FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT DIALOGUE UNDERWAY

Preparation towards the Food System Summit Dialogue in New York City, September this year is well underway. 

Officials of the UNDP and Ministry of Agriculture during the pre-summit in Honiara this week

As part of the preparations,  the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) in partnership with the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Facilitated a two-day pre-summit Dialogue which is well underway in Honiara this week.

The summit aims to offer a purposeful and organized forum for stakeholders to share their roles in food systems, consider their impacts on others, and find new ways to support Sustainable Development Goals.

The Dialogue also provides the opportunity to discuss the existing policy frameworks on food systems in the Solomon Islands, challenges and limitations, and to identify game-changing solutions.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL), Ethel Frances said, it’s a pre-summit in preparation for a food summit in September.

“Today is the first of the national dialogue in preparation for the food system summit in September which will be called upon by the UN Secretary-General.

“We have 17 goals that are yet to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the journey that we take as a UN Member country.

“If we focus on the food systems, we can achieve 17 of the SDG goals by 2030,” PS Frances said.

PS Frances says the country’s contemporary food systems were under-performing even before the COVID-19 health pandemic which worsened the situation.

“While the current health Pandemic may usher in many sad incidences and devastate economies around the globe, including us, it is offering an opportunity for us to rethink our food system, to redesign new path for self-reliance and access to healthy nutritious affordable food for better health and wealth creation in 2030,” she said.

 She adds one of the priority actions needed in light of these challenges is to shift our national food systems to their desired state by 2030.

“This requires the resilient local food production systems, efficient food supply chains, consumer behaviors, opportunities for decent jobs and income opportunities, and an enabling environment for innovation and research,” Mrs. Frances said.

The United National has convened the Food System Summit as part of the decade of action to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030. It will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable, and equitable food systems.

Next month’s UN summit covers three types of Dialogues including: 

By Simon Tavake

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