Meet focuses on cooperation

Farming

The APEC economies must continue their efforts and work as a team to achieve long lasting food security.
Food security is becoming a major concern in many parts of the world due to demand and supply side issues like increase in population and limited resources and climate change, hence, the need for strengthened efforts to address the situation.
Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS) is an important forum for Apec because it provides a platform for Apec economies to interact and set policy direction to enhance and sustain food security. PPFS Chair and Department of Agriculture and Livestock Secretary, Dr Vele Pat Ila’ava, in his opening address at the PPFS last week at Gateway Hotel, welcomed the delegates to PNG and told them of the importance of working together and assisting each other to address food security issues.
He said the PPFS forum also played an important role in global food security since Apec economies dominate global production and trade in food items such as rice, maize, vegetables, eggs and captured fish and aquaculture.
“One of the important outcomes of the PPFS is the APEC Food Security Road Map 2020, which is the principal food security plan for APEC economies.
“This is a very comprehensive food security plan that will guide us to achieve the vision of long lasting food security in APEC economies.
“However, as you are all aware of food security is becoming difficult to achieve in many parts of the world due to demand and supply side issues like increase in population and limited resources like land and
water to produce food and climate change.”
Ila’ava said he expected the PPFS forum to continue to provide guidance to strengthen our efforts to deal with food demand and supply issues and specific issues of food security and climate change.
“Although we continue to strengthen efforts and build momentum to address the food security and climate change as demonstrated in the development of Action Plans like Multi Year Action Plan (MYAP) on
Food Security and Climate Change, we must also strengthen efforts to promote rural development through the Action Plan on Rural-Urban Development to strengthen food security and quality growth.
“This will ensure that the rural population, which is often dominated by smallholder farmers and is where level of poverty is high, are empowered to increase productivity to achieve food security and poverty alleviation.”
Ila’ava said PPFS must also consider looking into areas such as nutritional security and disaster and emergency management. PPFS must also promote greater gender inclusion of women in agriculture and food security.
He said promoting nutritional security as well, together with access to clean and safe water and healthy conditions, was an important component of food security.
PPFS also needed to strengthen efforts to address disaster and emergencies management for food security looking at early warning systems and recovery mechanisms in the context of food security.
It is also important to maximise women’s participation in agriculture so they can be empowered to contribute significantly to the food valuechain, which will result in increased food production, food security, revenue and reduction in poverty.