2025 HIGH-LEVEL MINISTERIAL SPECIAL EVENT FOR SIDS, LDCs AND LLDCs From Vulnerability to Resilience - Strengthening Food Security and Better Life in SIDSs, LDCs and LLDCs Closing Statement

Excellences,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for your strong engagement today!

Your voices have made this event not just a platform for exchange, but a moment of collective determination to drive forward agrifood systems transformation in some of the world’s most vulnerable—and resilient—contexts.

Throughout the day, we’ve seen a shared thought: LLDCs, LDCs, and SIDS face complex, structural challenges, that are new but are intensifying.

These include high dependency on food imports, exposure to increase intensity and frequency of climate shocks, fragile ecosystems, and often limited access to global markets.

Yet, there is a collective will to turn these challenges into new and prosperous opportunities!

According to the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, these 3 groups of countries together host a significant share of the 733 million people suffering from hunger globally.

And yet, with the right tools, they also offer models of adaptation and innovation that the world can learn from.

The prospect is one of hope, not despair!

You have shown today that innovation, grounded in and backed by science, can be a game-changer.

In SIDS, Blue Transformation is unlocking the potential of ocean-based food systems, while safeguarding fragile marine ecosystems.

In LLDCs, where transport costs can raise food prices by up to 50 percent, FAO-supported efforts to strengthen local production, storage, and trade corridors are helping reduce vulnerability.

And in LDCs, where over 70 percent of the population depends on agriculture, climate-smart and digital solutions are driving productivity and resilience.

We also heard how improved nutrition must go hand in hand with better access and affordability of healthy diets.

Today, over 80 percent of SIDS populations are unable to afford a healthy diet, and in landlocked and least developed countries, this figure is not far behind.

Reducing food loss and waste, supporting territorial markets, and improving social protection systems are critical.

FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022–31 - centred on the Four Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life - is aligned with your national priorities and regional aspirations.

Whether in the Pacific, the Sahel, or the high Andes, FAO stands firmly by your side to co-design and co-deliver solutions that work for your unique realities.

Dear Friends,

We know that crises will continue to come, but we also know that with foresight, investment, and partnership, we can prevent vulnerability from becoming a catastrophe.

FAO is committed to supporting anticipatory action, long-term resilience, and country-led transformation.

Thank you for your leadership, your energy, and your determination.

Together, we are not only tackling hunger, we are building the foundation for a better future, where SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs are not left behind, but lead the way from vulnerability to resilience!

Thank you.