FAO in India

A Panel Discussion on “Building Sustainable Food Systems’’ to celebrate World Food Day 2020

16/10/2020

On the occasion of World Food Day, 2020 and FAO’s 75th anniversary, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the three Rome Based Agencies (RBAs) namely Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) organized a panel discussion focused on building sustainable food systems. This event showcased the collaboration and partnership to continue the fight against food and nutrition insecurity.

Key speakers at this online event included FAO Representative in India, Mr Tomio Shichiri; Ms Meera Mishra, Country Coordinator, IFAD; and Mr Bishow Parajuli, WFP Representative and Country Director. The speakers supported the call to "grow, nourish, sustain, together" and collectively address challenges faced by food systems since the onslaught of the pandemic.

Highlighting the ongoing challenges of food and nutrition security, Mr Tomio Shichiri - FAO Representative in India said, "Food is the essence of life and the bedrock of our cultures. FAO is working with the government, training institutions and other relevant stakeholders to establish an enabling environment for nutrition-sensitive agriculture and related policies. While speaking about emerging issues in food security, Mr Shichiri reiterated the need to make value chains more resilient to global shocks. He said that value chains should not only focus on domestic demands, but also capture the global markets”. Mr Shichiri said that one of the biggest challenges to food security is climate change and stated that, "we need to invest in decentralized institutions and build their capacities to mitigate the risk through the deployment of early warning systems." He underlined the need to build farmers' capacity to diversify their crops, and adopt agroecological practices to minimize negative risks from climate change. 

Mr. Bishow Parajuli - WFP Representative and Country Director to India said, "while progress has been made in the last few years, there is a lot of work yet to be done. Around 690 million people from across the globe still do not have access to affordable and nutritious food on a daily basis. The situation has worsened due to COVID-19 as the population living under acute hunger is growing up to 270 million. And climate change continues to be a real and potent threat to agrobiodiversity, which will impact everything from productivity to livelihoods across food and farm systems. This calls for a revamp of the entire mechanism that brings food from farms to our plates."

Ms. Meera Mishra - Country Coordinator, IFAD India emphasized the need for a resilient food system to provide quality and nutritious food that is also affordable, and accessible to the poor. She said, "The number of people living below the poverty line has increased since April 2020 owing to COVID-19. What the pandemic has brought to the fore is the need for a comprehensive structure that safeguards small-scale producers; a supply-chain mechanism that restores hygiene and sanitization of the final output; and incentives that will help improve the income and productivity of the vulnerable population. IFAD believes that a rapid increase in investment in small-scale agriculture can jump start pandemic recovery, safeguard food supplies, and ensure that marginalized rural communities are not left behind”.

All three representatives acknowledged the significance of our food heroes, especially women - farmers and workers throughout the food system - who are making sure that food makes its way from farm to fork even amid disruptions as unprecedented as the current COVID-19 crisis. Supporting them should be a priority. Anita Devi, Bihar based mushroom farmer and Yogesh Thorat, Managing Director of Maharashtra based consortium of farmers’ producer company, MAHAFPC, also participated in the event as food heroes.

In conclusion, the three agencies reiterated their support to global solidarity in extending help to all populations, particularly the most vulnerable, to recover from the crisis. They also echoed their commitment to make food systems more resilient, inclusive and robust so they can withstand increasing volatility and climate shocks, deliver affordable and sustainable healthy diets for all, and provide decent livelihoods.