–as 1.3B tonnes of food continue to be dumped globally each year

EVEN though hunger affects close to 700 million people annually, an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food are dumped each year. This means that the global wastage and loss of food account for approximately 30 per cent of all food production.
As the preparatory dialogue for the United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit convened on Tuesday, Guyana’s Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, emphasised the importance of reducing food wastage and loss in an effort to ensure that the world is on a sustainable path where all can be adequately fed.
“Today’s National High-Level Dialogue in preparation of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit offers an excellent opportunity for all public and private sector, civil society and other development partners to discuss, collaborate and agree on actions needed to transform Guyana’s food system,” Minister Mustapha said.
He noted that the forum will entertain a healthy variety of viewpoints which will be used to update Guyana’s priorities in the coming years, especially as it relates to emerging challenges and threats to the global food system.

These threats, according to Mustapha, have worsened due to the emergence of the novel coronavirus pandemic which continues to devastate the world.
“COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of food production and distribution systems, especially to the most vulnerable and to rural population,” the minister noted.
He said that the virus has had direct and indirect impact on the livelihoods of all citizens, while exacerbating the glaring challenges of Climate Change.
“Building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress is therefore necessary to address these challenges that threaten a sustainable food system,” Mustapha said.
He noted that even though these challenges are many, solutions are also within reach, and that many of them have been echoed in the global discussions concerning the ‘Five Action Tracks’ identified for focus by the United Nations.
Track One, Mustapha said, relates to the reduction of food loss and wastage, while Action Track Two speaks to the needed shift to sustainable consumption patterns, such as the increase of certain illnesses caused by the consumption of unhealthy foods.
This topic was examined by Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, who emphasised the need to educate the population about the importance of a balanced diet.

OVER-NUTRITION
Dr. Anthony told the virtual forum that in addition to pockets of under-nutrition, Guyana is also faced with the threats of over-nutrition, which can lead to a host of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart diseases. “We should come up with plans of how we could intervene,” the Minister said.
He highlighted too the importance of good dietary practices to begin from as early as pregnancy. “[We must] ensure that mothers have a good and balanced diet of nutritious foods, and that an enabling environment is created to allow for, and promote, breastfeeding. We need to make sure that people make the right food choices,” Dr. Anthony noted. Minister Mustapha further explained that while the agriculture sector has a crucial role to play in the transformation of Guyana’s food system, it is an effort that requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. “Both private and public actors in all sectors -finance, health, environment, tourism, education, human services and social security, local government, Amerindian affairs and public works, have an impact on the way in which the food system functions- all stakeholders,” Mustapha noted. He said that it is for this reason that the world has recognised the importance of taking a comprehensive and holistic approach to addressing the challenges facing the global food system.

FOOD SYSTEMS APPROACH
“By adopting a ‘food systems approach’ rather than an individual sector approach, we can be more productive, more inclusive of the poor, more environmentally sustainable and resilient, and better equipped to deliver healthy and nutritious diets to all Guyanese,” Mustapha said.
He highlighted that currently, the food system does not feed everyone an affordable balanced meal that promotes healthy and productive lives.
“Trade is often imbalanced and excludes small producers. They utilise the natural resources in a non-sustainable manner and they are highly susceptible to external shocks – hydrometeorological, economic, pandemics and so on,” the Agriculture Minister said.
He noted that despite many challenges over the past three decades, Guyana has made substantial progress in relation to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out by the United Nations.

According to Mustapha, the number of people living in extreme income poverty has been reduced to account for less than three per cent of the national population, while the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP per capita have risen more than 1,300 per cent over the last 30 years.
“Notwithstanding these achievements, Guyana still has many challenges to address in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030,” the minister admitted.
On this note, he said: “Guyana and the Caribbean Region will be working to ensure that our input into the Food Systems Summit is aligned with our strategic objectives and development strategies and informed by the solutions and strategies developed through national and regional-level dialogues.”
Mustapha said that once realised, Guyana’s vision for a transformed food system will see agriculture being able to provide a wholesome living for all Guyana, and not just farmers.

The transformation would also see Guyana being able to capitalise on emerging trade opportunities in agriculture both regionally and internationally.
It will also see the country being able to achieve all its development goals, and pave the way for all Guyanese to benefit from healthy, affordable diets that promote good health and reduce non-communicable diseases.
The UN forum, chaired by Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations (New York), also benefitted from the presence of Guyana’s Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips.
Other dignitaries who tuned in and added to the discussions included Dr. David Nabarro, Strategic Director, Food Systems Summit Dialogues Support Team; Dr. Maximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organisation; Dr. Eduardo Trigo, Special Advisor to the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Paul Cheong, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission and other government ministers and UN representatives.