FAO in Mozambique

Mozambique kicks off National Food Systems Summit Dialogues

National Food Systems Summit Dialogues held in Maputo
19/05/2021

19 May 2021, Maputo- "Despite efforts throughout recent years, food security and nutrition reports on the global food crisis anticipate a dark future for many developing countries." The warning came from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representative in Mozambique Hernani Coelho da Silva, who on Wednesday (19.05.) held a speech at the kick-off event of the National Food Systems Summit Dialogues in Maputo.

Representatives from the public and private sectors, the academy and civil society involved in the country´s food system chain participated at the event, which took place under the slogan "Contributing to Mainstream Sustainable Food Systems Towards Zero Hunger". The National Dialogues fall within the preparation for the UN Summit on Food Systems to be held in New York next September.

In regard to Mozambique, Coelho da Silva, who represented the UN Resident Coordinator, Myrta Kaulard, raised awareness of the challenges faced throughout the value chains of agriculture products and those caused by "extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and cyclones, which have affected several regions of Mozambique, contributing to exacerbate the risks of food insecurity". In this context, FAO Representative called for the involvement of all relevant actors, including smallholder farmers, in the National Dialogues in order to identify the main gaps in the food systems and find solutions at the national, regional and global level.

This series of Dialogues, which will be held under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADER), will take place between the months of May and June and end with the validation of the results both of the national and independent meetings before their presentation at the Pre-Summit to be held in Rome, in June, and later at the Summit in New York, in September.

In his opening speech, Vice-Minister of MADER Olegário Banze stated that "we all have been engaged in a holistic approach so that we can build balanced food systems that meet the food needs of our country and our planet." According to Vice-Minister Banze, national well-being "is not possible without a food system that responds to all challenges in the areas of input distribution, production, storage, and food processing and distribution."

The UN Summit offers an opportunity for reflection on the future orientation towards development and the accelaration of food systems transformation with a view to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Also according to FAO consultant Jacques de Graaf, speaker at the event, food systems are a starting point to achieve the SDGs. Factors that include population growth, globalization, and migration, strongly influence food systems, and it is necessary to "take actions that promote change to create healthy, sustainable and inclusive food systems", de Graaf said.

The National Dialogues will focus on five areas defined by the UN, namely: (i) ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all, (ii) turning consumption patterns sustainable, (iii) increasing scale production without harming nature, (iv) improving livelihoods in an equal manner, and (v) strengthening resilience to shocks.

Besides the National Dialogues, independent consultations shall take place to discuss the priorities and needs of the countries. In Mozambique, the first of these independent dialogues took place last April in the city of Quelimane, Zambézia province.