This Tuesday marks the second day of the 37th Regional Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which takes place from this Monday in Quito, Ecuador, with the presence of representatives of all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The 33 member states of the FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean meet in Quito until next April 1.

The appointment began with the appointment of the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador, Pedro Álava , as president of the 37th Regional Conference, for the next two years. The appointment of Álava was unanimous by the representatives of the 33 member states of the FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean. This is the second time that Ecuador hosts a Regional Conference again after 73 years, since the first one was held in Quito, in September 1949.

“I appreciate the confidence of the member countries of the FAO for the appointment as president of the Regional Conference, which represents for Ecuador a great privilege and at the same time a great responsibility,” Álava said.

During the conference, which will close on April 1, various topics of interest were discussed, such as the transformation of food systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.

However, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was also addressed, which has aggravated, according to the member countries, the rapid increase in the prices of food and fertilizers, to which are added the effects of climate change on agriculture, for which They agreed that this transformation is even more necessary.

In addition, a quarter of the regional population lives in conditions of food insecurity, while the COVID-19 pandemic pushed 22 million people into poverty in just one year in the region, forcing them to purchase poorer quality food. due to low income.

“We are facing a perfect storm, which is why the FAO has stated that it is necessary to transform the agri-food system. That is essential to get out of the crisis”, explained the regional representative of the FAO, Julio Berdegué.

According to Berdegué, the FAO Conference comes at the right time for countries to share innovations, reach agreements and take decisive steps to strengthen their agri-food systems.

“What happens in this region affects the whole world. The steps we take during the Conference to improve production, nutrition, the environment and the lives of our inhabitants will affect the future of the world, and open the path that others will follow later,” said Berdegué.

The FAO representative highlighted that agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean produces enough food – in terms of calories – to feed 1.3 billion people. In addition, the region is the largest net exporter of food in the world. (I)