In 2nd Committee General Debate, FAO stresses urgency to respond to rising food insecurity

There are few issues that need to be addressed as urgently as the alarming trend in food insecurity, said Carla Mucavi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office to the United Nations in New York, during the Seventy-third Session of the United Nations General Assembly Second Committee General Debate at the UN Headquarters on 10 October.

Delivering the remarks on behalf of FAO, Mucavi reassured FAO’s continued support to the work of the Committee, including to the resolutions on Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, and on the observances of World Food Safety Day, World Pulses Day and International Year of Plant Health.

She also presented to the Committee some of the key findings from the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018, which was jointly prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. Mucavi informed that we are not only not on track to meet SDG2 but we are losing ground on the fight against hunger due to climate change, conflict and protracted crises and economic downturns.

“Making agriculture more resilient and sustainable, supporting family farming, creating decent jobs in rural and urban areas, and strengthening social protection are investments that will not only help improve food security and nutrition, but also contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation, and to address inequalities that exist between rural and urban, and women and men,” Mucavi said. 

Finally, Mucavi informed the Committee of the World Food Day observance on 16 October around the world including in New York and the International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers in November in Rome.

Chaired by His Excellency Mr. Jorge Skinner-Klée Arenales of Guatemala, the seventy-third session of the Second Committee will focus on issues relating to economic growth and development such as macroeconomic policy questions; financing for development; sustainable development; human settlements; globalization and interdependence; eradication of poverty; operational activities for development; agriculture development, food security and nutrition; information and communications technologies for development; and towards global partnerships.