Transforming agrifood systems to increase resilience and achieve the 2030 Agenda:
Harnessing the potential of SIDS, LDCs, and LLDCs
Director-General Qu Dongyu,
Excellencies,
Colleagues,
I wish to commend FAO for focusing this ministerial event on harnessing the potential for countries in special situations in transforming agrifood systems.
As we seek to refocus the world on the critical need to realize the sustainable development goals and everything envisioned by the 2030 Agenda, recognising the agency and potential of those most affected will be critical to our success.
Small Island Developing States, along with the Least Developed Countries, and Landlocked Developing Countries are among the most vulnerable members of our global community.
According to the forthcoming 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report, these countries are facing a steep uphill climb.
The COVID-19 pandemic ravaged lives and livelihoods in LDCs, overwhelming underfunded health systems and social protection programmes.
SIDS economies were upended by the free-fall in tourism revenue, global trade in LDCs fell by 12 percent, and LLDCs lost access to international markets.
In the aftermath of the pandemic and impact of growing conflict, the vulnerabilities of these countries were brought to the fore especially in the context of food systems.
SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs felt the impacts of broken supply chains, as net importers of food and energy.
Last year approximately 90 percent of countries in special situations faced food inflation higher than 5 percent, and many countries were saddled with rates of national debt at a 50-year high.
And it is well-known that countries in special situations are on the front lines of the climate crisis, with ongoing implications for food security.
But food systems can also be a crucial source of resilience and regeneration.
We need to work on the supply side and the demand side, moving toward a more sustainable and healthy diet.
SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs have rich traditions of food production that can be key inputs to the global agrifood system transformation that we need.
Of course, the international community knows that countries in special situations cannot “go it alone” in addressing their challenges.
That is why United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres calls for SDG stimulus investments of at least $500 billion per year between now and 2030.
These investments would address debt distress and the high cost of debt for developing countries, increase levels of long-term financing for development through multilateral development banks and align this finance to the SDGs, and expand contingency financing.
These investments can be game changers for developing countries in general and countries in special situations in particular.
I have the honour to be the Secretary-General for the Fourth International Conference on SIDS, which will take place next year in the beautiful country of Antigua and Barbuda.
The 4th SIDS conference, along with the LDC5 Conference hosted by Qatar in March of this year, and the third LLDC Conference, which will convene in Rwanda next year, are important opportunities to spotlight the challenges of these groups of countries. More importantly, they offer platforms where solutions and breakthrough actions can be shared.
Food systems feature prominently in all three conferences. We will work with FAO and other UN family entities to ensure that these conferences deliver meaningful results to the most vulnerable member states of the UN.
Your discussions at this important gathering help to identify priorities and solutions for SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs, which can be further developed and amplified through these international conferences and their follow up.
It will also help to nourish the critical partnerships necessary to make durable progress.
I wish you all the best, and I look forward to hearing about the outcomes of your deliberations.
Thank you.