This page serves as a hub for a diverse range of events dedicated to food, agriculture, and development. Whether you're interested in understanding the complexities of food security, exploring innovative solutions for climate-smart agriculture, or delving into the intricacies of sustainable food systems, our live-streamed events offer valuable insights and opportunities for engagement.

Feed A Growing Population While Protecting Our Planet
One of the biggest challenges facing agriculture today is how to produce enough food to feed a growing population while at the same time protecting the planet. Although food production has more than doubled over the past 50 years, the number of people facing hunger has slowly been increasing nearly every year since 2016.

As the world's population continues to grow, the demand for food is increasing, straining our resources and the environment. The increasing impacts of climate change, such as more droughts and floods, add to the challenge. On the other hand, agriculture and food contribute to climate change by being the source of around 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The world cannot achieve its emission reduction goal without reducing emissions from agriculture and food.

The global food systems—how we produce, process, and consume food—are no longer fit for purpose, generating an estimated $10 trillion in hidden social, economic, and environmental costs each year. Now, it is not only a matter of how much food we produce, but how we produce our food. The world can only achieve food security by transforming our food systems by making them more productive, sustainable, and resilient.

Conscious efforts to transform food and agriculture can help to contain climate change, increase biological diversity, ensure healthier diets for all, and create new business opportunities worth about $4.5 trillion a year by 2030.

Our Work in Action
Our goal is to build resilient food and nutrition systems that benefit people, the planet, and economies, while delivering timely and effective responses to mitigate food crises.

Through our live events, we showcase groundbreaking projects and initiatives that are transforming food systems and empowering smallholders and SMEs. From leveraging technology to improve agricultural practices to mobilizing capital for investment in the sector, our discussions cover a wide range of topics to drive positive change.

Translation and Interpretation
Accessibility and inclusion are critical to our work. That's why many of our events are available with interpretation in French, Spanish, and Arabic, ensuring that the language is not a barrier to participation. Additionally, select events provide interactive sessions where you can engage directly with our experts, ask questions, and participate in the conversation.

Engage with Topic Matter Experts
Gain valuable insights from experts who specialize in agriculture and food. Our events offer a unique opportunity to interact directly with practitioners who are at the forefront of shaping policies and practices to enhance food security and promote sustainable agriculture.

Find More Resources
Use the above event listing to explore upcoming events and watch event replays. Learn more about our work by visiting worldbank.org/agriculture and follow us on X at @WBG_Agriculture.. 

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Past Events

Agriculture and Food as an Engine of Sustainable Growth and Jobs

Replay this event to explore how governments and businesses can transform the agriculture and food systems to drive growth, jobs, and environmental sustainability.

Reflecting on World Bank Group’s Evolution Journey

Replay this event on the Bank's speed, scale, and efficiency measures to better support client countries facing intertwined challenges.

President Ajay Banga’s Annual Meetings Townhall with Civil Society

Watch the replay of the Civil Society Townhall with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga as part of the 2024 Annual Meetings.

Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System

Watch a discussion about our new report 'Recipe for a Livable Planet' to learn how agriculture can help address climate change and make food production more resilient.

Land Rights and Access for Climate Action

On May 13th, the World Bank launched its 2024 Land Conference. Join us to explore how better land management can help meet climate goals and other sustainability targets.

Africa: Harnessing Natural Resources for a Sustainable Future

Global efforts to decarbonize economies are likely to create demand for 3 million tons of minerals and metals – many of which are found in Africa. Thus, the continent has an opportunity to harness natural resource wealth to accelerate energy access and a green transition, drive economic transformation and jobs, and generate more fiscal revenues. Speakers focused on this opportunity and the related challenges facing policy makers.

Altered Destinies: Middle East and North Africa Economic Update

High inflation and rising food prices pose a challenge to economies across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where growth is expected to slow in the coming year. Join this World Bank Live event and hear from the World Bank’s Chief Economist in MENA about the region’s economic prospects and the impact of rising food prices. The latest MENA Economic Update looks in depth at how even temporary increases in the price of food can have lasting impacts across generations in terms of education, health and future income prospects.

Global Food Security Program (GFSP)

Increasing commodity prices and greater climate volatility are putting additional strains on food supply chains and increasing pressure on food producers to optimize their practices. IFC’s new $6 billion financing facility, the Global Food Security Platform, will provide financing to support immediate needs and build more climate- and shock-resilient food systems for the future. Our panelists will discuss private sector solutions to strengthen food security and innovations for climate-friendly production.

