(AGENPARL) – gio 29 giugno 2023 [NewsMedia_NewsRelease]
Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries issue call for action to accelerate agrifood systems transformation and collectively build resilience
High-Level Ministerial Event hosted by FAO promotes the sharing of experiences and ways forward through innovation and broader cooperation
29/06/2023
Rome- Ministers, Vice-Ministers and other high-level representatives from dozens of countries most vulnerable to global crises and shocks have issued a call for action to boost the transformation of agrifood systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.
Ahead of the 43rd session of its biennial Ministerial Conference (1 – 7 July), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today hosted a High-Level Ministerial Event called Transforming agrifood systems to increase resilience and achieve the 2030 Agenda – Harnessing the potential of Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries.
The meeting proposed the establishment of a Ministerial network for Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries (SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs) with technical support from FAO. This would share experiences, knowledge and collectively build resilience to climate change and disasters, resilience to food insecurity, the Blue [Transformation roadmap](https://www.fao.org/3/cc0459en/cc0459en.pdf)and secure investments and access to finance in order to scale-up transformation of agrifood systems – especially in the face of the impacts of the climate crisis.
In his closing remarks, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, told participants that the ownership of the network was theirs, adding that with countries working in partnership together and with FAO, more and better progress could be achieved towards the common goal of transforming agrifood systems and increasing resilience.
SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs are priority countries for FAO. Soon after Qu took over as Director-General, FAO became the first specialized agency in the UN system to have an Office exclusively focused on addressing these countries’ needs and interlinked challenges.
Participants in the event included Ministers, Vice-Ministers and high level representatives from dozens of SIDS/LDCs/LLDCs: Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cook Islands, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Grenada, Guinea, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Maldives, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Palau, Paraguay, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Togo, Tonga, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
The UN High Representative[for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States](https://www.un.org/ohrlls/), Rabab Fatima; and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, LI Junhua, delivered video messages.
Call for Action
The FAO Director-General made it clear that FAO is ready to further strengthen its support to SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs. To address the climate crisis, for example, Qu stressed the need to “prioritize climate-resilient agricultural practices,â€