When food and climate meet: A convergence dialogue in Bangui

Most people rarely think about food and climate in the same breath, even though decisions about land, farming and forests shape both. During a Convergence Dialogue held in December 2025 in Bangui, officials and partners set out to examine that connection by bringing food systems and climate action communities into a shared conversation – exploring how decisions about land, production and livelihoods can advance both agendas together. Over two days, participants examined national priorities, evidence and sectoral experiences to identify where food systems and climate action naturally intersect, and where closer alignment could generate shared benefits for people, ecosystems and resilience in the Central African Republic.

The meeting brought together government officials, UN specialists and civil society representatives around a straightforward premise. Agricultural policies are designed to increase production and livelihoods; climate policies aim to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing climate, including preparations for extreme events like droughts and floods. Too often, these agendas move forward separately. The dialogue asked whether the same actions on the ground could serve both goals at once.

High-level political participation set the tone. Brigitte Izamo, Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Central African Republic and national Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) focal point, attended the opening ceremony, signaling that the process carried weight beyond a single ministry. Salomon Namkosserena, personal representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, stressed that the country faces persistent food insecurity, declining yields and increasing exposure to climate shocks, arguing that transforming food systems is essential to improving livelihoods while safeguarding natural resources. Labia Irène Ivette Ouoba, FAO Representative in the Central African Republic, thanked the government for steering the dialogue and emphasized that, in a country where most people depend on agriculture, food systems and climate resilience are national priorities rather than technical exercises. Opening the thematic discussions, Khaled Eltaweel, Senior Programme Coordinator at the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, outlined the Hub’s role in supporting countries to align food systems transformation with climate action through inclusive, country-led processes.

That framing shaped the discussions that followed. The workshop brought together voices that rarely share the same table, including officials from agriculture, environment and climate services, alongside FAO, WFP, IFAD and civil society organizations. Participants emphasized the importance of addressing food security, climate resilience and livelihoods in a more integrated way, noting that siloed approaches limit impact and strain already scarce resources. Presentations by the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub introduced the Convergence Initiative and its approach, outlining how national food systems pathways, climate commitments and investment priorities can be brought together through structured dialogue and joint action. To move from diagnosis to action, the dialogue was organized around three working groups, each tasked with comparing the national development roadmap with the country’s latest climate plan, NDC 3.0, and identifying priority areas where the two could reinforce one another.

Several themes emerged. Participants highlighted agroforestry and agropastoralism – integrated systems combining crops, trees and livestock – as areas where climate resilience and food production clearly overlap. Data presented by David Melchisedeck Yangbondo, the Director General of the Environment and Climate Focal Point, showed that agriculture accounts for a large share of national greenhouse gas emissions, while also underscoring the potential of forests and soils to act as carbon sinks if managed differently. The land, participants agreed, plays a dual role as both source of emissions and part of the solution.

Attention also turned to everyday diets and social protection. WFP experts described the national school feeding program and how local procurement could support more diverse and nutritious food production. Health officials argued that nutrition should be integrated into climate strategies, not treated as a separate concern. Value chains for cassava, groundnuts and livestock were discussed as potential drivers of jobs and resilience.

By the end of the dialogue, participants had identified a set of priority areas for convergence and agreed on practical next steps to carry the process forward. These included the establishment of a Convergence Action Group to sustain coordination beyond the workshop and continued joint work to finalize and adopt a Convergence Action Blueprint. In closing, Salomon Namkosserena representing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development  emphasized the importance of translating these recommendations into concrete, operational actions, while UN partners reaffirmed their support through the national Sustainable Development Framework, underscoring the need for continued coordination across sectors and institutions as implementation begins.