José, FAO Director General |
The Director-General of the United
Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), José Graziano da Silva has
called on the academia to be involved in the essential and politically
important research into rural poverty.
According to José, one of the great
challenges man faces today is to make use of academic knowledge to comprehend
and improve the life of rural populations all over the world. “We need to look
at the reality outside of university walls,” he said.
José in a press statement made
available to NaijaAgroNet affirmed that food insecurity, nutrient deficiencies
and unsafe food top the list of most pressing issues in the fight against
hunger and rural development.
Unequal competition between
small-scale and large scale food producers, NaijaAgroNet gathered also
contributes to hunger, yet small-scale farmers account for a larger percentage
of food produce and any unequal competition will drive them out of operation.
“Academics should look into the
issue of governance of the food and agriculture sector, both at global and
local levels, and how to achieve a fair distribution of benefits,” José
recommended that there is the need to reduce transportation and storage cost as
well as food waste and loss if we want more people to be eating healthy diets,
based on fresh foods.
The FAO boss also recommended a
better conceptual clarification and practical proposals from academics and
policy makers.
Yinka Awosanya/LS
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