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Breakout Sessions
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The Small Island Developing States Solutions Forum 'Breakout Sessions' will take a deep dive into specific thematic areas, highlighting innovative solutions and successes from government and partner groups around the globe that can transform agrifood systems in the Pacific Islands region. Each of the Breakout Sessions will be divided under the themes of FAO's Strategic Objectives: Better Production; Better Environment; Better Nutrition; and, Better Life. Participants can find below a comprehensive list of all breakout sessions per 'Better' with time and date as well as venue.
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How to Register: How to Register: We welcome all registered forum participants to please register for breakout sessions under each 'Better'. Each 'Better' will have four breakout sessions running in parallel to one another. All participants are requested to review the breakdown list below and identify two priority breakout sessions you are interested in. Kindly complete the below registration link (REGISTER NOW*) and chose your two breakout sessions of interest for each of the four 'Betters', e.g. Participant Y, selects BOSBP1 and BOSBP2 for Better Production, and will do the same to selected two for the other three remaining 'Betters'. The organizing team will then allocate you in one session based on your priority list and based on the availability of slots. Every effort will be made to place participants in one of the two selected breakout sessions they have chosen, however we may have to place participants depending on slot availability. Registration for breakout sessions will be closed on COB Monday 4 November 2024.
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REGISTER NOW
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*Please contact fiasili.lam@fao.org should you require assistance to access the online Registration Form
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Better Production
Day Two: Wednesday, 6 November 2024
11:30-13:00hrs		Better Environment
Day Two: Wednesday, 6 November 2024
16:15-17:45hrs 		Better Nutrition
Day Three: Thursday, 7 November 2024
11:30-13:00hrs		 Better Life
Day Four: Friday, 8 November 2024
11:30-13:00hrs
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BOSBP1
Title: Building a Blue Pacific Continent through Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Description: Coastal fisheries and aquaculture both play an important role in providing protein sources and livelihood opportunities in many Pacific SIDS. Currently, there is a ‘food’ gap emerging between the amount of seafood required for ever increasing human populations. The effects of climate change are expected to widen this gap. Diversifying the supply of fish can assist Pacific SIDS to become more resilient. To optimise the contributions of fisheries and aquaculture for Pacific SIDS, solutions are required. Also important is the utilisation of science and technology, the development of appropriate policies and regulatory environments, increasing market and value-adding opportunities, and developing capacity and partnerships.
Organisers: The Pacific Community (SPC), Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Venue/Room Name: Rewa Room
Contact: Jeffrey.Kinch@fao.org


BOSBE1
Title: Creating disaster resilient Food Systems
Description: This break-out session seeks to address innovative ways to increase and provide systems of agri-food self-reliance in rural and remote areas for immediate and post-disaster resilience. The impact of natural disasters in the pacific islands is increasingly severe and being prepared for these events is essential. The challenge is particularly great for the regional and remote areas which may be hampered from factors such as the lack of access to local markets or the inability to obtain easy supply of fresh food from other unaffected islands. Furthermore, the reliance on imported goods for disaster food relief is both difficult and costly, with funds not returning to the local economy and often the food relief provided is very low in nutritional value. The urgent need to improve and strengthen localised agri-food systems for increased disaster preparedness and resilience will become even more important in the years to come. This session will expose participants to various innovative solutions from within the Pacific region, aimed directly towards improving local resilience to these naturally occurring disasters, as one of the most vulnerable regions of the world.
Organisers: Ministry of Agriculture Livestock Forestry Fisheries & Biosecurity (MALFFB), Tanna Coffee, FAO Emergency Management Centre (EMC),
Venue/Room Name: Gardenia Room
Contact: sajames@vanuatu.gov.vu


