July 15, 2021
Suva, Fiji - Fiji
will hold its virtual National Food Systems Dialogue from 21-23 July, 2021 as
it continues national preparations for the United Nations Food Systems Summit
(UNFSS) being convened by UN Secretary-General Anto?nio Guterres in September
2021. Fiji’s President HE Major General
(Ret’d), Jioji Konousi Konrote has been appointed Eminent Champion of the UNFSS
by UN Secretary-General Guterres.
The Fiji
National Food Systems Dialogue aims to transform food systems to be healthier,
safer, more sustainable, more efficient, and more equitable. It acknowledges
the role of food systems and the importance of how we produce, process, trade and
consume food to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The National
Dialogue will also engage the perspectives of different stakeholders to discuss
and agree on a pathway for local food system transformation and how to make food
systems more inclusive, as well as emphasise the importance of innovation.
In May 2021,
Fiji joined countries from around the globe as it launched its national #UNFSS preparations
with the staging of five Action Track Dialogues. Fiji’s first National Dialogue
for Action Track 1 to “Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all,”
kick-started the dialogue process across all five Action Tracks which were convened
with diverse multi-stakeholder groups between May and June.
The national
Action Track consultations focused (i) Ensuring safe and nutritious food for
all (ii) Shifting to sustainable consumption patterns (iii) Boosting
nature-positive production (iv) Advancing equitable livelihoods (v) Building
resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress.
The five
national Action Tracks Dialogues have consolidated diverse and transformative
views and voices from all stakeholders on the need for a transformation of the
current food system. They have also raised awareness and understanding of the
importance of the food system approach for achieving the SDGs and Agenda 2030.
Some of the key
outcomes of Fiji’s Action Track dialogues have spotlighted the need for
multi-stakeholder collaboration with all food systems players, including
recognition of the critical inputs from blue foods through the blue economy
space; the importance of green food; digital technology/e-agriculture as tools
for transforming the current food system; the importance of traditional
knowledge; the need for the inclusion of women and youth as key actors and
leaders across the food system, the need for inclusivity through a bottom-up
approach, and the need to increase investment to improve understanding and
analysis of local food systems.
The high
incidences of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Fiji has also been recognised
as a serious health threat, along with the impact of the COVID19 pandemic - all
of which can only be addressed through robust transformational actions. As Fiji
grapples with a new surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the poor and the vulnerable
are likely to bear the strongest brunt in terms of the impact of the pandemic
on food systems.
The UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (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
National Dialogue 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 #foodsystems.
(ENDS)
For more
information on the UNFSS visit https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit
To view Fiji’s Action
Track Dialogue Reports visit:
https://summitdialogues.org/explore-dialogues/?dm_country=fiji&dm_type=national
To register in advance to attend
the Fiji National Dialogue please go
to the links below:
DAY 1 - 21 July, 2021
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkdOGgpzkpH9xu8pDyHKVxjcuy5S6FD6Rp
DAY 2 - 22 July, 2021
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpceGrrzwsHtwW0nvqDA44cs38A6FsxtVZ
DAY 3 – 23 July, 2021
Register
in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpceGrrzwsHtwW0nvqDA44cs38A6FsxtVZ