Rome,
26 July 2018 – Ahead of his address to the Group
of Twenty (G20) Ministers of Agriculture Meeting this week, Gilbert F. Houngbo,
President of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD), offered the
institution's full support for efforts to increase the sustainable production
of nutritious foods.
"Sustainably feeding a growing population will take
collective action and IFAD stands ready to partner with the G20 to achieve
this,” Houngbo said prior to his departure for Buenos Aires. “With small family
farms supplying up to 80 per cent of the food produced in developing countries,
it has never been more critical to invest in these farmers, providing the tools
for them to better manage their land and ensure the health and productivity of
their soil in the face of a changing climate.”
While the main theme of the meeting is sustainable soil
management, the group will also discuss a proposal by Argentina to boost rural
youth employment through access to technology and engagement with the private
sector through global events.
A study by IFAD and the World Bank for the G20 Agriculture
Ministers’ Meeting last year describes how, with youth abandoning rural areas
because of lack of decent employment opportunities, the future of agriculture
is at stake.
"At IFAD we believe young people today – the largest
population the world as ever seen – are central to our work in transforming
rural communities and eradicating poverty and hunger,” said Houngbo. “If we are
to foster a generation of ‘agripreneurs’ we must answer their call for better
access to the resources they need to grow our rural areas into vibrant places
that can feed generations to come.”
Since he took office last year, IFAD has prioritized youth-centric
development across all of its programmes and projects to provide training and
support to create rural employment and enterprise options that are appropriate
for young people, in both the farm and the non-farm sector.
Another important focus of the Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting is
the G20's contribution to reduce the estimated one third of all food that is
lost or wasted.
"Food loss and waste constitute is a luxury humanity cannot
afford. I salute the G20's efforts to tackle this problem," Houngbo said.
"IFAD supports small-scale farmers to improve their ability to process and
store their crops thereby minimizing food loss. IFAD stands ready to offer its
expertise to help mitigate this phenomenon.”
Contact:
Juan Ignacio Cortés Carrasbal
Communications Specialist for Latin America & the Caribbean
Communications Division, IFAD
E-mail: j.cortescarrasbal@ifad.org
Phone: +54 911 7018 9364
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