Global conflicts, a lingering pandemic, inflation, erratic swings in the price of energy, fertilizers and basic foods – these are just some of the major challenges facing countries and people in the Asia-Pacific region as it marked World Food Day on 16 October, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported on Monday.
The world’s biggest region – home to most of the planet’s hungry – has been backsliding in its quest to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms, one of the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG2 – Zero Hunger).
Indeed, a recent UN report predicted that the region, as a whole, is so far off-track from meeting the SDG 2030 deadline, it would need an additional 35 years to hit all 17 SDG targets.
At a regional World Food Day observance ceremony in Bangkok, speakers discussed the need for a revitalized effort – involving multiple stakeholders – to reset the region on a path to end hunger, poverty and inequalities. “We need to empower the most vulnerable, including small-scale producers, by investing in global agrifood systems. This means improved access to training, incentives, science, data, technology and innovation, so that small-holders can be at the centre of this transformation,” said FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, in a recorded video statement, to open the event.
Several hundred participants joined the virtual event from across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as many more from the Near East, Africa and the Americas.
FAO’s Special Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, also addressed the ceremony with a video message.
“Agrifood systems should be transformed to be more resilient to shocks and stresses, including natural disasters and pandemics such as COVID-19. This would require innovative and cost-effective measures aimed at providing social protection to reduce vulnerabilities, particularly of women, Indigenous Peoples and socially marginalized smallholders,” Her Royal Highness said.
