Food and Agriculture
Hunger levels have been rising for the past five years. Almost 690 million people go to bed hungry every night. Food production and agriculture matter: they provide livelihoods for more people in the world than any other sector.
We provide high-quality advice to governments and parliamentarians to strengthen countries’ food security and livelihoods and to improve the quality of public and private investment in agriculture and food systems, while protecting land rights and responsibly managing natural resources.
We also seek to make food systems and value chains more resilient to climate change. Our experts support governments in implementing policies and regulations that enable food systems and communities to absorb climate shocks.
See our projects
Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger
Our mission is to provide the donor community with a menu of policy options for directing their investments, backed by the best available evidence and economic models.
Working With Parliamentarians on Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems
Through their legislative, oversight, and representative functions, parliamentarians hold a strategic position: they can inform political and legislative agendas with the purpose of fostering change on the ground.
Toward More Equitable and Sustainable Trade in Food and Agriculture
IISD’s work on trade in food and farm goods seeks to improve the extent to which trade policy supports sustainable development outcomes and expand the space for informed discussion among a wider set of policy actors.
The ASEAN Guidelines on Promoting Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry
The ASEAN Guidelines on Promoting Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry were prepared for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat and were adopted in October 2018 by ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) during their annual meeting, held that year in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Model Agreement for Responsible Contract Farming
Offering a simple and practical legal tool for buyers and producers to improve their business relations and to help make responsible agricultural investment a reality.
Advisory and Capacity Development Services on Legal and Policy Frameworks for Responsible Agriculture Investment
We advise and support governments in the drafting of model contracts in various sectors, including large-scale farmland investments, agricultural investment laws, legal frameworks for agricultural growth poles and zones, policies for attracting foreign direct investment in agriculture, contract farming templates and laws, and market opportunities for voluntary sustainability standards.
Best Practices Bulletins: Legal tools for responsible investment in agriculture
In this best practices series, IISD analyzes key legal and policy issues arising from the legal tools used by states to govern responsible investment in agriculture and food systems, with a particular focus on developing country and sustainable development perspectives.
Food and Agriculture: Emerging Policy Issues
Emerging issues policy briefs is a series produced by the IISD Agriculture, Trade & Investment Team. The series highlights and explains emerging issues that affect the resilience and sustainability of food and agriculture systems, particularly in developing countries.
Achieving Sustainable Food Systems in a Global Crisis
Expanding the original scope of the Ceres2030 project, this initiative focused on the interrelationships between food systems, climate change, and diets. The results provided options for country-level transition pathways toward sustainable food systems in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria.
Events and publications
IISD at Adaptation Futures 2023
IISD will take part in several events at the Adaptation Futures 2023 conference in Montreal, Canada.
WTO Agriculture Negotiations and Sustainable Development
These three webinars offer WTO delegates and capital-based officials the chance to discuss WTO Agriculture Negotiations and Sustainable Development with a focus on domestic support, public stockholding for food security purposes (PSH), and export restrictions.
South-South Trade and Voluntary Sustainability Standards
This report explores how voluntary sustainability standards are being used in trade policy to increase the trade of more sustainable products between developing countries.
Global Market Report: Sugar cane prices and sustainability
This report explores recent market trends in the sugar cane sector, what these trends mean for producers in developing countries, and what can be done to improve farmers' incomes.
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Experts
Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder
Interim Co-President and Co-CEO | Vice-President, Global Strategies and Managing Director, Europe
Sean Woolfrey
Lead, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems
Maria Barral
Communications Officer
Livia Bizikova
Lead II, Monitoring and Governance, Tracking Progress
Sarah Brewin
Associate, Advisor Agriculture and Investment
Facundo Calvo
Policy Analyst, Trade and Agriculture
Nyaguthii Maina
Associate
Claire McConnell
Policy Advisor
Sally Millett
Communications Officer
Hafiz Mirza
Lead, Responsible Agricultural Investment Research
Ronald Tundang
Associate
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