Senate of Canada Formally Acknowledges FAO’s Beth Bechdol
9 June 2022, Ottawa, ON - Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was formally recognized at the Senate of Canada’s 1st session of the 44th Parliament during her inaugural trip to Ottawa, ON, where she was accompanied by Jocelyn Brown Hall, Director of the FAO Liaison Office for North America.
During the recognition, Senator Robert Black from Ontario, Chair of the Canadian Senator Group, noted the growing number of hunger hotspots and the importance of FAO’s work to achieve food security around the world.
“We are seeing an all-time high of up to 49 million people in 46 countries across the globe who could be at risk of falling into famine or famine-like conditions unless they receive immediate life and livelihood savings assistance,” said Senator Black, in reference to the Hunger Hotspots report released earlier in the week. “This is a shocking statistic, and I am hoping that this issue is prioritized both domestically and internationally by this chamber, our colleagues in the other place, and by governments around the world.”
The latest Hunger Hotspots report warns of the threat of multiple food crises worldwide driven by conflict, climate shocks, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, and massive public debt burdens – further exacerbated by the effects of the war in Ukraine which has led to the increase in the price of food, fertilizer, and fuel. The report calls for urgent humanitarian action in 20 ‘hunger hotspots’ where acute hunger is expected to worsen from June-September 2022 – to save lives and livelihoods and prevent famine.
FAO is working on the ground in crisis areas to rapidly increase the potential for food production and boost farmers' resilience in the face of challenges. In 2021, seeds provided by FAO in time for the main planting season have ensured that over 3.5 million people in South Sudan have a steady supply of food. In Afghanistan, FAO is working to assist more than 9 million people through supporting crop, livestock, and vegetable production, cash transfers as well as the rehabilitation of vital irrigation and infrastructure system.
In Ukraine, FAO’s Rapid Response Plan aims to safeguard the food security and livelihoods of vulnerable rural families by maintaining critical food production, supporting farm-to-market value chains, and ensuring accurate analysis of evolving food security conditions and needs.
Despite increasing funding for global humanitarian activities, the agriculture component remains underfunded. Helping rural farmers rebuild their agricultural livelihoods is among the most cost-effective humanitarian interventions to make vulnerable countries more resilient to shocks. FAO is working to scale up the reach of anticipatory action, to protect communities’ lives, food security and livelihoods before they need life-saving assistance in the critical window between an early warning and a shock.
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