2016 International Year of Pulses Luncheon at the United Nations Headquarters

 

 

2016 International Year of Pulses Luncheon at the United Nations Headquarters

Statement by FAO LON Director Carla Mucavi

18 November 2015, New York

 

Your Excellency Ambassador Michael Grant, Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN

Your Excellency Minister Nabeel Munir, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN

Your Excellency Minister Levent Eler, Deputy Permanent Representative of Turkey to the UN

Mr Huseyin Arslan, President of the Global Pulse Confederation

Mr Lee Moats, Chair of Pulse Canada

 

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

It is a pleasure for me to address you today on behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). I want to thank the Permanent Representation of Canada and the Global Pulse Confederation for organizing this event and inviting FAO to participate in it. As the facilitator of the 2016 International Year of Pulses, FAO is honoured to be here.

 

Just a little over two years ago, the UN General Assembly declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses, and requested FAO to facilitate its implementation.

 

The International Year of Pulses was officially launched last week in Rome. On that occasion, the FAO Director General Dr José Graziano da Silva highlighted the crucial role that pulses have in sustainable food production and healthy diets and their contribution to food security and nutrition.

 

To show the health, economic, social and environmental benefits, and to show that pulses can benefit all, big and small, producers and consumers, we need to bring all stakeholders together.

 

Partnership is a guiding principle that FAO follows as facilitator of the International Year.

 

The steering committee for the International Year that has been set up in Rome is co-chaired by Turkey and Pakistan, co-sponsors of the General Assembly Resolution on Pulses.

 

Its participants also include our co-hosts today: Canada and Global Pulse Confederation, as well as around 10 more countries from all over the world, research institutions, civil society and farmer organizations and the private sector.

 

An Action Plan has been prepared with the Steering Committee to help us reach these goals. It focuses its attention on:

• The importance of pulse production, particularly for the livelihoods of family farmers in developing countries;
• Promoting pulses as an essential component of nutritious, healthy diets that can help address hunger, malnutrition and related diseases;
• The contribution that pulses can give to our efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to its nitrogen-fixing properties and smaller carbon footprint than many other crops;
• The biodiversity of pulses and its conservation; and,
• The identification of knowledge gaps and research needs to promote sustainable production and consumption of pulses.

 

The activities planned for the International year include:

• Outreach and awareness raising campaigns;
• Policy dialogues to support increased investments in the pulse value chain;
• A food composition database on pulses as part of the FAO/INFOODS network; and,
• Research and scientific papers and studies, such as reports on the world pulses economy and on the impacts of climate change on pulse production.

 

Allow me also to share with you some of the events planned for the International year. They include:

• The Pulses Conclave in February 2016, in India;
• The Pan African Grain Legume and World Cowpea Conference in February 2016, in Zambia;
• The Regional Conference of the Central American Cooperative Program for Crops and Animal Improvements, in April 2016, in Costa Rica; and
• The World Pulses Convention in May 2016, in Turkey.

 

We also have, of course, the events here in New York. And more activities are being added and more leaders, farmers, and organizations join the International Year of the Pulses.

 

Let me recall that, in line with the General Assembly Resolution, the costs of implementing the International Year of Pulses should be met through voluntary contributions.

 

I invite governments, the private sector and other partners to also consider contributing financially to make the International Year a success. In this context we wish to acknowledge the generous pledge of 200 thousand dollars from the Global Pulse Confederation.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

To end, allow me to echo the words of Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in his message on the occasion of the launch of IYP: “Much work needs to be done to end hunger and provide food security and nutrition for all. One concrete, promising opportunity lies with pulses”.

 

Thank you for your attention.