Expert Panels 2027 · 11:00–12:30

EXPERT PANEL 5

One Shock Away: Securing Means of Production through Bundled Resilience

Organisers: International Fund for Agricultural Development

Language: English

The 2026 Hormuz shock took urea to 93% of its record and crude to

Sprache:20 four times faster than in 2022 – inside one planting season, faster than credit, insurance or subsidy schemes can react. Unlike 2022, there was no output-price cushion (staples +21% against tripled urea), and the shock landed on active drought and a near-record El Niño peaking through 2027. This panel asks how to secure essential means of production – fertiliser, energy, water, seed – when 3–4 countries supply 70–76% of phosphate and potash and shocks cascade across sectors.

Its core message, drawn from IFAD analysis of programmes in Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Türkiye and Viet Nam, is that securing inputs holds only when bundled with markets and finance. Solar irrigation cut Bangladeshi pumping costs 60%; bio-fertiliser training tied to index insurance let Kenyan farmers replant within days of drought, doubling resilience scores.

Themes: reducing single-source dependency through organic fertilisers, nutrient efficiency and renewable energy; making finance fast enough to beat a three-month spike; ensuring markets pass prices through to producers.

Motivation: economic resilience is shared. Europe faced its worst drought on record in 2026 alongside the same fertiliser bill. Less import-dependent producer countries mean steadier trading partners, lower food-price volatility for European consumers and demand for German know-how in solar irrigation, circular nutrients and agricultural insurance.

EXPERT PANEL 6

Resilient Food Systems in South East Europe: Climate Adaptation, Generational Renewal and Gradual EU Integration

Organisers: Agricultural Policy Dialogue Germany – South East Europe

Language: English

Food systems in South East Europe face major structural challenges. The region is particularly exposed to climate risks and demographic change. Farms and food businesses struggle with volatile market conditions and competitiveness. At the same time, renewed momentum in EU integration creates concrete opportunities for modernisation and investment.

The panel brings together perspectives from policy, business, science and regional cooperation. How can climate adaptation, generational renewal and economic integration reinforce each other: Which approaches and investments increase resilience? How can young people and businesses benefit from new opportunities in agriculture, food and rural value chains? And how can gradual integration into EU structures generate benefits already before accession?

The panel will identify practical approaches for regional cooperation, business partnerships and knowledge exchange. It is connected to the joint BMLEH/SWG ministerial meeting focusing on operationalizing “gradual integration” in the areas of agriculture, food, forestry and rural development to be held during GFFA.

[Additional note: SWG is planning to be present at the GFFA Innovation Forum with a booth, providing an additional opportunity for follow-up discussions and exchange with regional partners.]

EXPERT PANEL 7

From Innovation to Resilience: How Can Modern Technologies Strengthen Plant-Based Agri-Food Systems?

Organisers: Julius Kühn-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen · Leibniz-Institut für Gartenbauwissenschaften, IGZ

Language: English

In our expert panel, we will explore with various stakeholders how the resilience of plant-based agri-food systems can be enhanced through innovation, integrating perspectives from science, practice, and policy. Key considerations revolve around using digital technologies such as AI, predictive models, and sensors to support informed decision-making, as well as on identifying areas where trade-offs may arise. The potential of digital tools for small and medium-sized farms, as well as their robustness during disruptive events and uncertainty, will be explored. It will be discussed how biological innovations – including microbiome-based solutions, biological crop protection methods, and plant-strengthening agents – can complement technical solutions and contribute to the resilience of the overall system, particularly when combined with modern breeding techniques and the cultivation of locally adapted crops.

The role of farms as resilience hubs and the transfer of innovations from research to practical application are reflected against the backdrop of stakeholders’ knowledge and skills, the broad acceptance of innovations, the profitability of the new solutions, and the efficiency of knowledge transfer processes.

The expert panel will finally discuss with the plenary how innovation policy can evolve into a policy of resilience by combining technological and biological solutions that are safe, equitable, and widely applicable.

EXPERT PANEL 8

Safeguarding health – facilitating trade: regionalization and vaccination as balanced One Health approaches in a globalized world?

Organisers: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH) · Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut

Language: English

The global livestock sector is facing multiple challenges, and thus technically sound and politically accepted rules and measures to protect animal health and enable safe trade are more important than ever before. The panel “Safeguarding health – facilitating trade: regionalization and vaccination as balanced One Health approaches in a globalized world?” will bring together diverse perspectives on vaccination and regionalization as complementary tools for safeguarding animal health and facilitating international trade. While it is crucial to prepare global value chains for the future, we also need to acknowledge the implications of disease spread and control within a wider One Health perspective. In this panel, we will cover different perspectives that can help to improve the understanding on how challenges and opportunities are perceived in countries and regions with different economic and social realities.

Furthermore, the panel aims to foster constructive dialogue on how science-based tools – vaccination and regionalization – can reconcile animal health imperatives with the economic realities of global agricultural trade, including how these tools can ambiguously impact wildlife and the environment.