The Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Qu Dongyu has stated that the organisation is ready to follow up on the decisions taken in the forthcoming UN food systems summit saying as the 2030 agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are approaching; stakeholders have to change their agri-food systems urgently and holistically.
He added that the transformation needed in the food sector requires a systemic approach and collective action, Hand in Hand by producers, distributors and consumers, together with governments, private sector, academia and civil society.
Speaking in a statement signed by FAO Communication Specialist, Mr David Karls Tsokar recently in Abuja, said the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit seeks to achieve food transformation and that, that is what FAO wants to achieve, together with all its partners, through the new FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031.
“The action of each and every one of us has an impact on the future of our planet through our agri-food systems.
According to the DG,: “The Summit is timely. After decades of decline, the number of hungry people has been growing for the past five years, now amounting to as many as 811 million people. At the same time, obesity and other non-communicable diseases are ever-growing global problems associated with insufficiently diversified healthy diets and consumption patterns. Many of the current agri-food practices are also exacting a heavy toll on our planet. Our agri-food systems are not functioning properly. What do we need to do to transform them? How does every individual impact on the process?
“As the leading international organization in this field, FAO has been advocating for and supporting agri-food systems transformation. The “agri-food system” covers the journey of food from tillage to table – from when it is planted, grown, harvested, processed, packaged, transported, distributed, traded, bought, prepared, eaten and disposed of. It encompasses non-food products such as forestry, animal rearing, use of feedstock, biomass to produce biofuels and fibers, and it constitutes all of the activities, investments and choices made, and it impacts on the livelihoods of all the people that play a part in getting us these agri-food products.
“With expertise ranging from policy and feasibility, science innovation, land and water, livestock and fisheries, to biodiversity and climate, food safety and normative work, geospatial data and digital technology, FAO has been at the forefront supporting the preparation for this important global Summit, and more importantly, in line with its mandate FAO will be taking the lead to implement follow-up actions after the Summit.”
It could be recalled that in July, the United Nations Food Systems Pre-Summit was held extraordinarily successfully at FAO headquarters in Rome. Together with FAO’s Chief Economist and Chief Scientist,
The DG said he has been sitting on the Summit advisory bodies, scientific groups and action tracks.
“We have been working closely with expert colleagues both inside and outside the UN system. With presence in over 130 countries, our teams on the ground have been supporting “national dialogues” that contribute to the Summit outcomes and national priorities ensuring they are targeted and solution-oriented.
“Transforming our global agri-food systems rests ultimately with actions at the country and local levels. Culture is an important aspect. One needs only to look at cuisines to see how diverse agri-food systems are across and within countries. More than half of us – around 4.5 billion people – earn our livelihoods directly through the agri-food production chain, supply chain and value chain. And we are all consumers of foods, and game-changers.
