GUYANA-Guyana President calls for a review of the global food production system.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regional conference opened here on Monday, with President Irfaan Ali calling for a review of the global production system and the political will to end malnutrition, obesity, and hunger in the region.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the four-day FAO’s 38th Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC38), Ali said the conference was taking place at a time when “we are confronted with many challenges…on how we can better resolve food crises and develop a global system that is equitable, fair, just, and one in which plenty is transformed into equals.

“While there is excellent starvation and hunger worldwide, there is still plentiful waste. Finding this equilibrium is essential.

‘There are several thematic areas that I think this conference must address, including the issue of technology and the use of technology in the food production system,’ he told the delegates, adding,” but for me, the future of food production revolves around women and young people.

“How do we get women and youths more involved in the food production system,” he said, distinguishing between food production and agriculture.

Ali said agriculture is only a food production component involving technology, Processing, transport and logistics, and value creation.

“How do we get involved in food production, of which agriculture is a component? Decision-making must be data-driven as far as possible, and this is important in a world where we are so susceptible to climate events.

“We have to work on the reorganization of the global production system, and we have seen how heavy reliance on one area can affect us in times of conflict. So we have to examine the global production system critically and see whether some reorganization is required and what structural changes are needed to aid that reorganization.”

He said another issue is a climate-secure production system, noting that “we can create the best agricultural model in the food production system landscape in this region, but one hurricane can wipe it all out.

“So how do we work on a climate-secure production system, understanding each region’s vulnerability and developing a system that works to protect us against those vulnerabilities?”

Ali said that there must be political will given that “many of us say we want to end hunger, starvation, and malnutrition, but if you look at our budgetary allocation, it does not reflect that will.

“If you look at the expenditure profile, it does not reflect that will. Political will is not only shouting out a message. It is about taking policy action and making policy intervention that addresses the issue,” he said.

He said financing and insurance are also a critical component of the food production system, “and we have to address these issues; we cannot go one without finding innovative ways with which we can address issues of financing and insurance to support the food production ecosystem, which agriculture is a key component”.

He said the Caribbean had been able to negotiate a US$100 million loan from one private institution at a very low-interest rate, “but I think the multinational system needs to adjust its financing…so that more weight is placed on concessional loans, concessional financing to support the food production system.”

The FAO Regional Conference is an official forum where member countries meet to discuss challenges and priority issues related to food and agriculture to promote regional coherence on global policy issues.

As the main governing body of the FAO, the Regional Conference is essential to ensuring the effectiveness of the FAO’s work in service of Member Nations and defining priority areas of work for each biennium.

By the decision adopted by the delegates at the 37th meeting, the organizers said Guyana is hosting the event, demonstrating a strong interest in and commitment to promoting regional efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition from a Caribbean perspective.

The Regional Conference was preceded by the virtual meeting of senior officers, with the ministerial meeting ending on March 21.

The FAO said that the Regional Conference’s high-level policy discussions on agrifood systems have attracted the attention of institutions recently associated with its work in the region, including regional and international development banks and financial institutions.