AIDF Food Security Summit hosted by UNESCAP to tackle problem of food security development

Aidmatrix Manager - India Kuldip Nar will be presenting at the AIDF Food Security Event in Thailand on November 26-27.

London, 22 October 2013: AIDF Food Security Summit 2013: to tackle sustainable development as a means to tackle food insecurity.

Sustainability has unquestionably become the key focus for development. Asia is poised for more rapid growth, but growth without sustainability will be untenable. Now more than ever there is a need for innovative yet sustainable solutions for tackling issues such as economic development and poverty alleviation. One key area in Asia where sustainable solutions are of fundamental importance is in tackling food insecurity. 

Despite the rapid growth of many economies in the Asia Pacific, this region still has the highest number of malnourished people in the world, with over 700 million people still living in poverty (defined as living on less than $1.25 a day).  Food insecurity can lead to child underdevelopment, starvation and often death; the resulting weakening of the population also has far-reaching repercussions on a country’s economic performance and global standing, making it extremely difficult for these countries to develop to their full potential.

Significant progress in achieving food security has already been made in Asia, however many different factors are accentuating the problem today. Rapidly rising populations combined with increased consumerism and consumption is putting immense strain on food supplies in Asia and the Pacific; IFAD predicts that food production in developing countries will need to increase by 50% by 2050 in order to satisfy demand.  Furthermore ineffective farming methods and the negative effects of climate change inflate the problem; up to 40% of the world’s arable land has already suffered the adverse effects of climate change, which include soil erosion, flooding and droughts.

It is therefore of fundamental importance that new and sustainable agriculture solutions are found. Recent years have seen significant advances, for example in the field of food fortification, but more needs to be done. On the 26^th and 27^th of November 2013 over 1000 key practitioners will meet in Bangkok for the AIDF Food Security Summit: Asia 2013, hosted by UN ESCAP (United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific). High level delegates will include business leaders, sector experts, investors, government ministers and representatives from NGOs and UN bodies. UN ESCAP’s vision is committed to achieving a strong Asia Pacific, based on shared prosperity, social equity and sustainability. This summit will provide a leading platform to build collaboration amongst stakeholders, with the ambition to make agriculture a driver of food security, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity. The summit will also increase public-private understanding and push for targeted solutions and developments.

Day one of the summit will focus on nutrition and will include topics such as food fortification, child nutrition and micronutrient malnutrition. Nomindelger Bayasgalanbat, Regional Nutrition Officer at the FAO and Dr. Rajan Sankar, Senior Advisor South Asia at GAIN, are debating child malnutrition and its possible solutions. Day two will turn attention to sustainable innovations in the field of agriculture. Panellists will discuss innovations in hybrid rice, seed technology, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides and will debate how these developments can be achieved in a sustainable way. Alongside the panel discussions, high profile speakers will include the Deputy Executive Secretary of UN ESCAP, Mr. Shun-ichi Murata, who will share his extensive knowledge gained from directing UNDP’s Tokyo Office and working for UNDP all over the world, and Katinka Weinberger, a leading Agricultural Economist who currently serves as head of ESCAP’s Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture. 

Commenting on the upcoming summit, Dr. Andrew Jackson said, “the AIDF summit is a welcome step in addressing this very major problem; food insecurity is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, threats to the successful escape from poverty for millions of people in the Asia Pacific regions”, he added, “there is great hope that the summit will really push for change and force key practitioners to readdress the issue and come up with effective solutions”.

Hiroyuki Honuma, Assistant Director General of FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and Pacific added, “This forum is very important to us as it is an arena for both UN Staff and citizens to discuss our common issues and find solutions”.

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Additional Information

The issue of food security will be discussed in-depth at AIDF Food Security: Asia 2013, hosted by UN ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) in Bangkok on the 26-27 November 2013.

High profile speakers will include:

§     Mr. Shun-ichi Murata, Deputy Executive Secretary of UN ESCAP

§     Katinka Weinberger, Head, ESCAP Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture

§     Dr. Deepika Nayar Chaudhery, Deputy Regional Director, Asia, The Micronutrient Initiative

§     Dr. Bas Bouman, Director of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), International Rice Research institute (IRRI). The two day summit will provide a platform for public-private partnerships to be forged and will push for change and targeted solutions

Visit www.aidforumonline.org to register for the event and to find out more details

Contact details

Agnes Gradzewicz | Marketing Manager | AIDF

Email: agradzewicz@aidforumonline.org

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7871 0123 ext. 242