UZBEKISTAN LLDC Forum on Food Security and the SDGs Opening Remarks

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to acknowledge Uzbekistan’s commitment to agrifood systems transformation in Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).

And for following up on my recommendation to the Honourable President last year in Samarkand on the need to bring together LLDCs to facilitate knowledge sharing and to provide a platform to collectively identify the solutions needed.

The unique geographical and cultural characteristics of LLDCs often lead to limits and higher costs of infrastructure, logistics and transportation, which hinders their full integration into global markets.

At the same time, the impacts of the climate crisis are further aggravating the situation in these countries, resulting in water scarcity, land degradation, and biodiversity loss, among others.

Collectively, these challenges directly affect food security and poverty eradication in LLDCs.

As the UN specialized agency dedicated to eradicating hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition, FAO prioritizes support to the most vulnerable countries and communities, including LLDCs, in overcoming these challenges.

Since taking office in 2019, five years ago, I have been committed to intensifying efforts aimed at leaving no one behind.

I immediately established a dedicated FAO Office of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and LLDCs, to leverage the knowledge and technical capacity, expertise of the Organization to support these most vulnerable Members.

Furthermore, the FAO flagship, country-owned and country-led, Hand-in-Hand Initiative was also launched to provide the technical, policy and investment support needed to eradicate hunger and poverty, and to reduce inequalities – directly in line with SDG2, SDG1 and SDG10.

There are currently 72 countries participating in the Hand-in-Hand Initiative- with one-third of them being LLDCs.

The FAO Digital Villages Initiative was launched to support developing countries - including LLDCs - in leveraging digital innovation and technology to increase agricultural production, access market and share in the value chain, in turn, improve livelihoods and contribute to more inclusive societies.

Eight LLDC countries, including Uzbekistan, are already part of the initiative, which aims to realize their agricultural potential through an evidence‑based territorial approach.

In addition, the FAO One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative is assisting countries to boost their production and optimize the use of local natural resources to achieve food security and improved nutrition by promoting Special Agricultural Products across different agroecological regions.

Currently, 22 LLDCs globally are promoting country specific products through the OCOP initiative.

FAO is also leveraging its convening power to provide relevant platforms for dialogue among countries facing similar challenges.

In June 2023, FAO convened a High-Level Ministerial Event to progress the transformation of agrifood systems to achieve the 2030 Agenda in SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs.

At this event, Ministers from these countries discussed common challenges related to the climate crisis, building resilience to food insecurity and fostering inclusive investments to achieve a food secure future for all.

 Furthermore, each of the FAO Regional Ministerial Conferences held earlier this year held a session on SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs to discuss regional specific priorities, and to strengthen their engagement through the informal Ministerial network.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Events such as today’s Forum provide an excellent opportunity to bring some of the members of the informal Ministerial network together, and to contribute to its work. I really appreciate the UN Under Secretary General’s Special Envoy for SIDS, LDCs, LLDCs present here today to support this Forum.

FAO will also actively participate in the LLDC3 UN conference in Botswana in December 2024 to support implementation of the ambitious goals set out, in line with our mandate.

FAO will continue to collect and analyse data and information to develop evidence-based and context-specific policy options, tools and innovations,

As well as to identify investment opportunities accompanied by technical and policy assistance to support LLDCs across the 5 priority areas, such as on:

• measuring food losses at the farm level on value chains such as beans, maize, potatoes, sorghum and teff;
• providing up-to-date information and analysis across the food supply chain for data-driven decisions, and to calculate price anomalies for specific food commodity series over time;
• supporting the UN Common Country Analysis through FAO’s knowledge and technical expertise to include the agrifood systems transformation perspective into country-level processes; and
• promoting youth-led World Food Forum National Chapters to mobilize youth-led local action to support agrifood systems transformation - out of the current 14 chapters empowering youth and women for sustainable development, 5 are based in LLDCs.

In this regard, I invite all LLDCs to participate in annual World Food Forum in October this year at FAO headquarters in Rome, and its three pillars on youth, science and innovation, and hand-in-hand investment, under the overall theme of “Good Food for all, for today and tomorrow”.

Dear Friends,

LLDCs hold the key to their own sustainable development.

I wish to recognize the presence of UN Under Secretary General Rabab Fatima, UN High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, and Secretary-General of the LLDC3 Conference.

USG Fatima has been a determined advocate and key partner in drawing attention to the challenges faced by LLDCs, and in assisting to identify concrete solutions to support sustainable development in these countries.

FAO is committed to continue working together with all partners in an efficient, effective and coherent manner, to support LLDCs in accelerating the transformation of agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more sustainable and, of course, more resilient.

For the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life - leaving no one behind.

In Uzbekistan, the key is your best practice, and I hope you can share this best practice through this Forum as host.

I wish to thank the Honourable Prime Minister for your time and your support in this Forum, especially for the Declaration to be implemented.

This will lead to a new experience, a new best practice to offer, to contribute to other Members, to women - to learning from you.

As I always say, because I am from China where I used to work for many years in a landlocked province.

In conclusion, I wish to draw the attention of LLDC countries to the following:

Open your minds through innovative business models and develop your locked lands with your own individual keys.

Thank you.