New York, Dec 14 2009 11:10AM
The United Nations agency that promotes commerce to fight poverty kicked off a meeting today aimed at finding ways in which trade, investment and technology transfers between developing countries – so-called "South-South" cooperation – can improve farming to boost food security in poorer nations.
Experts from more than 20 countries gathered at the headquarters of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (<"http://www.unctad.org/Templates/StartPage.asp?intItemID=2068">UNCTAD) in Geneva for the three-day meeting on "international cooperation: South–South cooperation and regional integration."
UNCTAD research into spiraling food prices in 2008 – which resulted in food shortages that has hiked the number of people suffering from hunger around the world up to around 1 billion – found that agricultural development has been neglected in recent years and greater support is needed to prevent future crises.
The <"http://www.unctad.org/Templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=5262&lang=1">meeting will discuss a number of areas in which South-South cooperation can support sustainable agricultural development, such as the challenge of raising investment in developing countries; the need to correct persistent distortions in the trading system, particularly the massive agricultural subsidies provided annually to farmers in affluent countries; the threats and opportunities from the recent rise in foreign direct investment (FDI), including large-scale acquisitions or leases of farmland; the development of new and appropriate technologies; and the challenge of adapting to climate change.
This second session of the multi-year expert meeting is also expected to add to UN efforts to achieve food security under the framework of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Task Force on the Global Food Crisis, as well as strengthen UNCTAD's work on agriculture.
A final session will be held on "the way forward," with presentations by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO), UN Special Envoy on Food Security and Nutrition David Nabarro and by UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi.
Dec 14 2009 11:10AM
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