A three-day high-level senior officers’ meeting was held as a run-up to the thirty-seventh session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC) organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from 19-22 February 2024 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. India also participated at this high-level UN FAO conference.
The APRC is convened every two years which brings together the Ministers of Agriculture and other high officials of FAO Member States in the Asia-Pacific to discuss region-specific challenges, opportunities and priorities for food and agriculture in the region. Currently, there are 46 FAO Member Nations in Asia and the Pacific.
“FAO in India has been linking its contributions to the national flagship programmes of the Government of India and has identified key areas to work collaboratively with the government on sustainable agriculture production, food and nutrition security, climate resilience and sustainable natural resource management and inclusive gender responsive agri-food governance and promotion of private sector investment,” says Takayuki Hagiwara, FAO Representative in India.
As a lead-in to the APRC37, FAO organized a high-level National Consultation on 25 January 2024 in New Delhi. The consultation was attended by senior government officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India and NITI Aayog, policymakers, scientists, and academics.
In-depth discussion and deliberation were undertaken on the state of food and agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region, applying the One Health approach and building resilience through agrifood systems transformation, financing to end hunger (SDG2), addressing food loss and waste, and transforming fisheries and aquaculture towards sustainability in Asia and the Pacific region.
The issues to be discussed during APRC37 are of vital interest to India. Ministerial roundtable discussions such as securing future food and nutrition, following lessons learned from the above convergent crises, investment and financing for poverty reduction and modernization, and lessons learned in saving water and food and reducing loss and waste – all have a common interest across the region.
The special Ministerial event will focus on several thematic areas, such as championing modernization and digitalization for smallholders in aquaculture and livestock and an overall transformation of agrifood systems in countries across the vast region. The FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, is expected to participate in the Ministerial Session.