BOSBN1
Title: Innovative approaches to scaling up/translating solutions for Better Nutrition and overall well-being of the populations-addressing SDGs 1,2,3,10 and 17
Description: Better Nutrition relates to access to healthy diets in order to enhance nutritional intake. This session will focus on a few case studies in the region that have paved the way in identifying strategies to address some of the issues through nutrition education; nutrient sensitive agriculture ; and recognition of indigenous knowledge regarding food production and consumption is important for health and wellbeing. Based on the case studies, there will be an opportunity for participants in the session to breakout into groups to discuss some key issues that relate to overall health and wellbeing in SIDS
Organiser: Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales Sydney
Venue/Room Name: Frangipani Room
Contact: j.arcot@unsw.edu.au


BOSBL1
Title:Leveraging Partnership with Private Sector to Enhance Market Linkages, Access to Finance, and Agricultural Inputs for Smallholder Farmers in Fiji
Description: This session addresses the critical challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Fiji and the Pacific region, focusing on market linkages, access to finance, and access to agricultural inputs. The session showcases how innovative solutions can help bridge these gaps by connecting smallholder farmers with buyers, improving access to capital, and enhancing access to essential agricultural inputs like organic fertilizers. It also explores the role of innovative private sector partnerships in overcoming the unique challenges of reaching smallholder farmers at scale, particularly in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Organiser: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Market Development Facility (MDF) and CyberFood
Venue/Room Name: Orchid Room
Contact: zeituna.mustafa.abdi@uncdf.org


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BOSBP2
Title: Economic, hygienic and humane methods for sustainable livestock production
Description: Animal health has an overarching impact on the profitability of livestock production and, providing cost-effective solutions to manage common ailments in animals is the need of the hour to combat public health concerns like antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In the pacific, producers and meat retailers also have limited access to abattoirs and slaughterhouses which is compounded by lack of training and waste disposal facilities, causing environment and health concerns. Adopting the strategies like ethnoveterinary practices (EVP) to combat AMR and, improving the slaughtering standards through low technology equipment could be pivotal in the One Health approach in making livestock production more hygienic and sustainable.
Organisers: The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), The University of Trans-disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology (TDU), & MINTRAC
Venue/Room Name: Frangipani Room
Contact: Clive@mintrac.com.au ; profpunniya@gmail.com; avhk@nddb.coop; nair.mnb@tdu.edu.in


BOSBE2
Title: Navigating uncertainty: Customizing climate information for agrifood system solutions
Description: Agri-food and blue food systems have always been highly influenced by environmental conditions. On the land and in the sea, climate change has made farming and fishing conditions unpredictable and costly. Farmers and fishers, particularly in small island developing states (SIDS), are challenged by long-term shifts in climate patterns and short-term weather extremes. This session discusses the challenges and opportunities of adapting agri-food and coastal fishery systems to a rapidly changing climate through climate forecasting and modelling. It also discusses the intrinsic link between land and sea ecosystems and opportunities to integrate often-separated studies into planning. Food production systems are intrinsically linked via the interconnected land-sea ecosystems that support them, feed interconnections, and climate-related risks. However, marine and terrestrial systems are typically treated separately. Because separation risks missing key interactions and trade-offs that may threaten continued provision to meet demand and the effectiveness of proposed solutions, there have been recent calls for improved integration.
Organisers: Australian National University (ANU) & Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) & University of Tasmania
Venue/Room Name: Frangipani Room
Contact: Bianca.Suarez@anu.edu.au; julia.blanchard@utas.edu.au


BOSBN2
Title:Home Grown and Climate Friendly School Food Provision – Pacific Pathways
Description: There is a plethora of global evidence on the multiple benefits of school meal programs including improved child nutrition and health, school attendance and educational outcomes as well as employment generation. Programs based on ‘home-grown’ models – that is – school meal programs that source food locally also have potential to transform local food systems, enhance climate resilience and generate sustainable income for smallholder farmers. To date, there has been little research to guide governments and programs on the best approaches for the Pacific. The breakout session will highlight Pacific examples of school food and generate research priorities for school food in the Pacific.
Organiser: Pacific School Food Network
Venue/Room Name: Gardenia Room
Contact: sburkhar@usc.edu.au


