Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh (R) answers reporters’ questions at the press conference (Photo: VNA)
Can Tho (VNA) – Outcomes
of the Food Security Week, which took place in Can Tho from August 18-25, have
contributed to materialising one of the four priorities of the APEC Year 2017
that is enhancing food security and sustainable development in response to
climate change.
Deputy Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh made the remark at a press
conference in Can Tho city on August 25.
He added that the result
also demonstrates APEC member economies’ commitments to contributing to
realising 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-Year
Framework Programme on Food Security and Climate Change, the Action Plan to
implement the Strategic Framework on Rural-Urban Development to Strengthen Food
Security and Quality Growth, and the Can Tho Statement on Enhancing Food
Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Response to Climate Change.
The
Action Plan to implement the Multi-Year Framework Programme on Food Security
and 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 change
adaptation and mitigation.
It
focuses on policies, best practices, technologies and levels of capacity of the APEC economies.
The
Action Plan to implement the Strategic Framework on Rural-Urban Development to
Strengthen Food Security and Quality Growth is expected to fulfil the APEC Food
Security Roadmap Towards 2020 and the 2014 APEC Connectivity Blueprint.
The plan
will promote a learning agenda for the APEC region on rural-urban development
as well as more coordinated efforts to address food security and quality growth challenges brought about by rapid
urbanisation.
The plan aims to address challenges associated with rural-urban
development and food security by pursuing four concurrent areas, as determined
in the Strategic Framework: inclusive economic development, sustainable natural
resource management, social aspect and administrative efficiency.
It calls for the member economies to develop activities based on the
strategies outlined in the Strategic Framework and to consider the role of the private
sector in those activities. The actions are to be voluntary and the member
economies have the direction to undertake all or some of the activities based
on their domestic circumstance.
Meanwhile, the Can Tho Statement recognises the linkages between food
security, poverty, climate change and sustainable development. Sustainable and
resilient agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries contribute significantly to
enhancing food security, rural employment, poverty reduction, community
empowerment, economic development, environmental protection and adaptation to
climate change.
In the statement, APEC ministers and high-level representatives
responsible for food security and agriculture call on the economies to
strengthen and coordinate efforts at global, regional and economic levels in
developing sustainable agriculture, livestock, aquaculture, and fisheries
systems that are sensitive to climate change, as appropriate.
They are conscious that the region’s natural resources are under stress
from overconsumption, land and maritime habitat degradation, fresh water
scarcity and loss of biodiversity. Greater concreted efforts, including
cross-border coordination, to foster sustainable use and management of land,
forests, water and marine resources, are essential to both food security and
environmental protection.
The statement says it is critical to strengthen policy and technical
cooperation to improve governance and sustainable use of natural resources
while securing long-term food supply.
It encourages the APEC member economies to share best practices and
experiences in promoting sustainable rural-urban development and growth,
including empowering disadvantaged groups, smallholders and micro, small- and
medium-sized enterprises in agriculture, to secure livelihoods, reduce poverty
and 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 both
importing and exporting economies adapt to food price volatility.
An enabling policy and regulatory environment is also needed to foster
and facilitate investment in rural transport, connectivity, logistics,
agro-industry clusters and other services to improve farming, food processing
and the linkage of food markets, it says.
The statement also says post-harvest food loss and waste remain a
challenge that demands further actions, including infrastructure development as
well as implementation of innovative technologies among APEC member economies.
The collaboration and coordination of regional initiatives on food loss
and waste reduction is essential.
The Food Security Week brought together two ministers, seven deputy
ministers and nearly 700 delegates from the APEC member economies,
international organisations and research institutes.
The week featured 17 events, including high-level dialogues, annual
meetings of APEC working groups, symposiums, an exhibition and fact-finding
trips.
Bilateral meetings between leaders in charge of agriculture of the APEC
economies were also held during the week.
Of note, Vietnam and Australia signed a letter of intent on long-term cooperation
in agricultural research and a memorandum of
understanding on cooperation
in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Deputy
Minister Doanh also had a meeting with Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and
the Pacific Kundhavi Kadiresan on this occasion.-VNA