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United Nations Environment Programme
  • Overview
  • Agenda

Food saved is as important as food produced. Food availability must increase 70% by 2050 to feed the growing global population. Up to 40% of food is lost between farms and markets in sub-Saharan Africa, with two-thirds of this in the first mile. 80% of African farms are smaller than two hectares and they produce 70% of the continent’s total food.

Lack of effective cold-chain is estimated to directly result in losses of 475 million tons or 13% of total food production globally, which is worth $350 billion and enough to feed approximately 950 million people. Beyond the agricultural sector, COVID-19 and other vaccines requiring similar conditions place immense pressure on the cold-chain.

This Strategic Planning Summit is co-organised by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the United Nations Environment Programme’s United for Efficiency initiative (UNEP U4E), the Centre for Sustainable Cooling and the U.S. Department of Agricultural (USDA). Relevant experts from the public, private, and civil society communities will be invited by the organizers.  

Participants will showcase landmark initiatives in this domain, such as the burgeoning Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES), MCC’s Compact with Lesotho on cold chain, USDA’s support for farmers in Kenya, among others.

The goal of the Summit is to identify concrete opportunities for collaboration and investment to enhance the impact of existing initiatives and avoid duplication of effort. The focus is on sustainable and scalable cold-chain solutions (optimizing energy efficiency, integration of renewables, use of alternatives to conventional cooling, low global warming potential refrigerants, and systems-based approaches with appropriate business models and technologies for local markets).  

The format will be interactive, with a mix of plenary presentations followed by facilitated discussions to exchange perspectives and recommend priority actions for the near- and medium-terms.

BANNER

SESSION I: SCENE SETTING OF KEY ISSUES AND INITIATIVES

Master of Ceremony: Hao Wu, Cooling Specialist, UNEP U4E

Welcome remarks - 09:00 – 09:15

Mahmoud Bah, Deputy CEO, MCC

Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Dr Jeanne d’ Arc Mujawamariya, Honourable Minister of Environment, Government of Rwanda (video recording)

Strategic perspectives I 09:15 – 09:25

Fatou Ndoye, Deputy Director for North America, UNEP

Dr. Otto Gonzalez, Senior Director, Agricultural Economic Development (AED), USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

Situational Awareness on Sustainable Cold-Chains: Needs and Opportunities I 9:25 – 09:45

Key statistics, context and drivers 

Prof. Toby Peters, Co-Director, Centre for Sustainable Cooling

Steve Cowperthwaite, Head of International Stratospheric Ozone and Fluorinated GHGs, UK Dept. of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Overview of Cold-Chain Priorities, Technical Assistance and Initiatives in Africa: Presentations with Q&A I 09:45 -111:00

Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES) I 09:45-10:40

Juliet Kabera, Director General, Rwanda Environment Management Authority – ACES Vision and Rwanda’s Commitment

Brian Holuj, Cooling Portfolio Manager, UNEP U4E – Collaborative Model and Resource Mobilization

Prof. Nosa Egiebor, Deputy Vice Chancellor, U. of Rwanda ­­­– Headquarters Campus and Academic Collaboration

Prof. Judith Evans, Researcher - Air Conditioning & Refrigeration and lead of food cold chain group, London South Bank – Demonstration Hall 

Dr. Natalia Falagan, Lecturer in Food Science and Tech, Cranfield University – Post Harvest Management and Agri Food System  

Jimmy Washington, Director, Sustainability and Cold Chain Development, Carrier – Industry Engagement

International Finance I 10:40 -11:00

Martina Bosi, Senior Energy Economist, World Bank – Clean Cooling Facility

Katie Freeman, Senior Agriculture Economist, World Bank – Agricultural Cold Chain

Overview of Cold Chain Priorities, Technical Assistance and Initiatives in Africa: Presentations with Q&A I 11:15 -12:35

U.S. Government I 11:15 -11:45

Shoshana Griffith, Foreign Agricultural Affairs Officer (Trainee), AED, USDA FAS

Eric Trachtenberg, Practice Lead and Senior Director for Land & Agriculture Economy, MCC

Myrlene Chrysostome, Associate Agriculture Director, MCC

Pat Hughes, Cold Chain Consultant, MCC

Ann Vaughan, Senior Climate Advisor and FLW Co-Lead, USAID

Dr. Ahmed Kablan, Senior Science Advisor – Food Safety, USAID

Academia and Civil Society I 11:45 – 12:05

Prof. Rick Brandenburg, Distinguished Professor and Associate Director for Global Extension in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University

Prof. Jose Cisneros, Horticulture Science, North Carolina State University,

Dr. Jan Low, Principal Scientist, International Potato Center, and 

Robert Drozdowski, SE Regional Manager, Agricontrol - Kenya Solar Cold Storage for Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato

Philanthropic Engagement I 12:35 -13:35

Noah Horowitz, Director of the Clean Cooling Collaborative, Climate Works Foundation

SESSION II: WORKSHOPS ON ENHANCING COLLABORATION ACROSS INITIATIVES I 13:45 - 16:50

Master of Ceremony: Issy McFarlane, International Cooling Senior Policy Advisor, DEFRA

How should ACES accelerate deployment of sustainable solutions I 13:45 - 14:20

Facilitator of group discussion: Kevin Fay, Executive Director, Global Food Cold Chain Council

Building capacity via education and training I 14:20 -14:55

Facilitator of group discussion: Brian Dean, Head of Energy Efficiency and Cooling, Sustainable Energy for All

Scaling-up funding and finance for cold chain solutions I 14:55 - 15:10

Facilitator of group discussion: Selçuk Tanatar, Principal Operations Officer, International Finance Corporation

Coordinating policy interventions and outreach I  15:10 - 15:45

Facilitator of group discussion: Amanda Brondy, Senior Director for International Projects, Global Cold Chain Alliance

Key Takeaways and Call to Action I15:45-16:20

Facilitator of open floor reflections: Andrea Voigt, Global Public Affairs Lead, Danfoss.

Final Remarks by the Summit Organizers I 16:20 - 16:50

 

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