UN envoy urges states to invest on food security
What you need to know:
- Dr Kalibata said countries must ensure there is no food wastage and treat food and agriculture as important.
- In Africa, small scale farmers supply 80 per cent of the food.
The United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit Dr Agnes Kalibata has asked governments to step up food system measures to ensure there is no food shortage due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Kalibata said countries must ensure there is no food wastage and treat food and agriculture as important.
“Countries must start developing a post Covid-19 pandemic plan to caution farmers and the food systems from going down,” she said.
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
She said, there is need for governments to invest in agriculture.
“There is also need for public private partnership to come up with technologies that help farmers to improve their farming and get access to the market,” she said.
Dr Kalibata was speaking virtually from Nairobi, Kenya, during an online session organised by the Thomson Reuters Foundation as part of a Covid-19 professional development programme run in association with the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
“Funding institutions must make resources available for farmers as the functionaries of these systems is what makes farmers to build resilience,” she said.
She called on governments to ensure farmers produce more than they were producing despite the challenges they are facing. In Africa, small scale farmers supply 80 per cent of the food.
“Countries should work together to ensure food supply systems are not affected,” she said.
She said that there would be a big problem if Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) do not do their business.
IMPORT INSECTICIDES
In Kenya, the government had challenges of importing insecticides and pesticides to control the locusts.
She said even before the pandemic, many things among them climate change, were threatening food security.
She said, governments must work together to end hunger, commit to more inclusive and healthier food systems and safeguard the health of the planet.
About 250 million people were faced with hunger in Africa before the coronavirus pandemic.
“Governments should ensure farmers have access to the right seeds and fertilisers and ensure the food supply chain is not affected,” she said.
Currently, there is no food shortage across the world. Next year, the UN will convene a food system summit to raise global awareness and activities that transform food systems.
The systems are geared not only to solve hunger but also to reduce diet related diseases such as malnutrition.
