PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
IFAD ready to partner G20 in attaining sustainable food production
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has offered the institution's full support for efforts to increase the sustainable production of nutritious foods.
IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo, made the offer on Thursday, ahead of his address to the Group of Twenty (G20) Ministers of Agriculture Meeting this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"Sustainably feeding a growing population will take collective action and IFAD stands ready to partner with the G20 to achieve this,” Houngbo said in a news dispatch from Rome, prior to his departure for Buenos Aires.
“With small family farms supplying up to 80 per cent of the food produced in developing countries, it has never been more critical to invest in these farmers.
This should be done by providing the tools for them to better manage their land and ensure the health and productivity of their soil in the face of a changing climate.
While the main theme of the meeting is sustainable soil management, the group will also discuss a proposal by Argentina to boost rural youth employment.
Argentina hopes to achieve this by giving the youth access to technology and engagement with the private sector through global events.
A study by IFAD and the World Bank for the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting last year, described how, with youth abandoning rural areas because of lack of decent employment opportunities, the future of agriculture is at stake.
"At IFAD, we believe young people today – the largest population the world as ever seen – are central to our work in transforming rural communities.
''The youth are also central to eradicating poverty and hunger,” said Houng
“If we are to foster a generation of ‘agripreneurs’, we must answer their call for better access to the resources they need to grow our rural areas into vibrant places that can feed generations to come,” he said.
-0- PANA DJ/VAO 26July2018
IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo, made the offer on Thursday, ahead of his address to the Group of Twenty (G20) Ministers of Agriculture Meeting this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"Sustainably feeding a growing population will take collective action and IFAD stands ready to partner with the G20 to achieve this,” Houngbo said in a news dispatch from Rome, prior to his departure for Buenos Aires.
“With small family farms supplying up to 80 per cent of the food produced in developing countries, it has never been more critical to invest in these farmers.
This should be done by providing the tools for them to better manage their land and ensure the health and productivity of their soil in the face of a changing climate.
While the main theme of the meeting is sustainable soil management, the group will also discuss a proposal by Argentina to boost rural youth employment.
Argentina hopes to achieve this by giving the youth access to technology and engagement with the private sector through global events.
A study by IFAD and the World Bank for the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting last year, described how, with youth abandoning rural areas because of lack of decent employment opportunities, the future of agriculture is at stake.
"At IFAD, we believe young people today – the largest population the world as ever seen – are central to our work in transforming rural communities.
''The youth are also central to eradicating poverty and hunger,” said Houng
“If we are to foster a generation of ‘agripreneurs’, we must answer their call for better access to the resources they need to grow our rural areas into vibrant places that can feed generations to come,” he said.
-0- PANA DJ/VAO 26July2018
