​​The progress made towards reaching the millennium development goals (MDGs) and the significance of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) were covered in a recent workshop, organised by Elina Amadhila, an Iso Lomso fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study​. The workshop focused on promoting productive and sustainable agricultural practices with a specific focus on social protection. The presenters (from various institutes in Africa and elsewhere) highlighted the necessity of ongoing action. They also explored the nexus between social security, poverty and food insecurity and shed light on the differences across nations' attempts to reduce poverty.

Prof Mmapatla P. Senyolo from the University of Limpopo argued that while some nations have achieved the MDGs for reducing poverty with impressive success, others have lagged behind. This emphasises the need for ongoing efforts to reduce hunger and poverty after 2025. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reports between 2015 and 2022, around three (3) billion people worldwide have trouble affording a balanced diet. The majority of these people live in rural areas and depend primarily on agriculture as their main source of income. There is an urgent need for action given the frightening level of food insecurity.

Prof. Dieter Von Fintel, professor of Economics at Stellenbosch University emphasised the importance of a comprehensive strategy that combines ongoing public and private investments with social security measures to address the complex issues of poverty and food insecurity. Social security may provide a potential route out of poverty when it is combined with inclusive economic growth.

This is fundamentally a multifaceted problem, due to the intersection of social protection policies with important issues such as urbanisation and climate change. Unexpected events, including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and wars such as the one between Russia and Ukraine, have increased the pressure on social protection institutions and food supply networks. These factors have accelerated the rise in food costs worldwide, heightening the threat of global food insecurity.

Sustainable agricultural methods that include contemporary technology while honouring conventional farming expertise have been suggested as complementary approaches to address these problems. Agriculture that pollutes the environment or damages natural resources stands in danger of reducing its long-term production. In addition to endangering farmers' capacity to make a living, unsustainable practices 'do not satisfy the demands of society as a whole (producers, distributors and consumers).

In the fields of social protection and agriculture, the idea of climate-smart agriculture has become a workable tactic. In addition, the introduction of royalty-free seeds to farmers can be supported by the development of policy frameworks. The success of the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project (as presented by Prof. MP Senyolo) highlighted the significance of designing interventions for particular national settings.

According to Dr Olayinka Kareem from the University of Hohenheim, an inclusive policy that would discourage desertification and ensure the best management practices in the application of synthetic fertilisers and the use of clean energy to protect the ecosystem and the environment is needed to promote sustainable agriculture.

Prof MP Senyolo also noted that the design of social protection programmes frequently lacked consideration for nutrition and food security. To better identify and address the risks and vulnerabilities encountered by diverse population segments in both large-scale and smallholder farming and in the informal and formal sectors, stakeholders from all sectors must collaborate.

In the fields of social protection and agriculture, the idea of climate-smart agriculture has become a workable tactic. Programmatic and policy social protection interventions can incentivise environmentally resilient and socially equitable agricultural practices. Examples of this were discussed by Dr Mallika Sardeshpande representing the Centre for Transformative Agriculture and Food Systems, University of KwaZulu-Natal, and the International Water Management Institute.

Societies may significantly advance towards attaining the SDGs and creating a more fair and sustainable future for all by coordinating all efforts in social protection, poverty reduction and food security.

However, Dr Rachel Sabates-Wheeler from the Institute of Development Studies argued that not all individuals can be expected to 'graduate' from social protection programmes. Some categories of poor and vulnerable people, such as people living with severe disabilities, are likely to require social assistance over their entire lifetimes.

The sessions of the workshop were facilitated by Prof Scott Drimie, Professor (Extraordinary) in the Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University and the Southern Africa Food Lab, and Cyriaque Hakizimana, the Southern African Regional Coordinator of the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) programme.