Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs, Hon. Clay Sweeting as well as 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)  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 on June 29, 2023.
 
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 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 segment during the panel discussion on Building resilience to shocks: Scaling up resilience for more sustainable and inclusive development, Minister of Sweeting emphasized the need for more financing to strengthen resilience to climate change and food insecurity.
 
“In order for us to grow the agricultural sector in our relevant countries we must do so in a United Front, we need to re-assess how countries qualify to have access to funding and assistance.”
 
The Minister also highlighted the challenges including lack of crop insurance, an aging farming population as well as existing impacts of Hurricane Dorian which continue to limit the productivity and potential of agriculture sector in contributing more to the national GDP. Sweeting maintained that access to funding is critical for the country to move forward.
 
“So the reality is at the end of the day financing governs for the most part how we correct the other issues. I am sure that we are all doing what we can, because we love our world, we love our countries, we love our people and we want to do what we can to combat climate change, increase food production and help our farmers, but even the greatest countries in the world heavily subsidize their farmers. There Must be, must be in 2023 where we can find a mechanism that provides real accessible opportunities for ALL countries that need assistance to build strong agricultural food systems – production, processing and distribution."
 
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 from Latin America and the Caribbean included Ministers, vice-ministers and high-level representatives of Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Cuba, Grenada and Paraguay. Other attendees were from Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cook Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Maldives,  Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Palau, 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, 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,” which includes using resilient crop varieties; increasing productivity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions; implementing sustainable and adapted soil, water and land management systems; and developing science-based tools for evidence based decision-making. 
 
“Key geospatial data from the Hand-in-Hand Initiative can provide the support needed,” Qu said, adding that “data provided by FAO has supported countries in the formulation of policies for efficient land use, and access to financing for farmers and local producers.”
 
The Director-General also emphasized the main points included in the “Call for Action” for agrifood systems transformation in SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs:  
 
Information & Data: to guide decision-making based on scientific evidence, share experiences and build networks.
 
Innovation: to accelerate the development and upscaling of technologies, especially digital technologies such as mobile applications and data analytics, and ensure they are accessible to all.
 
Investment & Access to Finance: to boost increased, targeted, bold, smart, flexible and upfront and secure funding – including public, private and blended finance. Building resilience mitigates negative impacts and reduces the need for costly emergency assistance.
 
Inclusivity: 80% of our food is produced by family farmers and smallholder producers, with women playing a major role in food production and supply chains, yet they are often excluded from resources, credit, and decision-making processes.