

UNFSS Science Days Side Event

July 7, 2021, 07:00 - 08:00 AM EDT

Co-organized by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Foundation for Ecological Security (FES, India); University of South Australia; Azim Premji University and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

The UNFSS Dialogue on Women, Work and Food Systems identified a game-changing solution on Management of commons: Water Management Solutions, Barren Waste Lands, Forest and Grasslands. The commons support food systems through direct production and providing water, fodder, pollination, and other key ecosystem services, as well as important sources of resilience for communities. Yet the commons are under pressure from encroachment and overuse.

This UNFSS Science Days side event will present evidence from a new study of the value of ecosystem services from the commons in India, as well as how strengthening governance of the commons can support equitable food systems.

Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

The Promise of Commons

• Jagdeesh Rao Puppala, Anchor and Curator, Promise of Commons Initiative, Foundation for Ecological Security

The Values of the Commons Report on Quantifying Ecosystem Services Provided by Land Commons in India

• Harpinder Sandhu, Associate Director, Centre for Markets, Values and Inclusion, University of South Australia

Discussants

• Harini Nagendra, Director of Research Center, Azim Premji University
• Insa Theesfeld, Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy, Martin Luther Universitat-Halle and President, International Association for the Study of the Commons

Moderator

• Charlotte Hebebrand, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, IFPRI

Photo: CIAT/Georgina Smith