About the Two Degree Initiative
CCAFS formed the ‘Two Degree Initiative’ (2DI) as a coalition of hundreds of like-minded partner organizations from around the world, brought together with a single unifying vision – to transform the global food system for a climate-smart future.
2DI’s ambition is to reach 200 million farmers in ten participating Regional Challenges that include low- and middle-income countries. It organizes its projects around a set of six emerging themes that align with a rigorous theory of change developed by CCAFS.
Six emerging findings from the listening sessions | |
1 | Forging a new partnership model for CGIAR, where CGIAR is a key knowledge partner in coalitions of change agents, led by change agents |
2 | Research and action on sustainable finance for small-scale agricultural producers, bringing in USD 100s of millions to foster climate action, implying a strong private sector focus |
3 | Research and action to empower small-scale agricultural producers, women, youth and marginalized communities as groups that are most vulnerable to climate change |
4 | Climate-informed digital advisories, services and decision support to ensure that small-scale agricultural producers and their service providers and value chain actors are getting the appropriate information and services to manage risks, grow farmer incomes and expand employment opportunities |
5 | Attention to research and action on policy and institutional reforms, as the policy and institutional context is crucial to achieve scale and transformation |
6 | Mainstreaming low emissions value chains, including attention to the necessary changes in consumption and food loss and waste (while much of the work will be on adaptation, the intention is to put development on a low emissions pathway) |
The coalition marshals the science and policy expertise of the global CGIAR network and its partners to catalyze positive change it seeks. It positions CGIAR - which is already on track to help improve the livelihood opportunities of hundreds of millions of small-scale farming families and consumers by 2030 - as a major player to meet triple goals of food security, adaptation and mitigation.
But 2DI doubles down on CGIAR’s existing efforts with a decade long-plan reach another 200 million small-scale agricultural producers across the globe by adaptation of their agro-ecological systems, livelihoods and landscapes by 2030.
Indeed, the 2DI initiative forges a new partnership model for the CGIAR and greatly raises the role of the private sector as a key agent of change. CGIAR is one of the knowledge partners in a coalition of development and private sector actors aiming to enhance markets for small-scale agricultural producers and achieve ambitious development, adaptation and mitigation targets.
For CCAFS, 2DI is the next step in evolution, building on its track record as local, regional, continental and global convener of stakeholders—the usual and unusual suspects alike—to infuse climate and food security science with the power of partnerships.
The 2DI Listening Sessions
Over a thousand stakeholders were consulted through more than 50 meetings held between May – October 2020. These were led by CCAFS and the World Resources Institute (WRI), which co-manages the Global Commission on Adaptation and is a leading partner in the 2DI coalition.
The goal of the Listening Sessions was to develop a common vision of climate resilient agriculture and food systems for each of ten participating Regional Challenges.
The sessions (held virtually because of the COVID-19 situation) resulted in a roadmap of actions and partnerships required to achieve the common vision of each region. In addition, they helped to identify (preliminarily at least) global topics for rigorous Research for Development (R4D) programs to be led by the CGIAR and its regional partners, all of which are locally-informed and designed to lead to transformational change on the ground.
The forthcoming CCAFS-WRI virtual seminar will see 2DI partners report back on the results of the process and present the emerging global R4D topics.
Completed and planned listening sessions
| Challenge geography | Date |
|---|---|
| One-Health Platform in West Africa | Kickoff webinar: 30 June, 2020 In-person consultation: TBD Point of contact: May-Guri Saethre, IITA, m.saethre@cgiar.org |
| Food System Resilience in the Sahel | Virtual consultation: 9 July, 2020 In-person consultation: TBD Point of contact: Anthony Whitbread, ICRISAT, a.whitbread@cgiar.org |
| Water-Secure Livelihoods in Southern Africa | Kickoff webinar: 25 May, 2020 National virtual consultations: 4–17 June and 29 July 2020 Thematic virtual consultations: 18–19 June and 2–3 July, 2020 Point of contact: Inga Jacobs-Mata, IWMI, i.jacobs-mata@cgiar.org |
| Resilient Livelihoods in MENA and Horn of Africa | MENA: Kickoff webinar: 22 June, 2020 Thematic virtual consultations: 23–24 June, 2020 Summarizing round table: 29 June, 2020 Horn of Africa: Kickoff webinar: 15 July, 2020 Point of contact: Ajit Govind, ICARDA, a.govind@cgiar.org |
| Securing Asian Mega-Deltas | Kickoff webinar: 30 June, 2020 Regional virtual consultations: 14 July: Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta 21 July: Mekong Delta 23 July: Ayeyarwady Delta 4 August: Synthesizing stakeholder workshop
Point of contact: Bjoern Ole Sander, IRRI, b.sander@irri.org |
| Resilient Households in Latin America | Thematic virtual consultations: 14–17 July, 2020 (details available here) Point of contact: Ana María Loboguerrero, CIAT, a.m.loboguerrero@cgiar.org |
| Low-Emission Meat and Dairy in Latin America | Dialogue Series Launch: 4 August, 2020 (details available in English and Spanish) Point of contact: Todd Rosenstock, ICRAF, t.rosenstock@cgiar.org |
| Circular Bio-Economy in Five Major Cities | Dates TBD Point of contact: Christopher Martius, CIFOR, c.martius@cgiar.org |
Blogs & news
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Partners in the stakeholder engagements
- One-Health Platform in West Africa: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Biorisk Management Facility (BIMAF), Benin Ministry of Agriculture, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), and West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF)
- Food System Resilience in the Sahel: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), World Bank, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel (CILSS), and West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)
- Water-Secure Livelihoods in Southern Africa: International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
- Resilient Livelihoods in MENA and Horn of Africa: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Egypt, WorldFish, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Wageningen University & Research (WUR)
- Securing Asian Mega-Deltas: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and WorldFish
- Resilient Households in Latin America: World Food Programme (WFP), World Bank, The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, International Potato Center (CIP), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and Global Center on Adaptation (GCA)
- Low-Emission Meat and Dairy in Latin America: World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA), and the World Resources Institute (WRI)
- Circular Bio-Economy in Five Major Cities: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)