At Baku ECO conference, FAO assures support for sustainable agricultural and food security
Baku, Azerbaijan – The Sixth Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture was held today in Baku.
Hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, the meeting welcomed agriculture ministers and heads of delegations from ECO member states and representatives of specialized agencies.
FAO’s Viorel Gutu, the Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative in Turkey, delivered one of the opening addresses at the event.
The meeting began with the opening remarks of Inam Karimov, Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan.
In his remarks, Karimov underlined the significant roles of the ECO as one of the important platforms of regional cooperation in the fields of agriculture, food security and natural resources management for the support of the region’s population of approximately 450 million.
It was for these reasons, said ECO Secretary General Hadi Soleimanpour, that FAO and the ECO formulated the Regional Programme for Food Security back in 2004. Food security and agricultural development are high priorities in the region, Soleimanpour said.
Bekir Pakdemirli, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey,stressed that throughout the region, people face agricultural instability and food insecurity.
“Our needs are constantly increasing,” Pakdemirli said, “and by 2050, the world’s population is expected to exceed 10 billion. In order to respond this, we need to understand the essential role of agriculture. Agriculture is also one of the major sources of growth and development of the ECO region, providing nearly 37 percent of employment among the total active population of the region. We should note that 11 percent of the gross domestic product is obtained from agriculture in ECO countries. Thus, by working harder, we need to increase the share of agriculture in the economy.”
At the meeting, attendees mentioned several areas of cooperation, including e-agriculture, innovation in agriculture, climate change, livestock development, land productivity, digitalization of agriculture, food loss and waste, and seeking FAO’s continuous support.
Viorel Gutu, from FAO, said he appreciates the progress that has been made in the implementation of the ECO Regional Programme for Food Security since its foundation. Noting the recently released report Overview of Food Security in the ECO Region, produced with the technical support of FAO, Gutu stated that key barriers to the achievement of food security have been identified.
“The findings of the Overview of Food Security demonstrate the substantial progress of ECO countries in increasing agricultural production and reducing malnutrition over the past two decades,” Gutu said. “However, the report also shows a stagnation of the progress in recent years.”
According to estimates, 13 percent of the region’s population (59 million people) are still suffering from undernourishment. At the same time, overweight and obesity continue to rise in many of the ECO countries and now constitute a major concern.
Given the risk of falling short in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2’s aim of Zero Hunger by 2030, Gutu called on the ECO to take a more proactive approach in facilitating the cooperation among member states and international organizations, including FAO.
After the opening statements, the ministers and heads of delegates of the member states adopted the Baku Declaration for Cooperation in Agriculture and Food Security in the ECO Region.
Notes for the Editor
The ECO Regional Coordination Centre for Food Security
ECO-RCC, established in 2012, is a programme-based subsidiary body of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) focused on food security. It aims to enhance cooperation, knowledge sharing and information exchange among ECO member states – namely, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – in the area of food security.
The Centre facilitates the development and implementation of projects to support food security, in close collaboration with national, regional and international organizations, including FAO.
It is financed by the Government of Turkey under the FAO–Turkey Partnership Programme.
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Economic Cooperation Organization
Economic Cooperation Organization Regional Coordination Centre (ECO-RCC)
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CONTACT:
Aylin ALPAGUT
Communication and Information Specialist
FAO Turkey Representation
Ankara, Turkey