Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly

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The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023

12 July 2023

(As delivered)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are coming close to sink-or-swim time.

We heard the alarming data both from the President of the ECOSOC and the intro video.

The launch of the SOFI report coincides with our preparations for the crucial SDG Summit, in September this year.

It is high time we confront the stark warnings that reverberate across its pages.

The crisis is of a magnitude so staggering that millions, millions and millions of people still face severe food insecurity in 2023 – doubling the number recorded in 2020.

But, if we count the under- and over-nutrition, that number is no longer in the millions, but in the billions.

Though we have good news as well – and this good news is coming from the General Assembly’s Science briefings, what we held earlier this year, and which was clearly indicating that we have the capabilities of feeding, in a sustainable manner, 11 billion people on this Earth.

Just, we need to put policies, regulations, and organisations right.

With a huge transformative influence, urbanisation is reshaping – really reshaping – the very foundations of food production and consumption.

While cities are traditionally more food secure than rural areas, the urban poor are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity.

Cities are also faced with rising costs of food, only exacerbated by the effects of the war in Ukraine.

At the same time, urban environments allow for more structured food supply chains and more innovation.

These can play an important role in changing urban areas into sustainable cities.

This evolution aligns with the UN General Assembly’s “New Urban Agenda.”

Achieving food security for all requires transformative actions grounded in multidisciplinary scientific support.

We must rely on data-driven and solution-oriented approaches – which the SOFI report provides us with in its evidence and policy recommendations.

In September, the General Assembly will convene a series of critical meetings for sustainable development.

Food security and nutrition must have their rightful places on the agendas of the SDG Summit, the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.

The SOFI report can be a guiding beacon for those debates – and for our collective actions, as well.

And, when it comes to these actions, let us remember the words of the English novelist Robert Louis Stevenson: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”

Together, we can still sow the seeds of a nourished and prosperous future for all.

Thank you very much.