The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has urged member countries to adopt innovations and encourage collaborative efforts at achieving sustainable agriculture and food security globally.
The organisation’s Director-General, Mr José da Silva, made the call in his address on Friday, December 14, 2018 at the end of the council’s week-long meeting held in Rome, Italy.
He said that no country could overcome all the challenges facing agriculture and food production, stressing that it must be “a collective responsibility”.
“Countries cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the basis of traditional agricultural approaches, we need innovations,’’ he said.
Da Silva expressed confidence that the 2030 SDGs would help to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger and ensure a viable environment if all hands were on deck.
He also urged member states to support the various programmes of FAO with appropriate funding, noting that “countries continue to ask FAO to do more and more with less and less”.
Highlights of the council’s meeting include budgetary blueprints and discussion on proposals by member states or technical committees on agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
The council deliberated on 32 specific items that will require budgetary resources.
It commended FAO’s leading role in sustainable agriculture and food production, describing the deliberation as “the right forum to tackle these matters”.
By Hawa Lawal