Launch of the Global Food & Nutrition Security Dashboard

The G7 Presidency and the World Bank developed a publicly accessible dashboard to share information on acute food security and responses.

Protecting Human Capital Amidst a Global Food Crisis

This event will highlight key takeaways from the closed-door Human Capital Ministerial Conclave with focus on how countries can invest in social protection, productive inclusion, and nutrition-sensitive policies to not only avert setbacks to human capital but also to strengthen these critical outcomes for long term growth and productivity.

The Human Cost of the Food and Fuel Crises

This event looked at specific actions that the international community needs to focus on to address both energy and food shocks, using concrete examples of how countries are working on tackling the immediate crises without compromising long-term goals of efficiency, sustainability, and resilience.

Are healthy diets affordable?

This event will bring together a panel of experts from countries, international agencies, and academia to discuss new food security indicators on diet costs and affordability and their use in guiding agricultural and food policy both globally and domestically. 

A Conversation with David Malpass and Samantha Power

On June 21st,  2022, David Malpass and USAID Administrator Samantha Power held a conversation about the impact of the current overlapping global crises on the poorest and most vulnerable.

Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa

People have eaten insects and hydroponic crops for hundreds of years. But farming them is new. Join this event to learn from insect farmers and development experts who are pushing the frontier of agriculture to create jobs, improve food security and save the planet.

Scaling Investment in Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies in Africa

The session will examine lessons learned from piloting CSA investment plans and how these plans can be scaled up through effective policies, context-specific technologies, and innovative financing for successful agricultural systems transformation.

Digital Agriculture

Tune in to Digital Agriculture: New Frontiers for the Food System, a dynamic event with food tech innovators and leaders from the private and public sector who will explore the transformational potential of digital agriculture to feed the world in a way that delivers healthier people, healthier economies and a healthier planet.

Feeding South Asia in Times of Crisis: Building Resilient Agriculture Supply Chains

Food prices have risen by more than 10 percent in South Asia this year, more than any other region. Trade policy responses such as eliminating tariffs and facilitating trade flows can help maintain access to essential food products. How resilient are South Asia’s food supply chains amid the COVID-19 pandemic? Are there new opportunities to strengthen or expand regional value chains? How do governments and private companies in the region prepare food supply chains and trade policies for an economic recovery? This #OneSouthAsia webinar will explore these issues and answer your questions.

Addressing Food Loss and Waste: A Global Problem with Local Solutions

A third of all food globally is lost and wasted, amounting to significant costs to society: $1 trillion globally annually, 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and significant natural resource use are all associated with food that is grown but never reaches the table. Timed with the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (FLW), this event will launch a set of new World Bank reports that propose a framework for better understanding policy options and trade-offs involved in tackling food loss and waste, and drill down on challenges and solutions in Guatemala, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Vietnam. New World Bank analysis finds that reducing food loss and waste could play a significant role in reducing the environmental footprint of food while boosting food and nutrition security. Join World Bank Group President David Malpass and other speakers on #FLWDay to be inspired by tangible solutions for positive change.

The Food Security Challenge

In this new series on World Bank Live we focus on the ideas and actions that will help countries as they look beyond the pandemic. Recovery from COVID-19 will be an opportunity for countries to build resilience, improve inclusion and ensure economic growth. We will be joined by David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF and African Union Commissioner Josefa Sacko to discuss how Food Security has been impacted by COVID-19. The World Food Programme estimates the number of people facing acute food insecurity could double by the end of 2020 due to job and remittance losses. At the same time, farmers face depressed prices for their unsold farm produce, a reduced ability to finance food production in the next season, and massive locust waves in parts of East Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Related Links:  Brief: Food Security and COVID-19:  The World Bank and the Locust crisis Blog: Three imperatives to ...

The Locust Crisis: Protecting Food Supplies and Livelihoods for Millions

Locust swarms are ravaging crops and pastureland, destroying food and vegetation and jeopardizing food security across Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of South Asia. Without action, the locust population could grow 400 times larger by June 2020 and spread to new areas, disrupting food supply, upending livelihoods and requiring substantial resources to address. The World Bank estimates that in Africa alone, more than 90 million hectares of cropland and pasture are at risk and damages and losses could amount to as much as US$9 billion in coming years.  Join us as we discuss this important issue with two World Bank staff: Melissa Williams, Senior Rural Development Specialist & Afrah Alawi Al-Ahmadi, Senior Social Protection Specialist. Ask your questions now!  Related Links:  Locust Crisis World Bank Response Blog: The Locust Plague: Fighting a Crisis within a Crisis Website: Food Security at the World Bank Group  

What is the Impact of the Crisis on Global Food Security?

What can we do to help the poorest and most vulnerable access the food they need during coronavirus pandemic? Juergen Voegele, Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank, has some ideas. Related Links: Covid-19 (Coronavirus): Live Interview and Panel Series COVID-19 landing page

On the Menu: Can Food be the Planet’s Medicine?

On the heels of fresh evidence that current diets are making both people and planet sick, On the Menu: Can Food be the Planet’s Medicine?  gathered thought leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs and policy makers who aim to challenge the status quo of food consumption and production. World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva kicked off the event with remarks that made clear why transforming food is such a priority agenda – it is essential to boost economic inclusion, build human capital and increase climate resilience. EAT Co-founders Gunhild Stordalen and Johan Rockström then shared highlights from the recent EAT- Lancet Commission Report on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems which attempts for the first time to define a healthy diet based on available scientific evidence and imagine what it would take to feed almost 10 billion people by 2050 a healthy diet within planetary boundaries. Two strong messages emerged: We’re unlikely to stay within safe operating zones on most environmental indicators – water, greenhouse ...

Mitigating Famine Risks

During this flagship event, the World Bank and United Nations, joined by leaders from countries affected by chronic food insecurity, will discuss plans for a new global partnership to help eradicate famine.

Fixing Food to Achieve Multiple Goals

Food systems cannot get “too big to fail” - too much is at stake. Change is possible, positive, and all around us. It will not be easy, but all signs show that collective action can and must get us there. Multi-level partnerships mean getting out of our comfort zones. By the time this last session kicks off, the delegates at EAT Stockholm Food Forum will have rolled up their sleeves, joined forces, tackled uncomfortable conversations, shared solutions, forged new connections and literally sowed the seeds of change. Together we are building a new narrative, and together we can define strategies for managing political and economic opinion change. A true success story of the Great Food Transformation. Let’s get to work!

Spring Meetings 2018 Global Voices: Interview with Gilbert F. Houngbo

This is a Facebook Live interview. Watch the replay! As part of our Spring Meetings 2018 Interview Series, we will be talking with Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)​, about investments and innovations in agriculture.

Spring Meetings 2018 Global Voices: Interview with Andy Pharoah

This is a Facebook Live interview. Watch the replay!   As part of our Spring Meetings 2018 Interview Series, we will be live with Andy Pharoah, Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Strategic Initiatives, Mars, Inc., who will talk about how Mars has set a high bar among global food processing and distribution brands for environmental sustainability and for setting ambitious social targets across its supply chain.   

Interview with Katrina Sasse and Brian Ndyaguma

Want to hear some big ideas on how to #EndPoverty? As part of our Annual Meetings 2017 Interview Series, we will be talking with Katrina Sasse, Farmer at Leichhardt Fields, Australia and Brian Ndyaguma, Project Manager and Entrepreneur, Uganda, about innovations in agriculture. Join us live on October 11 at 11:45 am. Have a question for Katrina and Brian? Ask in the comments!

Future Harvest: Who Will Grow Tomorrow’s Food?

Young farmers encourage youth to find profit and purpose in farming The World Bank’s Food and Agriculture Global Practice hosted an event highlighting young farmers who are finding profit and purpose in agriculture.  Journalist Femi Oke moderated the panel, which was headlined by Shelly-Ann Dinnall, a poultry farmer from Jamaica; Pedro Diniz, Founder and CEO of a large scale organic farm in Brazil; Katrina Sasse, a cereal farmer from Australia; and Brian Ndyaguma, an entrepreneur who grows greens to supply a café in Uganda. The farmers detailed how they built successful businesses, despite starting with few resources and in some cases, no knowledge of farming. Katrina, who left behind a banking career to work on her family farm, discussed her efforts to get more women involved in agriculture. Shelly-Ann called on policy makers to help create a more supportive environment for young people who do not have preexisting farms or credit.  Brian recommended teaming up with other people as ...

