Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States - Food Security

Transforming Food Systems Hand-in-Hand to Deliver Healthy Diets in LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 19:39:00 +0000

Monday, 13 July 2020 - 1:15pm

OHRLLS is joining with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation to present the most recent data and analysis on hunger, food security and malnutrition in the three groups of most vulnerable countries.

The 2020 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report highlights the most recent and authoritative estimates of the extent of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition around the world.

The Report makes the strong case for a transformative change in food systems if we are to eliminate hunger and malnutrition, and to ensure healthy and affordable diets for all.

FORMAT

This interactive webinar will be co-hosted by Fekitamoeloa Katoa‘Utoikamanu, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General.

Mr. Maximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist will deliver the key presentation and contributions will be made by the Chairs of the groups of Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

The joint webinar, happening in the sidelines of this year's High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) is a follow-up to the first OHRLLS/FAO Briefing held on 7 May.

REGISTER

https://bit.ly/2VMqtoz

DOCUMENTS

Background Materials
Event Flyer
Concept Note
Webinar Agenda
Statements
Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu
Presentations
Ms. Angélica Jácome
Mr. Maximo Torero

Photo: The greenhouse of Sidibe Argo-Techniques in Katibougou Village, outside Bamako, Mali. Dominic Chavez/World Bank

Welcome Remarks at the Webinar: Transforming Food Systems Hand-in-Hand to Deliver Healthy Diets in LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 17:45:00 +0000

Welcome Remarks by Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

13 July 2020
New York, USA

Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to our Webinar.

I thank all of you for the great cooperation so we can have this event. I extend special thanks to my colleague, the Director-General QU Dongyu of FAO.

Hunger, disease, poverty are one vicious cycle.

It is a vicious cycle of exclusion too often impacting in greater numbers for minorities, women and children, and those living in remote areas excluding them from access to health care, education and what we used to call basic needs.

We live in a world where on the one hand some argue for healthier foods whilst on the other hand some just do not have access to any foods.

We have known for decades that low birth weight and undernourishment have life-long impacts leading to high vulnerabilities.

We now are in a century where at the macro level we have no overall food shortages. But that is the 10,000 feet above ground perspective!

The sad reality is that yes hunger and undernourishment have gone down over the last decades but they remain among the main killers and health risks in the world.

Hunger and undernourishment disproportionally threaten the women, girls, men and boys in the LDCs in particular, and the LLDCs and SIDS.

In contrast to the slow but positive trends of the last few decades, we could already see the initial worrying signs of reversal of this trend in 2019. Of course, total population also has considerably increased over the last few decades.

And then came COVID.

The COVID-19 crisis has meant and means: reduced food production because you cannot move or only with difficulty to plant, to manage, to harvest production. Bringing food to market and let us not even think about food deliveries like in advanced economies, too often means overcoming major logistical hurdles.

Cross-border food supplies with closed borders is just not possible. In short, the pandemic brings new insecurities and has exacerbated the already existing food insecurity.

Policy-making and implementation needs data.

Accurate and timely data is paramount to address the food crisis, and to mobilize international support.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, or SOFI reports, fulfill this role.

I wish to acknowledge especially the work of Dr. Maximo Torero and his team for affording the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS to be among the first to learn key findings from the SOFI 2020 Report launched today.

Any sustainable development must be underpinned by data and science but also genuine development cooperation where developing countries are partners.

There cannot be top-down, imposed or desk-based solutions. More than ever we need participatory and bottom-up methods of cooperation.

This is essential for meeting the diverse and complex needs of the peoples of the three Groups of countries.

I applaud the new Hand-in-Hand initiative of the FAO to address poverty and hunger.

We all look forward to learn more about it from Ms. Angélica Jácome Daza, the Director of the new FAO Office for SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs.

I very much look forward to continuing OHRLLS’ cooperation with the FAO for the benefit of the peoples of the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS.

Thank you.

Front Page Article:

Statement at the Joint FAO-OHRLLS Briefing on the Impacts of COVID-19 on Food Security for the LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2020 17:25:00 +0000

Statement by Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

7 May 2020
New York, USA

Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

There is a saying “may you live in exceptional times” - everybody, everywhere I am certain experiences this sense right now.

More than half of the world population finds itself under some form of confinement, social distancing and, let there be no doubt, more or less intense material and psychological hardship.

The globe is united in the determination to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Millions and millions of businesses that often are the glue of local communities’ employment and thus economies have reduced or brought to a stop the production of goods and services.

