Committee on World Food Security (CFS51) - Opening Statement

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Thank you very much, Chair.

Excellencies, Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

It's a pleasure to be today with you here specifically supporting the efforts of this committee, which is, as the Secretary General said, a very critical mission.

As you all know, the current projections suggest that there will be 600 million of hungry people in the world by 2030. That is a very shocking and alarming number, and it reflects that failure of our global food system, and this is also a failure of our global leadership.

Our food systems are fragile, and they are broken, and they are not delivering, neither for the planet, nor for the people.

They prioritise calories over nutritional value and they result in significant food waste.

They often exclude the vulnerable, and they don't provide viable livelihoods for those that produce our goods, our food. As a consequence, health and also environmental costs are in the trillions of dollars every year.

Hunger is a political and a policy issue, and it is rooted, as all of you know, in poverty, inequality, conflict and climate change.

It steals lives, future and hope. But we have the power to end it.

To be successful, we also need the will of the international community. The Committee on World Food Security and Inclusive Forum, where we can all come together: Government, Civil Society and the Private Sector.

Here we can promote policies that will deliver better food and nutrition for all. IFAD strongly supports these efforts.

We stand ready to promote the uptake of the key policies being endorsed today and to collaborate with all partners, particularly our sister Rome Based Agencies on the implementation of the new programme of work.

To ensure a better future for all we must prioritise ending hunger and malnutrition, and building sustainable food systems. And, this must be prioritised despite the multiple global crisis and instability we face.

As recently discussed at the General Assembly and the World Bank/IMF annual meetings, we need to the international system to invest more and to invest better.

At its 13th replenishment, IFAD is increasing its ambition and stepping up efforts to respond to the magnitude of the world challenges.

But the scale of the investment needed is huge.

Today's situation is in part a consequence of growth and their investment in rural communities and agriculture in the recent decades.

Investing in agriculture, and particularly in small-scale food producers, is crucial to secure a food secure future for our planet.

I believe that IFAD’s Member States would recognise these truths and support incisively the 13^th Replenishment of IFAD’s resources with the ambitious goal of increasing the income of more than 100 million small farm holders.

So, we pledge today to work together with you at the CFS to invest in rural communities and in small scale farmers and to ensure our food secure future for all.

Before finalizing, I would like to thank the exiting Chair, Mr. Gabriel Ferrero, for his commitment, his dedication and his inclusivity to discuss and promote policies that address all the important challenges around food security.

Let me also wish the new incoming Chair a very fruitful and impactful tenure.

Let us remember that we cannot fail. Only together we can end hunger and “Leave no one behind”.

Thank you very much.