IN CAPITAL LETTERS.- The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have identified the regional priorities that will guide the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the region over the next two years.
The FAO Regional Conference ended today in Quito, Ecuador, after five days of debates attended by the President of Ecuador Guillermo Laso, the Prime Minister of Haiti Ariel Henry, the Vice President of Ecuador Alfredo Borrero, 41 Ministers and 23 Deputy Ministers of State and the Director General of the FAO, QU Dongyu.
“Latin America and the Caribbean can and must rise to its challenges and put itself at the forefront of global food and agriculture. World food security requires it,” said QU Dongyu. “The best way to do that is to transform their agri-food systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.”
At the conference, countries shared their innovations and the actions they are taking to transform their agri-food systems. “I am pleased to say that this regional conference ends with great success. They have clearly laid out their regional roadmap for this major shift in the three regional priorities they have endorsed,” said QU.
“I would like to thank the member country delegations for taking the time to visit us in Ecuador and for being here to exchange views on very important issues for the region in the field of agriculture and food,” said the President of the Conference . Regionally, the Minister of Agriculture of Ecuador, Pedro Álava.
The conference was attended by 586 people, including members of the private sector, academia, civil society and the United Nations system, and 34,000 listened to broadcasts from the regional conference. Member countries chose Guyana as the host country for the next regional conference, which will be held in 2024.
Three regional priorities
Building sustainable food systems to ensure healthy diets was one of the priorities identified by the regional conference. FAO will help countries ensure physical and economic access to safe and nutritious food, promote healthy diets, and policies and programs to support the 104 million people who are obese and the 60 million who are hungry.
“In Latin America and the Caribbean there is no hunger due to lack of food. There is no hunger because the farmers don’t do their homework. This is because there is too much inequality and poverty,” said FAO Regional Representative Julio Berdegué.
FAO’s second regional priority is prosperous and inclusive rural societies: “Half of the population living in the fields of Latin America and the Caribbean is poor, one in four people lives in extreme poverty, and 82% of the people in whom they work Farming and fishing, they do it under informal conditions,” explained Berdegué.
Resilient agriculture adapted to climate change is FAO’s third regional priority. “We are strongly committed to halting deforestation, promoting sustainable and low-emission livestock farming, and promoting soil recarbonization and the restoration of degraded agroecosystems,” said Berdegué.
Innovations and digitization
According to the FAO regional representative, all regional priorities have one precondition: innovation. “Our aim is that every regional initiative of the FAO is a motor for innovation and every project is a digitization experience. The digitization of agri-food systems and rural societies is absolutely necessary,” said Berdegué.
Innovation is at the heart of the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031: it aims to promote better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind, and was analyzed by countries during the conference to adapt them to your needs and conditions.
“Your regional priorities are the roots that will take the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031 deep into the fertile soil of this beautiful country. You must take the lead because FAO is your organization. You rule us and we are fully committed to working for your priorities,” concluded QU.