BOSBL2
Title: Tools to enable atoll island communities to transform their food systems despite future uncertainty
Description: Greater urgency, ambition and mind-set change is needed to transform food systems in Atoll Islands through integrated approaches that are locally led. Drawing from two projects supported by Australian Aid, this session will demonstrate a combination of planning processes and learning tools developed through practice in Kiribati, Tuvalu and Fiji. These include food systems mapping, visioning and adaptation pathways that identify future risks and opportunities. Mobilisation of pathways through knowledge brokering and social learning ensures that transformation can occur, despite future uncertainty as to when and how climate shocks will occur. This session will explore how integrated food systems transformation and changing mind-sets can be scaled out and sustained across the Pacific.
Organiser: Live & Learn Environmental Education & Cawthorn Institute
Venue/Room Name: Gardenia Room
Contact: christian.nielsen@livelearn.org


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BOSBP3
Title: Application of innovative nuclear techniques to support sustainable agrifood transformation in the context of changing climate
Description: The session will share with the participants the unique experiences of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre in applying nuclear and associated techniques in food and agriculture, more specifically on: Crop Production; Insect Pest Control; Animal Production and Health; Soil and Water Management; and, Food Safety and Control. The session will further discuss the scalability of the technology solutions in the Pacific countries and explore possibilities for partnerships and collaboration in the application of identified suitable solutions in the Pacific
Organiser: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture
Venue/Room Name: Gardenia Room
Contact: d.feng@iaea.org; m.spisiakova@iaea.org


BOSBE3
Title: Approaches/Solutions to avert, minimize and address loss and damage from the impacts of climate change in Pacific SIDS
Description: Hazards, exposure and vulnerability, generates impacts and risks that can surpass limits to adaptation and result in loss and damage[1]. Losses and damages refer to the adverse observed impacts and/or projected risks of climate change and these impacts can be economic and/or non-economic[2]. Across the range of solutions to avert, minimize and address loss and damage from climate change, there are gaps in mitigation, adaptation, as well as disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, anticipatory action, response, and recovery[3]. The Warsaw international mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impacts, to address loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change, including extreme events and slow onset events in developing countries was established at COP19 and at COP27, and a breakthrough agreement was reached to establish a funding arrangement for responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including a focus on addressing loss and damage for vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters.The approach should be provided through partnerships and sequenced financing across climate change action actors, humanitarian, development, civil society, women and youth, as well as the public and private sector.
Organisers: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction & FAO
Venue/Room Name: Orchid Room
Contact: amin.shamseddini@un.org ; Malia.talakai@fao.org


BOSBN3
Title:By the Pacific, for the Pacific: Driving transformational change through real-world training, research, and education
Description: Limited technical and human resource capacity are cited as major challenges impacting the effectiveness and sustainability of agricultural production, environmental conservation, and human health and nutrition projects in the Pacific Islands region. Here, Pacific Island governments and communities are held responsible for the failings of their agricultural, environmental, and nutritional health systems, and for the environmental and human health crises as a result. Yet, underlying these challenges is a global system that, too often, reinforces inequitable access to the latest scientific knowledge and practice, financing, and culturally and geographically appropriate technology, education, and knowledge translation. We have a different story to tell!
In this interactive breakout session, we share the success of innovative and collaborative tertiary education and training opportunities, and educational tools that demonstrate when given equitable access to the latest science, and high-quality education and training including working on real-world projects in the region, Pacific peoples drive transformational change in their communities.
Organiser: The University of Newcastle, Australia &The Government of Cook Islands Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health
Venue/Room Name: Rewa Room
Contact: sascha.fuller@newcastle.edu.au; nana.cuthers@cookislands.gov.ck


