NUTRITION

Food systems. In events held on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, different international organizations analyzed the global and Latin American situation regarding the state of food production. On September 21, the FAO, the IMF, the WB, the World Food Program (WFP) and the WTO issued a joint statement urging governments to act urgently and in a coordinated manner to address the food crisis. At an event organized by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu spoke of the need to transform regional agrifood systems to combat hunger in a region that is a leader in food production.

The FAO Director-General noted that no region in the world was more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than Latin America and the Caribbean, where poverty increased and employment declined significantly. “The increase in hunger, poverty and malnutrition is a paradox for a region that contributes significantly to the world’s food supply,” he said. In this context, he emphasized four priority areas that need accelerated action in Latin America, including the facilitation of trade in agricultural products and inputs to avoid further disruptions in food production; and investment in climate-resilient agriculture to cope with the effects of the climate crisis.

The joint statement issued by several international organizations, including FAO, follows a similar line. The statement notes how the war in Ukraine affected the availability of food and fertilizer worldwide, and sets out a series of proposals to improve the availability of food worldwide. One of them concerns the opening up of food trade, eliminating state interventions in food prices and encouraging the promotion of food production to be directed to those that provide nutritional value.

Next steps

It is expected that in the coming months, Latin American countries will take the action guidelines identified by international organizations to strengthen national action plans aimed at food production.