Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh (R) answers reporters' questions at the press conference (Photo: VNA)Can Tho (VNA) – Outcomesof the Food Security Week, which took place in Can Tho from August 18-25, havecontributed to materialising one of the four priorities of the APEC Year 2017that is enhancing food security and sustainable development in response toclimate change.
Deputy Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh made the remark at a pressconference in Can Tho city on August 25.
He added that the resultalso demonstrates APEC member economies’ commitments to contributing torealising the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
During the week, APEC member economies adopted three important documents - the Action Plan to implement the Multi-YearFramework Programme on Food Security and Climate Change, the Action Plan toimplement the Strategic Framework on Rural-Urban Development to Strengthen FoodSecurity and Quality Growth, and the Can Tho Statement on Enhancing FoodSecurity and Sustainable Agriculture in Response to Climate Change.
TheAction Plan to implement the Multi-Year Framework Programme on Food Securityand Climate Change aims to fulfill the APEC Food Security Roadmap Towards 2020 and Bogor Goals 2020.
Furthermore,the plan will promote more coordinated regional efforts to address the closely linked challenges to food security, development, and climate changeadaptation and mitigation.
Itfocuses on policies, best practices, technologies and levels of capacity of the APEC economies.
TheAction Plan to implement the Strategic Framework on Rural-Urban Development toStrengthen Food Security and Quality Growth is expected to fulfil the APEC FoodSecurity Roadmap Towards 2020 and the 2014 APEC Connectivity Blueprint.
The planwill promote a learning agenda for the APEC region on rural-urban developmentas well as more coordinated efforts to address food security and quality growth challenges brought about by rapidurbanisation.
The plan aims to address challenges associated with rural-urbandevelopment and food security by pursuing four concurrent areas, as determinedin the Strategic Framework: inclusive economic development, sustainable naturalresource management, social aspect and administrative efficiency.
It calls for the member economies to develop activities based on thestrategies outlined in the Strategic Framework and to consider the role of the privatesector in those activities. The actions are to be voluntary and the membereconomies have the direction to undertake all or some of the activities basedon their domestic circumstance.
Meanwhile, the Can Tho Statement recognises the linkages between foodsecurity, poverty, climate change and sustainable development. Sustainable andresilient agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries contribute significantly toenhancing food security, rural employment, poverty reduction, communityempowerment, economic development, environmental protection and adaptation toclimate change.
In the statement, APEC ministers and high-level representativesresponsible for food security and agriculture call on the economies tostrengthen and coordinate efforts at global, regional and economic levels indeveloping sustainable agriculture, livestock, aquaculture, and fisheriessystems that are sensitive to climate change, as appropriate.
They are conscious that the region’s natural resources are under stressfrom overconsumption, land and maritime habitat degradation, fresh waterscarcity and loss of biodiversity. Greater concreted efforts, includingcross-border coordination, to foster sustainable use and management of land,forests, water and marine resources, are essential to both food security andenvironmental protection.
The statement says it is critical to strengthen policy and technicalcooperation to improve governance and sustainable use of natural resourceswhile securing long-term food supply.
It encourages the APEC member economies to share best practices andexperiences in promoting sustainable rural-urban development and growth,including empowering disadvantaged groups, smallholders and micro, small- andmedium-sized enterprises in agriculture, to secure livelihoods, reduce povertyand improve food security for farming and fishing communities.
The statement calls for further joint efforts in promoting trade facilitation,innovative technologies and food market access transparency to help bothimporting and exporting economies adapt to food price volatility.
An enabling policy and regulatory environment is also needed to fosterand facilitate investment in rural transport, connectivity, logistics,agro-industry clusters and other services to improve farming, food processingand the linkage of food markets, it says.
The statement also says post-harvest food loss and waste remain achallenge that demands further actions, including infrastructure development aswell as implementation of innovative technologies among APEC member economies.
The collaboration and coordination of regional initiatives on food lossand waste reduction is essential.
The Food Security Week brought together two ministers, seven deputyministers and nearly 700 delegates from the APEC member economies,international organisations and research institutes.
The week featured 17 events, including high-level dialogues, annualmeetings of APEC working groups, symposiums, an exhibition and fact-findingtrips.
Bilateral meetings between leaders in charge of agriculture of the APECeconomies were also held during the week.
Of note, Vietnam and Australia signed a letter of intent on long-term cooperationin agricultural research and a memorandum ofunderstanding on cooperationin combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
DeputyMinister Doanh also had a meeting with Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia andthe Pacific Kundhavi Kadiresan on this occasion.-VNA
