C44 ROUNDTABLE Four Betters for SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs Opening Remarks

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear colleagues, 

Welcome to this important Round Table as we come together to discuss some of the most pressing challenges of our time and how they are affecting in particular Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).

These converging shocks have increased hardships to these vulnerable countries whose geographic, economic and environmental contexts leave them uniquely exposed.

These struggles are not abstract statistics, they are real, tangible obstacles that prevent progress towards achieving food security, nutrition, sustainable resource management and resilient livelihoods.

Our joint response to these interlinked challenges is therefore urgent and critical.

This Round Table is aligned with the FAO Strategic Framework and our vision of the Four Betters – better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

These principles offer concrete pathways to transform agrifood systems by redesigning them to benefit both people and the planet. It means moving from the reactive measures to proactive, transformative strategies.

Our work, together, is driven by the recognition that sustainable domestic agricultural production and robust value chains are essential.

For many SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs, reducing the heavy reliance on volatile global markets is a matter of survival.

After the pandemic and the economic turndown, then you increased to a certain level of self-supply.

Dear Colleagues,

Now, allow me to share my 30-years of experience with SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs with you..

What does better production mean for you? It is not necessary to import everything, but you also do not necessarily have to produce everything, it is impossible.

That is why these three groups consisting of 93 countries should start the better production by producing locally what is perishable or products that are difficult to access such as some types of fruit or vegetables where you have a special advantage due to local resources and weather.

For example, Singapore is a city island, not a SIDS, but they try to produce their own lettuce through the introduction of vertical technology. I developed the technology when I was the Director-General 30 years ago, but Singapore doubled and went from seven to 14 layers.

I just take this example. To show that better production is not necessarily producing everything yourself.

If you have the money, you can have the technology to produce locally fresh products especially tropical products and short, fast-growing products. That means better production.

Also, you can grow the organic way, not necessarily completely organic, it can be a mix with fertilizer and the ecosystem organic, because you have a lot of bio residues to compost to produce organic fertilizer, but perhaps not enough. So you have to mix it with some long-lasting fertilizer.

For better nutrition, on different islands you have different challenges. Some islands, for example, from the South Pacific, you depend on taro, but you have to establish a healthy food consumption pattern. You have to establish a healthy diet. In the Caribbean region, traditionally, you have legumes as a staple food.

Then better environment. In general, you have a very good environment, no pollution, but not such a good agricultural environment because your soil is not so good because maybe you have too much rainfall or you have too many typhoons or hurricanes. So, you need a certain level for preservation cultivation.

Then the better life. You can design different stages of development of the human being, what kind of healthcare you need, and then it is a huge opportunity for you to attract the investment.

The same with landlocked, mountainous countries. If they are more than 1 500 metres above sea level, it is ideal for training young kids who have difficulties with their heart. They start training when they are three or five years old. Every year they come for the one- or two-months training. It is a health recovery place.

So, look at the whole agrifood system and the local ecosystems.  You can not only promote for food, but health – environmentally friendly production.

At FAO, we are proud to be working with you. Look at each Member, what is your speciality? With the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform, with the big data, we have a collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Google Earth, European Agency, Chinese GIAHS centre. That is the value of that.

FAO is your home, it is your stage, I don’t know so many international organizations and UN specialized agencies that provide this type of opportunity for you to address your special concerns and requirements.

Like Indigenous Peoples, who want to come to join the World Food Forum, because simply they finally found a UN specialized agency that will host them annually, they consider FAO their home now, but before they did not have any place in the UN system to host them regularly, annually. So, they always come, they are committed.

I wish you all the best, use FAO - it is your Organization - as your platform.

Thank you.