Earth Today | Rural climate resilience a hot topic for regional dialogue on agri

RURAL CLIMATE resilience and disaster management, together with energy crops and green financing, are topics that will feature prominently at the upcoming Week of Agriculture and Food to take place in Argentina.

The announcement of the high-level event to discuss the future of agriculture and food in Latin America and the Caribbean was announced recently by the Ministry of Agribusiness of Argentina and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"The meeting will be a space for shared dialogue and mutual agreements to face the great regional challenges of food security, technological innovation, rural development and climate change, and thus achieve the Sustainable Development Goals," the FAO said of the event set for November 20 to November 23.

During the week, participants - including government officials, civil society and business leaders, academics, managers and technicians from multilateral organisations - will discuss ways to move towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the agri-food sector and the rural world.

"Being hosts of this event is further proof that the world has recognised the openness we are making in our political and economic relations, through dialogue and the strategic positioning of our country, which allows us to strengthen our international relations and consolidate our role as a food producer," Minister of Agribusiness Luis Miguel Etchevehere said in a release to the media.

The Week of Agriculture and Food will, for the first time in 2018, be held in the region and "seeks to mark a watershed moment in regional food security, through the exchange of experiences and the creation of agreements", the FAO said.

During his visit to Argentina, FAO's regional representative, Julio Berdegue, thanked the government of the country for hosting the week and highlighted the country's commitment to food and agriculture, both nationally and internationally.

"Rural societies and the agri-food sector are the scenarios where the vast majority of the environmental, social and economic goals of the Sustainable Development Goals must be achieved. Without the rural and agri-food world, there is no possible sustainable development," he said.

"To achieve these goals, rural societies and the actors of the agri-food systems of Latin America and the Caribbean must undergo profound changes. Together with the government of Argentina, we hope to contribute to these necessary transformations," he added.

More than 40 entities from different sectors will participate as co-sponsors of the regional dialogue.

Over four days, around 50 panels and meetings will be held around four major themes: the future technological challenges in agricultural and rural development; food systems and the paradox of obesity and hunger in the region; strategies to eradicate poverty in rural areas and move towards sustainable rural development; and the challenges of building rural societies resilient to climate change.

The inaugural session will address the technological challenges of the future in agricultural and rural development in Argentina.