Building partnerships for sustainable agriculture and food security

To meet the challenge of sustainably feeding 9 billion people by 2050, the agricultural sector will need to undergo major transformation. More nutritious food will need to be produced using fewer resources, bringing greater benefits to farmers and rural communities. Achieving this transformation will require new approaches and extensive coordination among all stakeholders in the agricultural system. Market-based approaches, while not the only answer, will be an important tool in the “toolbox” to drive change – providing the efficiency, scalability and market-based incentives to power a large-scale effort.

This is the mission behind the World Economic Forum's New Vision for Agriculture initiative (NVA), founded in 2010. To put the vision into action, leaders recognized the need for new approaches to partnership and collaboration among historically disconnected stakeholders.

This guide, a collaboration between NVA and Deloitte Global, offers practical recommendations to national and global leaders on building and strengthening country partnerships in agriculture. It draws on best practices and lessons learned from 19 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where partnerships catalyzed and supported by NVA have benefitted 9.6 million farmers to date. The approach described in this guide serves as a framework for action that can be adapted to any local context, and can evolve over time.

Principles

The NVA country partnership model contains several guiding principles:

• Locally-owned and aligned with country goals
• Market-driven with projects led by the private sector
• Multi-stakeholder with open and inclusive engagement
• Holistic integrating the full value chain in the agriculture system
• Globally connected and supported

Framework

In addition, there is an eight-step framework:

Design

• Engage: Identify and engage influential champions
• Align: Develop a shared partnership agenda
• Structure: Establish the partnership structure
  

Implement

• Plan: Define specific goals and action plans
• Implement: Implement action plans
• Advance: Leverage milestones to drive progress
  

Adapt and scale

• Scale: Institutionalize proven models
• Review: Assess the partnership strategy and structures
  

The goal of the Guide to Country-Led Action report is to provide a resource that will guide, empower, and inspire the leaders who can build on the lessons learned in order to further drive a transformation of the world’s agriculture and food systems.