The ILO anticipates that some 200 million workers risk unemployment. Many and their families are threatened in their very livelihoods.

Governments in the developed countries have engaged in unprecedented fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate the devastating impact that the crisis is having on employment and businesses.

The health systems and fiscal space available to LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS to face this unprecedented crisis of our 21st century is far and really by far more limited.

Regardless of where we are, this crisis has driven home what once was called basic needs such as health, water, shelter and food! The deep economic social and institutional consequences of COVID-19 now unfold. The farm and food systems are disproportionately impacted in LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS.

So many more households are now on a trajectory to even greater poverty and food insecurity!

This global health crisis bears all the signs of a perfect storm triggering also a major food crisis and setting back years of economic development. In such scenario, several of the SDGs will become unattainable and the promise to include everybody in the gains from Agenda 2030 will indeed just remain a wish.

We cannot afford ever growing inequalities and now is the time to provide the LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS with financial emergency relief commensurate with the challenges they face.

To avoid a potentially massive increase in global poverty and hunger wiping out gains made in previous decades, we need an unprecedented policy response. At this dire time, many of us have been inspired by solidarity emerging at community levels. Now is the time for solidarity in action between development partners, the United Nations, the International Financial Institutions, and other international organizations. Now is the time to work for one shared goal: support LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS to have the fiscal space needed to expand health and social protection programmes and mitigate the challenges presented by the pandemic.

Without food, there is no life and so it is evident that we must make every effort to strengthen, already in many cases, weakened food supply chains, and promote measures to facilitate access to affordable food supplies. Immediate and substantial official and commercial debt relief will surely be an essential aspect of a comprehensive support package.

We also must accelerate technical assistance, transfer of technology, and capacity building to scale up the capabilities of LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS in fighting COVID-19.

These are immediate measures to take but they will not be sufficient.

We also must invest in concerted efforts to keep trade channels open and facilitate free movement of goods to avoid piling an unnecessary food price crisis on the current health and economic disasters facing the world.

I am confident that today’s discussion will help us understand better the impacts that COVID-19 will have on the food security in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS.

I express my gratitude to the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme for their availability to share their knowledge and expertise and to answer our questions.

Thank you and we will need your full cooperation in what lies ahead.

I must also express my sincere gratitude to the Chairs of the LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS for organizing this event in cooperation with us and for their leadership during this critical and unprecedented time.

I look forward to listening to you and to our exchanges.

Thank you.

Front Page Article:

COVID19 and Impacts on Food Security in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2020 17:21:00 +0000

Thursday, 07 May 2020 - 3:00pm to 4:30pm

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic and its enormous impacts – on a scale we have never seen before – have drawn attention to the deep and fragile interconnections between people, planet and prosperity.

Today, while one third of food produced is wasted, some 820 million people suffer from hunger, of whom more than 100 million are already in food crisis. Even before the crisis, two billion people suffered from micronutrient deficiency and two billion are overweight or obese. These malnourished are the people most vulnerable to pandemic and economic dislocation.

COVID-19 has added another layer of complexity to the state of agri-food systems. Measures to contain the pandemic threaten to disrupt supply chains and bring about an increase in food insecurity.

As the pandemic and the accompanying economic shocks spread southward around the globe, they will inevitably come to the rural areas, where the vast majority of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people live and where the public resources and institutional supports of public health and social protection are much weaker.

LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS often are highly dependent on food imports, rely on international markets to secure food and other essential needs, are dependent on high-value agricultural exports and have a large share of the population is involved in agriculture and food production, processing, transportation, and distribution, making them especially vulnerable to the pandemic. Food prices remain a concern in countries that are dependent on food imports that are further inflated by higher transport and transit costs such as LLDCs. The introduction of export restrictions and prohibitions on foodstuffs further increases the vulnerability of these countries. Preserving and improving the food economy must be an essential part of the socio-economic response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Against this backdrop, a virtual conversation is being organised on 7May 2020 to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 emergency and its impacts on food systems and to identify urgent and coordinated actions to avoid the most disruptive consequences. The meeting will also provide an opportunity to look at the prospects of the international action on food security and nutrition in the recovery phase and how to deliver in the framework of the Decade for Action and in preparation of the 2021 UN Food System Summit.

REGISTER

To participate, please register here.

DOCUMENTS

Background Materials
Background and Agenda
Meeting Report
Statements
Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu
Malawi on behalf of the Group of LDCs
Kazakhstan on behalf of the Group of LLDCs
Belize on behalf of the AOSIS
Presentations
Mr. Maximo Torero