The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) regional conference opened here on Monday, with President Irfaan Ali calling for an overhaul of the world's production systems and the political will to end malnutrition, obesity and hunger in the region.
Speaking at the opening of FAO's four-day 38th Latin America and Caribbean Regional Conference (LARC38), Mr. Ali said the conference “raises many challenges on how we can better solve food crises.” The event is being held at a time when people are facing the same challenges. , develop a global system that is fair, just, just and transforms wealth into equality.
“While there is great hunger and famine occurring around the world, there is still a huge amount of waste in the world. That is how we reach this equilibrium. How do we achieve this critical balance? Will you?
“I think there are a number of thematic areas that should be addressed at this conference: issues of technology and the use of technology in food production systems,” he told participants, adding: “But for me, the future of food production revolves around women and young people.
“How can we get women and young people more involved in the food production system?” she said, distinguishing between food production and agriculture.
Ali said agriculture is only one part of food production, which also includes technology, processing, transportation, logistics and value creation.
“How we engage in food production, of which agriculture is a part, is data-driven and this is important in a world where we are vulnerable to climate change. It needs to be as data-driven as possible.
“We need to work on reorganizing the global production system, and we have seen in times of conflict how over-reliance on particular sectors can have a huge impact. We need to take a critical look at the system and see if some reorganization is needed and what structural changes are needed to help that reorganization.”
Another issue is climate-safe production systems, he said, adding: “We can create the best agricultural models in the food production system landscape for this region, but one hurricane will wipe them all out. There is a possibility.”
“So how do we understand the vulnerabilities that each region faces and work towards climate-safe production systems that are being developed to protect us from those vulnerabilities?”
Mr Ali said it was important that there had to be political will: “Many of us say we want to end hunger, end hunger and malnutrition, but when you look at our budget allocations; That intention is not reflected.
“If you look at the spending profile, it doesn't reflect that will. Political will is not just about shouting messages. It's about taking policy actions and making policy interventions to address problems,” he said. said.
He said finance and insurance are also important components of the food production system, adding: “We have to address these issues. Innovations that can address finance and insurance issues to support the food production ecosystem. We cannot move forward without finding a way to do so.” That agriculture is an important factor. ”
He said the Caribbean country was able to negotiate US$100 million from one private entity at a very low interest rate. “But I think the multinational system needs to adjust its financing… so there is more focus on concessional financing, concessional financing to support Caribbean countries. “Food production systems''.
FAO Regional Conferences are official forums where Member States from the region come together to discuss challenges and priorities related to food and agriculture in order to promote regional coherence on global policy issues.
As FAO's principal governing body, regional conferences are essential to ensure the effectiveness of FAO's activities to Member States and to define biennial priority areas of work.
By the decision adopted by delegates at the 37th meeting, the organizers confirmed that Guyana's hosting of this event is strongly in favor of promoting regional efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition from a Caribbean perspective. He said it shows interest and commitment.
Prior to the regional conference, a senior executive meeting was held in a virtual format, and the ministerial meeting concluded on March 21st.
FAO said high-level policy discussions on agricultural products systems at regional meetings have recently attracted the attention of institutions involved in work in the region, including regional and multilateral development banks and financial institutions.
