Picture: Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Hon. Dr Mahendra Reddy delivering his virtual statement from the Ministry of Agriculture Headquarters in Raiwaqa.

Fiji will consider scaling up on current Home Garden initiatives, through the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure food and nutrition security for all Fijians, a global Roundtable session heard on Tuesday (27.7.21) evening in Rome.

Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment, Hon. Dr Mahendra Reddy was addressing the ‘Pre-Summit Ministerial Roundtable Session on Food System Pathways to 2030’.

He said Fiji’s action towards the 2030 agenda would be tailored to location specific food system realities.

“Actions would recognize the catalytic role played by actors in the middle of the food chain ensuring that intervention throughout the chain were coordinated and combined for transformative impact adopting a holistic approach.”

Dr Reddy said in recognizing objectives on innovation, inclusiveness, resilience, and investment, Fiji would consider a number of pathways.

“Encourage and promote school gardening and feeding programmes in all schools throughout Fiji; improve and develop aquaculture and Mari-culture to boost blue food production to enhance food and income security; revitalizing traditional knowledge to enhance Fiji’s food system; promoting agro forestry and protecting Fiji’s biodiversity; promoting digital technology/e-agriculture as tools for transforming different elements of the food systems; and supporting micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEs) through a value chain approach, amongst other pathways,” he said.

The Minister explained, Fiji like any other country in the world, through the current pandemic was forced to review and re-strategise its focus on transforming its food systems to achieve the 2030 agenda.

He said the pandemic had sharpened the country’s focus on many contemporary issues such as climate change, food fraud, and the digitization of the food system and each of them with potential implications for the availability, affordability and the safety of food.

“Fiji in its preparation to the Global Food Summit had organized five action tracks that capture accessibility to safe and nutritious food, transition to sustainable consumption patterns, nature positive production, advancement to equitable livelihood, and how to build a resilience to vulnerability and shocks,” he said.

Dr Reddy said a second round of Dialogues based on the main issues highlighted during these Action Tracks were held recently.

“This National process has enabled multi-stakeholders engagement and identified the necessary elements that will transform Fiji’s food systems towards the achievement of the 2030 agenda,” he said.

Finally, the Minister said Fiji would continue to strengthen partnership with all food systems stakeholders fostering national institutional innovations to support sustainable food system development and promote transition to a resilient and sustainable food system that would ensure achievement of the 2030 agenda.

The Pre-Summit Ministerial Roundtable discussion was part of the three-day Pre-Summit of the UN Food Systems Summit in Rome from 26 – 28 July. The UN Food Systems Summit will be held in New York in September.

ENDS

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