BOSBL3
Title: Better infrastructure and decent jobs in rural areas: The role of employment-intensive investments.
Description: Enhancing transport infrastructure can significantly improve living standards by directly impacting the quality of lives of women and men in rural communities. Employment-intensive investments link infrastructure development with the creation of decent employment, poverty reduction and the broader goals of local economic and social development. This session will discuss the EU-funded STREIT Programme, currently implemented in the East and West Sepik Provinces of Papua New Guinea, as an example of how employment-intensive investments can generate tangible socio-economic benefits to rural communities. The rehabilitation and maintenance of roads improved the access for cocoa and vanilla farmers to markets and created employment opportunities, thereby increasing household incomes, allowing workers to invest in their children's education and to even launch small businesses. The programme also increased the capacity of government institutions, contractors and local communities, ensuring long-term sustainability.
Organiser: International Labour Organization (ILO)
Venue/Room Name: RewaRoom
Contact: viegelahn@ilo.org


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BOSBP4
Title: Pacific Agribusiness Champions Showcase 2024
Description: Fostering the growth of small to medium businesses in the agricultural sector is crucial to food system development. This breakout session will highlight the nine finalists of a recently conducted Pacific Agri-innovate Competition, which was run in Fiji, Samoa and Solomon Islands. These nine startup agribusinesses have received ‘bootcamp’ training during October 2024 under an EU-funded project aimed at strengthening domestic agrifood systems in the Pacific. At this interactive session, the nine agribusinesses will ‘pitch’ their innovation and business model to the audience, while the three country governments will elaborate on their policy approach to agribusiness support.
Organiser: FAO and Business Assistance Fiji (BAF), in collaboration with the Governments of Fiji, Samoa and Solomon Islands and funded by the European Union Delegation
Venue/Room Name: Orchid Room
Contact: genevieve.hussain@fao.org


BOSBE4
Title: Agrochemical Management in the Context off the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions: Challenges and Solutions from the Pacific SIDS
Description: Pacific Small Island States (Pacific SIDS) are amongst the most vulnerable to climate change threatening the survival of the blue pacific continent. Pacific Leader’s commitments to 2050 amongst other priorities is “to protect our ocean and environment’ by committing to safeguard the integrity of our natural systems and biodiversity through conservation action and by minimizing activities that degrade, pollute, overexploit or undermine our ocean and natural environment. Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) may cause occupational, accidental or intentional poisoning including the long-term health effects associated with the use of pesticides can be detrimental to human health. Damage to the environment such as threats to biodiversity and ecosystems services on which our food production depends, including nutrient recycling, soil respiration, leaf litter decomposition, pollination and biological best control, can be a real threat. Therefore, Agrochemical management in the Pacific SIDS is crucial in maintaining sustainable agriculture production through non-chemical solution practices and safer working conditions for farmers to minimize the adverse impacts of pesticides and other toxic chemicals.
Organisers: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Venue/Room Name: Rewa Room
Contact: zhang6@un.org ; selesitina.ilimaleota@un.org ; Malia.Talakai@fao.org


BOSBN4
Title: Cost of Diet Analysis and complementary actions towards affordable healthy diets
Description: This breakout session will discuss examples of analytical and information-based tools that can be used in the journey towards making healthy diets based on local foods a reality at country level. A collaboration of the ‘Rome-Based Agencies’ (WFP, FAO and IFAD), the session will highlight what a ‘Cost of Diet’ analysis is. The session will include a panel discussion on how CoD and other complementary tools from RBAs can together give country governments a picture of how affordable a healthy diet currently is, helping to initiate changes in food and agriculture policies and programs.
Organiser: Rome Based Agencies: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationas (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
Venue/Room Name: Orchid Room
Contact: genevieve.hussain@fao.org


BOSBL4
Title: Harnessing Mobile Technology for Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring: A Deep Dive into WFP's mVAM Tool in the Pacific.
Description: This side event will explore the innovative use of WFP's Mobile Vulnerability Assessment and Monitoring (mVAM) tool in the Pacific for real-time food security and nutrition monitoring. Highlighting examples from the recent disaster response contexts in the region, the session will demonstrate how mVAM supports rapid data collection to enhance decision-making. The event will also examine how the Fiji Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways integrates mVAM into its national planning processes, promoting sustainability and national ownership.
Organiser: World Food Programme - Pacific Multi Country Office
Venue/Room Name: Frangipani Room
Contact: saidamon.bodamaev@wfp.org


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