July 30, 2021
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