President Michael D. Higgins has called for a shift away “from an over-reliance on imported fertiliser, pesticide and seeds” at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome today (Monday, October 16).
During an address to mark World Food Day at the opening session of the FAO’s World Food Forum, President Higgins also said it was time to “face up to some sobering facts” including that 1.6 billion tonnes of primary food production is “being wasted annually”.
The FAO has brought world leaders and global experts together in Rome to take part in World Food Day today and the World Food Forum 2023 this week.
The forum will focus on how to transform agri-food systems and “address the challenges of food security, sustainability, and climate action”.
The theme of World Food Day today is “water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind”.
President Higgins told the opening session that it is now time to “take action to preserve our planet’s water resource before it is too late”.
He said: “ Water is crucial for human life, for biodiversity, economies and the very foundation of our food-production methods. Indeed, agriculture accounts for almost three-quarters of global freshwater withdrawals. However, like all natural resources, fresh water is not infinite.
“We now need best ecological practices in agriculture, including agroecology, to become widespread, a shift away from the productionist agronomy model, a colonially imposed food system, which has exacerbated food insecurity by creating over-dependence on a small number of staples and over-reliance on imported fertiliser, pesticide and seeds.”
President Higgins also warned that trends including rapid population growth, ongoing urbanisation, economic development, and climate change are putting the planet’s water resources under increasing stress.
“Freshwater resources on a per-capita basis have declined by 20% in the past decades, and water availability and quality are rapidly deteriorating due to decades of abuse, poor use and management, over-extraction of groundwater, pollution and climate change,” he continued.
“We are at a perilous tipping point in relation to this precious resource,” he added.
President Higgins urged delegates attending the FAO World Food Forum in person and online that they “must tackle the scourge of global hunger and food insecurity” and transform agri-food systems so that they can be “made fit for purpose”.
He said that a sustainable transformation in agri-food systems “can significantly accelerate climate action and the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”.
President Higgins said this represents the way forward to a “sustainable, flourishing future on our vulnerable planet, on which progress to date has been dismal”.
“To deliver successful food systems, we must recognise the links between food insecurity, global poverty, debt and climate change,” he also urged.