Latin America and the Caribbean has identified three FAO regional priorities

in capital lettersThe countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have identified 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 concluded today in Quito, Ecuador, after five days of discussions that included the participation of the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, 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 Food and Agriculture Organization, Qu Dongyu.

“Latin America and the Caribbean can and must rise to its challenges and move to the forefront of world food and agriculture. World food security requires it,” Qu Dongyu said. “The best way to do that is by transforming their agri-food systems to be more efficient and inclusive. flexibility and sustainability.

At the conference, countries shared their innovations and the measures they are taking to transform their agri-food systems. I am happy to say that this regional conference ends with great success. They have clearly laid out their own regional roadmap for moving toward this major shift in the three regional priorities they have endorsed.

“I would like to thank the delegations of Member States for taking the time to visit us in Ecuador and to be here to exchange views on issues that are very important to the region in the field of agriculture and food,” said the conference president. Regional, Minister of Agriculture of Ecuador, Pedro Alava.

586 people participated in the conference, including members of the private sector, academia, civil society and the United Nations system, and 34,000 people followed the broadcast of the regional conference. The member states have chosen Guyana to be the host country for the next regional conference to be held in 2024.

Three regional priorities

Building sustainable agricultural 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, and strengthen diets, health policies and programs to support the 104 million people suffering from obesity and 60 million people suffering from hunger.

“In Latin America and the Caribbean there is no hunger because of lack of food. There is no hunger because farmers do not do their homework. The reason is a lot of inequality and poverty,” explained the FAO Regional Representative, Giulio Berdighi.

The second FAO regional priority is thriving and inclusive rural communities, “Half of the people who live in Latin American and Caribbean fields are poor, one in four people live in extreme poverty, and 82% of those who work in agriculture and fisheries do so in poor conditions. Informal,” Berdigy explained.

Agriculture resilient to climate change is the third regional priority of the Food and Agriculture Organization. “We are deeply committed to halting deforestation, promoting sustainable and low-emission livestock, promoting soil carbon regeneration and restoring degraded agro-ecosystems,” Berdigy said.

Innovation and digitization

According to the FAO Regional Representative, all regional priorities have a prerequisite: innovation. “Our commitment is that every FAO regional initiative is an engine of innovation, and that every project is a digitization experiment. “Digitizing agricultural food systems and rural communities is absolutely essential,” Berdigy said.

Innovation is central to the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031: it seeks to promote better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind, and has been analyzed by countries during the conference to adapt it 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 wonderful land. It is you who must take the lead, because FAO is your organization. You rule us and we are fully committed to working towards your priorities.”