Asia-Pacific countries pledged bold and innovative action
for food security and livelihoods

FAO regional
conference focused on rebound from damage of COVID-19

Innovation,
solidarity, coherence and strong partnership among and within countries of Asia
and the Pacific are required for the region to rebound from the damage caused
by COVID-19 and the ongoing effects of chronic undernourishment.

That was a call
made by more than 40 member countries of the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations concluding a four-day regional conference. About 750
participants, including representatives of the private sector and civil
society, pledged to work to transform food systems, making them more
sustainable, productive and resilient, and to feed a hungry world in a way that
is profitable for farmers yet produces healthy food that is accessible to all.

"To transform
food systems for sustainable healthy diets we must have coherence, partnerships
and solidarity to reduce the costs of production," FAO Director-General QU
Dongyu said on the final day of the 35th Regional
Conference for Asia and the Pacific, hosted by the Government of Bhutan.

"Big data, a
digital economy and mobile technology will help producers achieve that."
Today, mobile technology is leading innovation "and a smartphone in the
hands of a smallholder farmer is his new farming tool," the
Director-General added.

The Conference also
learned more about the establishment of a FAO Office of Innovation and the
creation of an International
Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture.

The Conference
heard that agricultural innovation can reduce back-breaking drudgery, and that
food chains in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly benefitting from
technological innovation such as drones, satellite imagery, big data and block
chains.

"Leveraging
data, innovation and technology has shown that, here in Asia and the Pacific,
we have brilliant minds, scientists and an entrepreneurial spirit that will
lead us through the challenges presented by COVID-19 and help us conquer
malnutrition and poverty," the Director-General said.

The Conference held
a special session dedicated to the application of new technology and innovation
in agriculture, which are wooing back young people and empowering women in the
sector, according to participants. It was agreed that new and innovative food
and agricultural policies, processes, investment and learning could get the
region back on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (ending hunger
and promoting sustainable agriculture) by 2030.

COVID-19
underscores the need to redouble efforts to end hunger and poverty

The Asia-Pacific region
is home to more than half of the world's undernourished people, and with the
impacts of COVID-19 the number of hungry people in Southern Asia could rise by
nearly a third to 330 million in the next ten years.

The participants
heard how FAO's recently launched COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, would help
countries mitigate the immediate impacts of the pandemic while build back
better, accelerating global hunger-fighting efforts through a focus on
innovation.

The Conference was
chaired by the Minister for Agriculture and Forests of Bhutan, Yeshey Penjor,
who called for strengthened collaboration: "While great strides had been
made to reduce poverty and hunger by so many countries, COVID-19 has upended
the momentum. We must prepare for higher risks ahead of us and make sure that
there is sustainability in the food supply chain," he said.

The Conference also
appreciated the FAO Hand in Hand Initiative that aims to enable
matchmaking, bringing the right partners together at the right time, to help
the region move forward and meet the needs of member countries. The Initiative
has already seen the launch of state-of-the-art tools such as the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and the FAO Data Lab for
statistical innovation.

"Ironically,
the fact that COVID-19 has driven us to meet remotely has, in some ways, helped
us to move away from formalities and get closer together," said
Director-General QU, referring to the fact the Regional Conference was held
entirely in virtual mode for the first time in FAO's history. "So while we
are separated by some 11 time zones, we have still managed to come together,
have thought-provoking discussions and reach consensus on a number of important
issues."

There were a number
of other firsts and achievements. The private sector joined for the first time
a FAO Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference. Civil society organizations
also continued to have an important voice. Prior to the conference, which is
part of FAO's regional governance structure, national consultations were held
in member nations across the region - another first.

http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/news/detail-events/en/c/1306259/