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// Data is key: Two donor driven initiatives striving to close knowledge gaps and inform efficient and sustainable strategies
In an era of information abundance, why are we not seeing more evidence-based decision? This question is raised by two initiatives that have formed lately. Ceres2030 looks at the benefits, costs and trade-offs of agricultural interventions to ensure effective action. For this initiative, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Cornell University and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have joined forces and presented their endeavour at CFS45 in Rome earlier this month. Ceres2030 is supported by BMZ Germany and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, both members of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development. This is for a good reason. The initiative aims at finding out the most effective ways to end hunger sustainably and calculating the costs of the interventions linked with it. The process will involve both policy-makers and the scientific and donor communities. The initiative plans to go public with focused contributions by the end of next year. A media cooperation with Nature, the leading multidisciplinary science journal, will assure that the findings reach a broad audience.
A related goal is pursued by the “50 by 2030 Initiative”, that was introduced on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018 by a coalition of members of the GDPRD, including USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DFAT Australia, World Bank, FAO, IFAD, BMZ Germany and European Union. The initiative is based on the consensus that technology innovation and the affordability of quality data are critical to deliver to SDG 2, “Zero Hunger”. At the starting point of the initiative, only two out of 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have high-quality agriculture data available. Closing this knowledge gap means to enable agriculture programmes to best reach their potential. Donors have initially committed three-quarters of the 16.2 million US Dollars necessary to support the first years of data collection efforts.
Find out more about these two initiatives here:
Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger  Weblink
Donors Announce “50 by 2030 Initiative” for Data to End Hunger Weblink
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// New GDPRD work stream on youth
A popular view holds that nothing is more promising than being young. Reality, however, shows that throughout the world being young and living in rural areas equals a twofold challenge. The 2017 G20 Summit signalled a clear political commitment of the international community to improve the efforts to empower youth in rural areas, as heads of state agreed on a rural Youth Employment Initiative. The relevance of this issue for the donor community was also reflected in the 2018 Annual General Assembly of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development.
As of October 2018, the Board of the Global Donor Platform has taken a decision to establish a work stream on Youth. The workstream will be made up of 50 percent youth representatives and 50 percent development partners. This partnership model, which is unprecedented at the Platform, demonstrates the commitment of both donors and young agriculturalists to collaborate on this issue of shared importance.
Next steps will include establishing a functional youth workspace on the Global Donor Platform website, developing an outreach strategy for engaging all relevant youth networks and setting-up a work plan. We will report on the progress of the work stream in one of the next eUpdates.
Opportunities for the Rural Youth Agenda Weblink
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// Domestic investors transforming land governance in developing countries
 In times of growing competition over land and pressure over businesses for sustainable and responsible conduct, society often turn its eyes to large foreign agribusiness as the first key stakeholder to partner with or to blame in case of wrongdoing. While these foreign investors can be of great importance for national economies, another stakeholder group often plays just as a great role (if not greater) in the welfare of a country: domestic investors. But who are these domestic investors? And how are they supporting and/or challenging the responsible governance of land tenure and contributing to food security?
A session at the 2018 Global Land Forum, in Bandung, Indonesia, organised by the Global Donor Working Group on Land, looked at these questions and shed light on the role and potential of domestic investors and the challenges that are involved when dealing with responsible land tenure.
Read the full story:
How domestic investors are transforming land governance in developing countries Weblink
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// Members and partners strategies, publications and events
Prindex
Prindex – an initiative to assess people’s perception of their land tenure security has just launched its first official results. In the initial 15 countries surveyed, 25 percent of citizens are concerned that their property could be taken away from them.
Link Download the report (5,6 MB PDF)
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// About us
Stephen Potter is the new focal point of Global Affairs Canada to the Platform.
Torben Nilsson is the new focal point of IFAD to the Platform.
Esse Nilsson is the new focal point of SIDA, Sweden, to the Platform.
Svetlana Silova, Office Manager, and Jedi Bukachi, Advisor, will leave the Secretariat of the Global Donor Platform on October 31st 2018 and take up new positions at GIZ.
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