Harvesting rice (Photo: VNA) Themed “Vietnam Food Systems: Transparency,Responsibility, Sustainability,” the dialogue is the very first attempt in aseries of events to prepare the nation for its attendance in the UN Food Systems Summit(UNFSS) in September 2021.
In his remarks, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Le Quoc Doanh said since the COVID-19 broke out globally, the worldhas been facing unpredictable challenges. Global supply chains are disrupted;food production is severely affected; and rural people, particularly the poorand vulnerable groups, are struggling to make ends meet, he said.
Agriculture resources are degrading under theincreasingly adverse impact of climate change, posing major challenges toensuring food and nutrition security all over the world, Doanh remarked.
The deputy minister went on to say that in Vietnam, agricultureplays a significant role in maintaining food security, social stability andlivelihoods for more than 60 percent of rural population and contributes 14.85 percent to the country’s GDP.
As the Government of Vietnam is making every endeavour torealise the twin goals of combating COVID-19 and sustaining socio-economicgrowth, agriculture has become more important in the “new normal”,economically, socially and environmentally.
The food system framework offers Vietnam multi-sectoral,multi-tier approaches and stays in line with the country’s current policiesreflected in the Agriculture Restructure Plan for 2021-2025, the NationalTarget Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction and Social Security for the2021 – 2025 period, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme, the National Action Plan onZero Hunger by 2025 and the National Nutrition Strategy, among others, he continued.
Vietnam will better and more effectively implement actionplans in poverty eradication, food security and nutrition in rural areas,especially where ethnic minorities groups and vulnerable people live, theofficial noted.
The dialogue focused discussions on two main issues,namely the current state and problems of Vietnam’s food systems; andopportunities, solutions and actions to transform the food systems towardstransparency, responsibility and sustainability by 2030.
The UNFSS 2021 aims to define orientations forsustainable, inclusive and resilient food systems, creating multi-dimensionalimpacts to deliver progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).The Summit focuses on five action tracks – ensuring access to safe andnutritious food for all; shifting to sustainable consumption pattern; boostingnature-positive production; promoting equitable livelihoods and valuedistribution; and building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses.
In the run-up to the September summit, the MARD on behalfof the Government is organizing two national and three regional dialoguesvirtually from June 15 through July 15./.
VNA
