Biotech Updates

UN Agencies Urge Transformation of Food Systems

October 19, 2016

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) opened its 43rd plenary on October 17, 2016, a day after the celebration of World Food Day, poised in the wake of international agreements on new global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The call is to forge ahead with these goals in a coordinated action to transform the world's food systems and nutrition.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva told delegates that more than half of the world population suffer from one or more forms of malnutrition, and that CFS should look for solutions for the world's food problems.

Elisabeth Rasmussen, Assistant Executive Director of the UN's World Food Program said, "We must renew our efforts to build more sustainable food systems, which are better able to withstand changing weather patterns and extreme events and respond to nutritional needs -- building resilience into our food systems, mitigating the risks, and ensuring we are more prepared for climate shocks in the future."

For more details, read the news release at the UN FAO website.