FAO statement at the ECOSOC HAS Closing Session

ECOSOC HAS – Closing Session

FAO statement, delivered by

Humanitarian and Resilience Programme Officer at the FAO Liaison Office with the UN in New York, Conor Elliott

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Driven by conflict, climate change, economic challenges (including from COVID 19 restrictions) , poverty,  inequality and now the war in Ukraine,  the world is facing unpreceded humanitarian needs, and an unprecedented food crisis. The gap between humanitarian needs and available financing continues to widen. 

Throughout this week we have heard widespread consensus on the need to address humanitarian needs differently. While we must have scaled up funding, from both new and traditional donors, we also need much more dignified, impactful and cost-effective solutions that helps reduce needs.

We need funding that allows us to address root causes of humanitarian crises, increase our focus on prevention, build local and nationally owned early warning capacity, and inform anticipatory actions. We must respond coherently across silos, sectors, local and international actors. 

And no where is this more evident than in fighting acute food insecurity and famine. Today, starvation and death are a very real threat for 750,000 people – almost a 9-fold increase since 2016. This is simply unacceptable. The 193 million people who were acutely food insecure in 2021 are primarily food producers and traders, living in rural areas. 

Food assistance provided after the worst-case scenario is essential and saves lives, but unless equal priority is given to boosting local food production and making agriculture more resilient, acute hunger will continue rising. 

Around the world, approximately 3 out of 4 of the most food insecure rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Emergency agriculture interventions are cost-effective and meet immediate needs, lay the path to resilience and have knock-on positive effects for other sectors. 

We know that investing in agriculture and rural livelihoods is strategic, and 7 to 10 times more cost-effective than traditional assistance, but currently only 8% of all food security funding in emergencies goes to assist agricultural production. This must change.

We must seize this moment of attention on global food insecurity to transform food systems, reduce the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance and contribute meaningfully to sustainable development and peaceful and prosperous societies.

Thank you.