GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu, says Latin America and the Caribbean region have the “big potential” to achieve “even more with less within and outside your region.”
Addressing the four-day FAO’s 38th Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC38), which enters its second day on Tuesday, Qu said that the region boasts a large share of the world’s biodiversity and water resources and accounts for 13 percent of global food production and 45 percent of net international trade in agrifood products.
He also noted that although the region is a net food exporter, reliance on commodity imports and exports exposes its agrifood systems to macroeconomic volatility, global geopolitical instability, and climate change, which negatively impact food prices and incomes and lead to unfavorable food security and nutrition outcomes.
Guyana’s Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, told the conference that the FAO’s assistance is key to supporting the development of a comprehensive, early warning system for multiple hazards in the United Nations organization could play an essential role in improving water management, developing the food supply chain, enhancing trade, and promoting the adoption of digital innovations and relevant technology.
Mustapha said that as the region continues to work closely with the FAO, the organization’s regional priorities and strategic endeavors must align closely with national and regional policies to support and enhance capabilities and knowledge.
Mustapha, who also chairs the CARICOM Ministerial Taskforce on food production and food security, said that the conference’s transition into the ministerial segment is set to foster even greater cooperation, strategies, and essential topics, including sustainability, transformation, and food security while addressing climate change issues for plans.
“There is a need to improve initiative, financial support, and concrete action to increase the resilience and sustainability of the agrifood system to overcome the impacts of climate change and food insecurity in light of the region’s the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Xiomara Castro, told the first day of the ministerial conference of the CELAC plan for food security, nutrition, and eradication of hunger.
“Although the approval of this plan marks a significant milestone, the real challenge lies in its effective implementation by our governments. In this regard, the FAO Regional Conference offers us an invaluable opportunity to examine the actions required and our capacities and needs carefully”.
Brazil President Inacio Lula da Silva, also President of the G-20 group, told the conference that “we cannot compromise with hunger.
“It is necessary to act with determination and speed, which is why we have chosen the issue as one of the priorities of the Brazilian presidency of the G20″, said da Silva, adding, “I thank FAO for the work carried out in our countries and for the constant partnership and collaboration with the Brazilian government to promote food and nutrition security on several fronts.
Over the next three days, the ministers and vice ministers from the 33 countries will develop a political dialogue on issues related to the FAO’s mandate, which stem from regional situations and priorities, as well as at the global level.
During the sessions, the authorities will ratify the regional priorities for the next biennium, which were discussed during the Senior Officer Meeting last week.
The FAO said the priorities reflect the Four Enhancements of its Strategic Framework, four interconnected dimensions that contribute to the transformation of agrifood systems through
Efficient, inclusive, and sustainable production; ending hunger and achieving food security and nutrition; sustainable management of natural resources and adaptation to climate change; and Reducing inequalities and poverty and promoting resilience.
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