Picture : PS Waterways and Environment Joshua Wycliffe  at the opening of the National Dialogue on food systems Action Track 3.

Suva, Fiji – Fiji’s third virtual National Food Systems Dialogue was held in Suva yesterday focusing on Action Track 3 to “Boost Nature-Positive Production.”

Opening the virtual event, Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Environment Joshua Wycliffe said that the Ministry of Environment will promote and progress a sustainable approach to food production, which discourages deforestation or conversion of habitats to bring nature back into farming landscapes.

“As a Ministry, our desire is to see 50 percent of all the area used for agriculture and aquaculture sustainably managed and that the number rises as time goes by. Improving the traceability of food and enhancing the private sector and their supply chains to reduce foods from deforestation and conversion is an essential step in driving more sustainable practices,” Mr. Wycliffe said.

“It is widely acknowledged that the restoration of degraded tropical forest landscapes offer some of the greatest returns on investment in terms of providing ecosystem services such as clean water, providing food, fodder and construction materials, and most of all storing carbon to mitigate climate change. The Department of Environment promotes the need for the right mix of native trees in any restoration efforts – this will go a long way in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, including reducing poverty and food insecurity, and of course supporting biodiversity,” he said.

Permanent Secretary Wycliffe said that a major tenet of nature-positive food production and distribution is to mimic and apply the diversity that is prevalent in our natural ecosystems which over time, may have been lost in agricultural terrain. 

“Nature-positive food production systems recognize that biodiversity underpins the delivery of all ecosystem services on which humanity depends and that these are critical for the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, global and national targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Paris Agreement,” he said.

“By boosting nature-positive production at scale, we will specifically contribute to the delivery of SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG13 (Climate Action), SDG14 (Life Below Water) and SDG15 (Life on Land).”

Some of the key outcomes of the national dialogue were to: (i) Empower communities on the importance of nature-positive food production through an inclusive and integrated approach using contemporary and traditional knowledge. (ii) Address local food waste and associated carbon emissions with risk assessments and evidence-based data. (iii) Breakdown silos and work across all sectors, adopting a seascape and landscape approach to enhance nature-positive production and sustainable management practices. (iv) Improve research, data, policy approaches, data collection approaches and collaboration to map existing food/non-food production systems that need to be restored. (v) Strengthen primary school education curricula and build partnerships with universities to integrate agricultural science and home economics into curriculum and build awareness. (vi) Connect with People - Co-create, collaborate, harmonise and synthesise with partners, communities, landowners and indigenous peoples. (vii) Ensure proper policy frameworks, national infrastructure and good governance to support transforming and sustaining our food systems.  (viii) Encourage backyard farming and consumption of traditional foods that have positive health impacts. (ix) Address marketing and awareness campaigns and the use of digital technology to effect behaviour change.

Over 100 participants attended the national dialogue on Action Track 3, which is the third in a series of five Action Track dialogues that will take place over the coming weeks in the lead-up to the United Nations Food Systems Summit #UNFSS in September. These national dialogues are aimed at consolidating diverse and transformative views and voices which will, in turn, feed into Fiji’s national report and submission to the UNFSS global Summit.

Fiji’s national dialogues will enable the country to contribute to bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals #SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems. 

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are providing technical support to the Fiji Ministry of Agriculture and Fiji UNFSS Convenor throughout the UNFSS process and in the lead-up to the Summit in September. Fiji’s President, HE Major General (Ret’d) Jioji Konousi Konrote has been appointed Eminent Champion of the UNFSS by UN Secretary-General Anto?nio Gueterres.

#UNFSS   @foodsystems #foodsystems #ActionTrack3 #SDGs

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