To advance agricultural and food systems, CGIAR instituted eight unique Regional Grand Challenges (RGC) focusing on generating different radical innovations in technology and practice. These challenges are all under the umbrella of the Two Degree Initiative for Food and Agriculture. As one of the eight challenges, One-Health aims to address the risks of climate change and how the world’s food systems and small-scale farmers can adapt at the speed and scale needed.
Through its Biorisk Management Facility (BIMAF) in Benin, IITA is leading the One-Health RGC, which aims to support farmers in managing biorisks and climate-driven food-health risks. This regional challenge will give particular focus to cross-government approaches in addressing these risks, institutionalized capabilities for early detection of emerging threats and rapid response, and new technologies for biocontrol. West Africa will serve as a model for what is achievable before scaling to other regions.
This webinar aims to bring together major project stakeholders to get their perspectives on major pest and disease challenges in West and Central Africa; get advice on how the One-Health Regional Grand Challenge can add value to ongoing and planned initiatives under the four strategic priorities of RGC1; and set the scene for the face-to-face meeting of the Grand Challenge scheduled for mid-September.
The One-Health Regional Grand Challenge is meant to provide support to agricultural producers’ management of biorisks, cross-government approaches to address climate-driven food-health risks, institutionalized capabilities for early detection of emerging threats and rapid response, and new technologies for biocontrol. This region will serve as a model for what can be achieved, prior to scaling to other regions.
