Governments in Asia and the Pacific have been warned to take some
major, fundamental decisions and very soon too on ways to increase their food
production and address undernourishment, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The warning came as nearly 40 FAO member countries gathered in the Mongolian
capital for the 32nd FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific to
examine the state of food and agriculture in the region and a number of other
important agriculture-related issues.
NaijaAgroNet reports that while the Asia-Pacific region is making good progress in reducing under-nutrition,
it still has more hungry people than all the other regions of the world
combined – more than 550 million.
The Millennium Development Goal of reducing
hunger by half by 2015 is on course to be met, and in Southeastern Asia has
already been achieved. Timor-Leste has launched a national campaign to take
forward the fight against hunger beyond 2015, inspired by the UN’s global Zero
Hunger Challenge (with a goal of 2025).
However, the region as a whole needs to improve food production systems
and delivery to consumers or face significant food security problems within the
next generation. Indeed some developing countries in Asia and the Pacific will
need to increase their food production by up to 77 percent to feed their people
by 2050, when the world’s population is expected to top nine billion.
Asia and the Pacific accounts for more than 90 percent of world rice
production and consumption. The region’s food security and people’s livelihoods
are very much dependent on rice. As a response to a request by FAO member
countries, FAO has produced a Regional Rice Strategy which is being discussed
at the regional level for finalization.
Farming, fishing and forestry practices need to be modernized and made
more profitable, while countries in the region must take serious, coordinated
steps to reduce food losses and food waste, which is as high as 30-50 percent
regarding grains, fruits and vegetables.
Accordingly, FAO launched the regional Save Food Asia-Pacific campaign
in August 2013 with an aim to promote public awareness of the need to minimize
food losses and food waste.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE