Rome – Whereas nations in Europe and Central Asia are grappling with battle and environmental challenges, they’re nicely positioned to pursue the sustainable transformation of agrifood methods and have already taken steps in direction of attaining most of the core Sustainable Growth Objectives (SDGs), QU Dongyu, Director-Normal of the Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations, mentioned Tuesday in remarks opening the thirty fourth Session of the Regional Convention for Europe (ERC).
FAO’s intention for this week’s governing physique assembly is to assist Members from the area localize priorities and set up collective targets that emphasize management, partnership and nationwide possession of efforts to facilitate concrete initiatives to attain the SDGs at dwelling and overseas, he mentioned.
“Globally, we face vital instances marked by meals insecurity and fading prosperity,” Qu mentioned, reiterating his advocacy for peace as a prerequisite for meals safety and the precise to meals as a primary human proper.
Comprising 53 Member nations and the European Union, and spanning 9 time zones from Lisbon to Vladivostok, the four-day Regional Convention is a chance to change information and greatest practices on the best options in help of agrifood methods transformation, and to have interaction in discussions to determine essentially the most appropriate responses to points such because the persevering with restoration from earthquakes, flooding, the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued battle in Ukraine, which “continues to hamper regional and international efforts to attain the SDGs,” the Director-Normal mentioned.
He famous that financial progress within the area, in addition to digital innovation within the agrifood sectors, are lagging the remainder of the world, including that nonetheless the potential may be very excessive. Low ranges of starvation within the area are a possibility to ensure that farmers obtain ample social help in recognition of their efforts, Qu mentioned.
Vladimir Bolea, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Meals Business of the Republic of Moldova, was elected because the Chair of the regional ministerial convention. He thanked FAO and its employees for the help supplied for internet hosting the ERC in hybrid format at its Rome headquarters.
Commerce flows
The continuing battle in Ukraine has main impacts on FAO’s core mandates, entailing immense human struggling and main destruction of belongings and livelihoods near dwelling, whereas additionally considerably disrupting commerce flows for nations reliant on exports from agricultural powerhouses concerned. FAO continues to carefully monitor these implications and offers Members with common, complete info on the consequences of the battle and different crises that weigh on agrifood methods, the Director-Normal mentioned.
Emphasizing FAO’s dedication to offering all of the help wanted, the FAO Director-Normal urged Members to take the lead, nationally, regionally and past, in pursuing agreed targets, significantly to extend the resilience of agrifood markets; present humanitarian and social safety responses to weak teams; put money into commerce infrastructure and logistics; improve accountable investments in agriculture to boost productiveness; strengthen info, evaluation and analytical methods specializing in meals safety and diet; and to develop progressive options to frequent challenges.
He significantly known as for improvements and extra accountable investments in expertise, coverage, finance and social elements that may steer agrifood methods in direction of local weather resilience, whereas additionally defending biodiversity. Tackling meals loss and waste is a notable alternative within the area, Qu added.
FAO advocates deploying True Value Accounting to handle hidden environmental, well being and social impacts, which quantity to round $3 trillion yearly within the area at buying energy parity.
Hans Hoogeveen, Unbiased Chairperson of the FAO Council, urged Members to start work on rebuilding the agrifood methods of conflict-ridden nations within the area, noting that public expenditures on weaponry could be greater than sufficient to resolve regional meals insecurity issues. He additionally appealed to governments to assist youth of their nations to have a larger voice in agrifood coverage venues and to create startup enterprises to contribute to agrifood methods transformation.
FAO’s work within the Europe and Central Asia area
FAO has continued to supply technical experience and mobilize assets in help of the three regional priorities ERC Members have recognized: empowering smallholders, household farms and youth; remodeling agrifood methods and facilitating market entry and integration; and managing pure assets sustainable and preserving biodiversity.
Actions embody the launch of the AgriTech Observatory, a digital platform designed for the navigation of digital agricultural developments in Europe and Central Asia, serving to Members mainstream digitalization of their nationwide agrifood system methods, selling the One Well being method with a number of regional initiatives, and established the regional chapter of the International Agenda for Sustainable Livestock. FAO has additionally accelerated local weather motion and secured local weather finance in 9 nations of the area, ready a regional motion plan to mainstream biodiversity, printed pointers on forest biodiversity monitoring methodologies and performed an outline of land degradation neutrality throughout the area.
Ten regional members are collaborating in FAO’s One Nation One Precedence Product Initiative, whereas greater than 60 villages in 9 nations of the area are a part of FAO’s 1000 Digital Village Initiative. The Regional Technical Platform on Inexperienced Agriculture, launched in 2022, now affords a digital gateway for information and data sharing – Armenia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are pilot nations of the Inexperienced Agriculture technical cooperation programme – and has printed 30 blogs and 70 thematic publications.
Core initiatives together with the Technical Cooperation Programme and the Hand-in-Hand Initiative are each vital alternatives current throughout the area.
