FoodFIRST organized a Vijverberg session on 29 August 2022, in response to the current African food security concerns, particularly the effects of rising food and fertilizer prices since the war in Ukraine. According to Prem Bindraban of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), this is a wake-up call regarding the need for a rapid increase in African food production and the promotion of soil health through the efficient use of fertilizers, which is currently extremely limited in the majority of African countries. Jan Willem Molenaar of AidEnvironment presented the essential components for sustainable sector transformation and how to achieve them through the development of coordinated and inclusive processes.

Socires organised her first Socires Lecture on June 27th, 2022 in the House of Europe in the Hague, the Netherlands. The lecture was hosted as one of the Vijverberg Policy Dialogues. Pieter van Geel, chairman of Socires introduced the lecture. Hans Bruning, acting director of Socires, moderated the afternoon. Professor Haroon Sheikh of the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) delivered the lecture followed by a dialogue with participants on "Geopolitics and the War in Ukraine: The Weaponization of the Economy and Food."

It is the first session of the year 2022 and, for the time being, the final session of our series on the external perspectives of the EU's Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy – a major component of the EU's larger Green Deal transition to combat climate change. Professor Alan Matthews of European Agricultural Policy in the Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland is the speaker for this virtual Vijverberg Policy Dialogue. He has authored numerous publications on agricultural policy, international trade, and food security.

The final session of 2021, which took place on 30 November, was virtually organized by foodFIRST and ECDPM. This concerned the second policy dialogue in our series on the external effects of the EU’s Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy. Our first session discussed the impact study of the US Department of Agriculture, which analyzed the economic consequences of several proposed targets in the F2F strategy based on three strategy adoption scenarios, finding a reduction in global agriculture production, higher food prices, less trade, and increased global food insecurity by 2030, particularly in Africa. This session focused on the implications of greening Europe for Africa’s food systems, its food security and its smallholder farmers. Given the interconnectedness of the trade and food systems on both continents, we want to have a discussion about the (un)intended impacts for Africa and policy responses to any spillover effects of the F2F strategy. So as to promote this objective foodFIRST has teamed up with ECDPM.