Connecting agricultural production with food processing and value chain, creating jobs for women and income generating opportunities, encouraging more young people to work in agriculture and the production of more nutritious foods are critical steps for the economic and social advancement of Asia-Pacific’s least developed countries, a senior official of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific made the remarks during the opening day of the Ministerial Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Least Developed Countries (LDCs), 16 – 18 December, in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu. The main objective of the meeting is to contribute to a process that helps these countries graduate away from LDC status through the mainstream of national development strategies and development cooperation, including effective linkage with the post-2015 development framework.

While movement from rural to urban areas is seen by many people as a road to better livelihood prospects – and a path to graduation for LDCs themselves – this is not always the case, and in fact can further jeopardize their countries’ food security, Konuma told the Ministers.

“While some of these people will take higher-paying jobs in other sectors of the economy, not everyone can do this at the same time and urban areas could not handle such a rapid influx of people in any event,” Konuma said. “If we want the rural poor to lift themselves out of poverty, a dynamic agricultural sector that creates jobs and employment will be essential.”

Konuma pointed to the fact that the average age of farmers across the region is increasing. More young people need to be encouraged and incentivized to remain on the farm to help developing countries increase food production by 77 percent by 2050 in order to meet the demands of a growing population. This is particularly the case for LDCs.

With some 300 million inhabitants in a dozen LDC countries of Asia and the Pacific, 70 percent live in rural areas and they often spend around 70 percent of their income on food, Konuma pointed out. But there are ways to turn things around.

“Through the development of value chains that connect farmers to consumers and provide them the safe and healthy food that they demand, these value chains can provide not only food, but also income and jobs that allow the poor to escape from poverty and hunger,” Konuma said. “They can also help to reduce the large amounts of food that is lost or wasted each year.

These value chains will only come into being however, with substantial private and public investments in rural transportation and communication infrastructure, he added.

“Agriculture can also contribute to the growth and advancement of LDCs by producing more and more nutritious food,” Konuma said. “But making food more affordable and nutritious can only be done by creating an enabling environment for private investment, provided that those investments respect the land rights of the poor and marginalized – while also investing in key public goods such as agricultural research, irrigation and infrastructure so as to improve productivity.”

LDCs represent the poorest and weakest segment of the international community. They comprise more than 880 million people (about 12 per cent of world population), but account for less than two percent of world GDP and about one percent of global trade in goods.

FAO works with LDCs to help them fight hunger and poverty and is committed to assisting them meet the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by half the proportion of those suffering from hunger by 2015 – with a goal of eradicating hunger (zero hunger) by 2025. The Organization will also work to this end within the post-2015 development framework.