FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva reported yesterday that while the prevalence of undernourishment in the Caribbean fell from 27 to 20 percent since 1990, today, 7.5 million people suffer from hunger in the region. He added that obesity is another challenge the region faces.
Da Silva spoke at the opening ceremony of the CARICOM Agriculture Ministerial Meeting in Nassau on Tuesday, and laid out some of the FAO initiatives aimed at ending hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity.
“At the regional level, we have the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative. At the CARICOM level, we have the CARICOM Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan approved in 2011,” he said. “At the national level, you are translating the regional action plan into national ones, in many cases directly responding to the Zero Hunger Challenge launched by the United Nations secretary general.”
The director general noted that the strategies being developed and implemented by CARICOM ministers of agriculture take a comprehensive view of the multiple dimensions of food insecurity, and propose to deal with its root causes as well as its consequences.
“Let me add that a vibrant agricultural sector can be an important driver for sustainable and inclusive development in your countries. Agriculture creates employment opportunities, especially important for the youth, and is critical to reduce rural poverty,” he said.
“Agriculture can supply the Caribbean tourism industry... And local production is also a way to recover traditional crops and to increase self-sufficiency, especially important at times of high and volatile international food prices and food import bills,” da Silva added.
He said the FAO is focusing on supporting zero hunger and malnutrition programs; improving food and feed systems to address the food import bill; building resilience and strengthening agriculture, food security and nutrition governance and policy.
“We have three regional initiatives for Latin America and the Caribbean. All of them benefit the Caribbean. The first one supports your food and nutrition security efforts... The second regional initiative strengthens family farming. In the Caribbean, as in many developing countries, family farmers are crucial actors in increasing the local availability of food and reducing hunger and malnutrition.
“And the third regional initiative works to improve food and feed systems and is specifically designed for the Caribbean. It aims to strengthen and add value to local production; recover local products, increase the offer of healthy, nutritious and fresh food; reduce the dependency on food imports, and provide employment opportunities.”
He also noted that this initiative is a joint effort involving the FAO, governments and partners such as CARDI, CABA, CAFAN, UWI and IICA, and is funded through a combination of FAO regular program resources and contributions from actors such as IFAD, the Caribbean Development Bank and Petrocaribe.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