Jumpstarting the Next Revolution in Food and Agriculture

Hunger and obesity, waste and water scarcity -- food production in 2017 is plagued with contradictions and often seems to lag behind the times. We urgently need to jumpstart a revolution in the way we produce and consume food so that we can feed the world’s population -- without leaving people behind, neglecting nutrition, or degrading the planet. This event will showcase young entrepreneurs and mission-driven leaders who are working to fix the food and agriculture system while creating the jobs and business opportunities of tomorrow. Speakers include Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank CEO; Jehiel Oliver, founder and CEO of Hello Tractor (shared tractor service by SMS in Nigeria and Kenya); Annie Ryu, founder and CEO of the Jackfruit Company (Indian farmers supplying a meat alternative in US market);  Nataliey Bitature, founder and COO of Musana Carts (solar powered food carts providing safe food and improved livelihoods in Kampala, Uganda);  Kees Aarts, founder and CEO of Protix (producing sustainable protein from ...

Food for Thought: How Investing in the Early Years Needs a Transformation in Agriculture

One quarter of children under age five worldwide are chronically malnourished. The World Food Prize event “Let Food Be Thy Medicine,” brought together scientists, policymakers and food and nutrition experts from around the world to share insights on ways in which malnutrition can be tackled with smart policies, innovation and political will.  Key is to prioritize investments in people – during the earliest years of life -- because it underpins the very future of nations.

Future of Food: Why Healthy, Safe and Sustainable Food is a Basic Necessity

With 800 million people going to bed hungry every night, the world needs a sustainable food system that can feed every person, every day. Increasingly, the quality of food is as important as quantity, and better food must become a priority in many countries. Hear from a panel of international food experts about what it will take to feed more people a nutritious and safe diet, and how this can help end poverty and boost shared prosperity in our lifetime.

Future of Food: A Conversation about Shaping a Climate-Smart Food System

Droughts, floods and rising temperatures are cutting crop yields, threatening food supply and pushing people deeper into poverty. With climate change affecting food production, how will we feed 9 billion people by 2050? The World Bank Group is continuing the conversation on the “Future of Food” to explore ways in which the food system can become climate-smart. What climate-smart practices can farmers adopt to boost productivity and resilience while reducing emissions? What roles can chefs, food processors and researchers in gastronomy play in tackling climate change? How can we prioritize investments in climate-smart agriculture? Hear from celebrated Peruvian chef Gaston Acurio, Jim Yong Kim, and others on the different ways we can work together to shape a climate-smart food system that can feed the world.

Land Governance and Climate-Smart Agriculture

Evidence-based policies that promote secure access to land (including for women), and strengthening poor farmers’ ability to tackle climate change and improve productivity are urgently needed. Yet, in many cases, translating far-reaching legal changes into country strategies and progress on the ground has been a challenge. Panelists will discuss ways to better integrate land and climate-smart agriculture into countries’ development strategies and explore how these can help to build capacity to mainstream these issues in national policy dialogue, projects and private sector strategies.

Future of Food: A Conversation with Jim Yong Kim & David Chang

People have different ideas about what the future of food will look like, but everyone can agree on what it should deliver: a food system that can feed everyone, every day, everywhere. The world needs a sustainable food system that will feed a projected 9 billion people by 2050 with nutritious food, provide livelihoods—and also help steward our natural resources. To make this happen farmers, scientists, consumers, business leaders, food processors, nutritionists, distributors, policymakers and chefs must work together to build a system that feeds everyone and addresses the problems of malnutrition, obesity, hunger, extreme poverty and climate change. What are the necessary ingredients for a food system that works for all? Hear from a development banker, a renowned chef, an agricultural expert, a woman farmer, a culinary professional and others about the future of food, and how we can work together to feed the world.

About World Bank Live

Since 2011, the World Bank Live platform has been a hub for high-level conversations on international development. Hosting over 650 events in English, with more than 200 also available in FrenchSpanish, and/or Arabic, it serves as a gateway to both upcoming and past events. The platform aims to help spark innovative ideas and translate them into actionable solutions, with a focus on ending poverty and boosting prosperity on a livable planet. Each event delves into critical economic issues aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with topics ranging from healthcare and pandemic preparedness to climate action and building sustainable communities. Read more >