14/02/2020 The mission was carried out as a follow-up to the high-level meeting held on 1 February at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) between the Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the President of the Nation, Alberto Fernández, in support of the National Plan "Argentina Contra el Hambre".

The delegation was composed of Maya Takagi, Lead Officer of the Strategic Programme for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, Natalia Winder Rossi, Senior Social Protection Officer, and Ricardo Rapallo, Chief Food Security Policy Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean. They were accompanied by Francisco Yofre, Officer in charge of the FAO representation in Argentina, and Elizabeth Kleiman, Food Security and Nutrition Officer. The delegation held meetings with the Ministries of Social Development; Foreign Affairs and Worship; Health; and Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, with representatives of UNICEF in Argentina and the Senate. In addition, it visited Admiral Brown's Party and civil organizations, where the Plan is being implemented. 

Throughout the conference, experiences and opinions were exchanged on the design of the strategy that could be implemented in the medium and long term, the objectives of the plan and how the emergency could be addressed today, not only to reverse it but also to strengthen capacities for economic and productive development and to avoid similar crises in the future. The medium- and long-term strategy could include aspects of the sustainable food system, including production, marketing, consumption, family farming and the different processes of the system.

In order to contribute to the implementation of the Argentina Plan against Hunger as a public food policy, the UN agency made available its experience and technical support in social protection, food security and economic inclusion in order to strengthen social programmes in favour of hunger and poverty reduction. "In Argentina there is a great institutional capacity and technical knowledge to carry out the Plan. Argentina is a country with a very high and solid social protection floor, and FAO's contribution would therefore be more oriented towards the articulation of all policies, plans and programmes.

In this regard, coordination between the different sectors of the country is key, with the national government, the provinces, the municipalities and the social and productive actors working together to make progress," explained Francisco Yofre. In addition, he highlighted the importance of working on sustainable production, "feeding is not just about providing food, so it is important to pay attention to productive development in order to offer varied and healthy food. This has a two-fold impact: it improves accessibility to quality products and promotes territorial development and family agriculture".

The dialogue and definition of the best strategy for technical cooperation will continue in the coming weeks to establish a new mission in this vein. Achieving accessible and quality food is an integral process that begins in agricultural production and ends with the consumer. In this context, FAO's role is to offer a transversal vision on the subject and align it with Agenda 2030 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The organization helps countries to develop or manage programmes and resources to address malnutrition and poverty mainly in the rural sector.