Climate change a threat to food security

According to the Agriculture and Livestock Vice-Minster Henry Ame the biggest threat to global food security at the moment is climate change.
He said Apec economies are vulnerable to climate hazards like cyclones, floods and droughts that disrupt food value and supply chains causing lower incomes for farmers and increase food price for consumers.
He made these remarks during the Apec Policy Partnership on Food Security meeting in Port Moresby recently, he said it is now a big concern that eradication of hunger and poverty by 2030 as
planned by the sustainable development goals may not be easy to achieve due to the additional threat provided by climate change.
“This means the convention food production systems will have to be transformed to a more sustainable food production system.
“I believe Apec is aware of the serious threat that climate change pose to its economies and global food security and has taken measures to address it through policy and actions.
“Apec must make it a priority to promote sustainable food production systems that should include protection and management of natural resources like land, water and sea and oceans; and use of climate smart resilience adaptive food production systems.
“This will ensure global food security is achieved and maintained and hunger, malnutrition and poverty are eradicated,” he said.
He said marketing and trading of agriculture products is a means of achieving food security through increasing food availability and increasing revenue and purchasing power to access food.
“Apec must translate agriculture and food security policies into business opportunities to increase trade and marketing of agricultural products for domestic and international markets and create enabling environment to promote growth and expansion of food trade and marketing.
“I believe, Apec has an organisation called Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) that provide the platform for engagement with private sector to translate Apec policies into business opportunities.
“In is not good for policies to be presented and discussed in a meeting like this to end up in shelves.
The policies must be translated into business opportunities to increase marketing and trade of agricultural products, which will contribute to poverty alleviation and increase quality of life for Apec citizens,” he said.
Ame said Apec has an important role to play and it must work closely with private sector and business organisations of Apec economies to convert Apec policies into business opportunities like SME’s in agriculture, to produce agricultural; products for domestic and international markets and in doing so create employment and contribute to socio-economic development of the economies.