Blog Post

SDSN Philippines Inspires Local-Level Community Dialogues on Sustainable Food Systems

  • By SDSN Philippines
  • •
  • 28 Jun, 2021
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On June 25th, 2021, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Philippines together with the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and the Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan (XU), hosted an online event entitled an “Independent Dialogue for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021: Pathways to Sustainable Food and Nutrition, Consumption and Livelihood.” This event was organized the objective to inspire local-level community dialogues in the course of social development and social action work, and to explore new pathways for sustainable food and nutrition, consumption and livelihoods for the Philippines. Over 230 participants from academia, civil society organizations, government, and the private sector were in attendance.

This dialogue featured five experts on various subject matters related to food systems and sustainability including Dr. Cielito E. Habito, Professor of Economics at the ADMU; Dr. Roehlano M. Briones, Senior Fellow at the Philippine Institute of Development Studies;  Dr. Maria Assunta C. Cuyengkeng, Chair of the SDSN Philippines Leadership Council; Dr. Larry N. Digal, Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Mindanao; and Fr. Pedro Walpole SJ, Research Director of the Environmental Science for Social Change. The event was moderated by Mr. Roel Ravanera, the XU Vice President for Social Development, and Dr. Randy Tuaño, Network Manager for SDSN Philippines.

After an overview of the state of agriculture in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and various natural calamities in the Philippines were presented, there were discussions on how to move forward from the pandemic with one speaker highlighting that because agriculture is an important segment in the nation’s economy, the rural areas are the safest places for economic recovery considering the less incidence of COVID 19. Improving the country’s state of agriculture—be it through shorter food miles, giving mind to consumer health and nutrition, or even having greater farmer shares—can help balance the nation’s economy, and possibly prevent further decline.

Next, was the discussion of the relationship between food security and nutrition. It was highlighted that it is difficult to measure level of access, and that a more practical solution would be to measure the nutritional status or intake of an individual. It was noted, however that the two are still independent of each other and should not be used interchangeably. The correlation between hunger and malnutrition was made more evident due to the pandemic. The main reasons being the lack of financial support to buy food; loss of job/income; the lack of or limited access to public transportation for food; limited access to nearby food stores; and the ageing community with no family members to purchase food for them.

The discussion that followed was on Rethinking sustainable consumption and lifestyles by Dr. Maria Assunta Cuyegkeng, who shared her insights on food sustainability as a systemic issue, and argued that with a Systems Thinking Approach, issues with food systems can be broken down to better see their interconnections. This method can also help one rethink and change one’s food consumption patterns and lifestyle by giving insight as to how much waste is produced or what sustainable consumption looks like.

Small-scale section of agriculture in the country was discussed next by Dr. Larry Digal, and Fr. Pedro Walpole with Dr. Digal stressing that in order to make the Philippine’s agriculture more equitable, it also has to be more inclusive especially in terms of rural connectivity. Fr. Walpole pointed out the need to reassess the entire system as a whole while paying attention to the small-small scale contributors. By introducing agroecology, farmers and businesses can attempt to mimic natural systems in its regenerative capability after farming and harvest.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Edgardo Valenzuela, the coordinator of the Food Security Advocate of the Overseas Filipinos’ Society for the Promotion of Economic Security, expressed that he hoped that this event can spark the curiosity in people to further contribute to dialogues such as this. One outcome from this webinar was the creation of a Facebook group for like-minded participants to continue discussions on sustainable food systems.

The recording of the dialogue can be accessed here.

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This year's meeting featured conversations on the current state of the SDGs in Canada, emerging opportunities for post-secondary institutions, networking breakout sessions, and a featured joint presentation by the Brookings Institution and Rockefeller Foundation on mobilizing campuses and communities for the SDGs using the 17 Rooms initiative. A lightning round of member initiatives was also included to highlight a portion of the SDG work happening across the network.

Recap the discussion by reading the meeting notes   or listening to the audio recordings for each session.

Meeting Highlights:

  • The SDSN Global annual Sustainable Development Report 2021  was released June 2021, tracking progress on the SDGs by country (Canada ranked 21st in the world). The report outlines the short-term impacts of COVID-19 on the SDGs and describes how the SDGs can frame the recovery.
  • The Government of Canada has released Canada’s National Strategy for the SDGs, Moving Forward Together. The strategy outlines a set of 30 actions towards the SDGs, including localizing the SDGs, supporting partnerships with Indigenous initiatives, and advancing research into the gaps in Canada's efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
  • The 17 Rooms initiative  is a tool for advancing SDG collaboration, community-centric conversations, and bottom-up action. There are three key principles of consideration:
    • Every SDG gets a seat at the table (a dedicated room).
    • Identify what the next step is, and not the perfect step. What are things you can do together over the next 12 to 18 months that you can implement action on the SDGs?
    • It is about conversations, not presentations. The goal is to learn from each other and create a community of practice.
    • Join the 17 Rooms-X Community of Practice to access the beta toolkit.
  • A ‘lightning round’ of presentations by members spotlighting SDG work from Colleges and Institutes Canada, the Interdisciplinary Research Center in the Operationalization of Sustainable Development (CIRODD), Vancouver Island University, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Waterloo.

The meeting was also a chance to invite the membership into initiatives designed to be more intentional about the network’s collective presence and impact. In this vein, the network thinks that the 17 Rooms process can be a critical resource for campus conversations on the SDGs. It also relaunched the Member Challenge , is starting the ‘SDG Teaching Community’ for faculty across the network, and is convening a small working group of interested members to talk about an enhanced governance structure for the network.

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