Pacific and Caribbean voices echo at global resilience conference

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   A delegation of private sector, civil agencies and government sector actors from the Carribbean and the Pacific took the stage at an opening side event at the IFPRI organized conference on "Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security." To a person, the panelists expressed a strong wish to have their voices heard loud and wide.

   The session titled "Enhancing Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security in Small-islands Economies" was organized by the Technical Centre of Rural and Agricultural Co-operation (CTA) and aimed to outline the unique challenges faced by small-island developing states (SIDS) throughout the region in addition to opportunities for enhancing resilience throughout the region.  

   Their representation was a welcome addition to the latest addition of the IFPRI 2020 Conference series, the sixth of its kind.   “Each of the conferences builds on including more actors,” says Rajul Pandya-Lorch, Head of IFPRI's 2020 Vision and lead organizer behind the conference. “We saw that with the South Asia conference where this time when we announced this conference, we got an immediate phone call from South Asia with an organization wanting to run a side event.  

   “That’s why CTA with their experience and networks are so important. And we would hope to amplify that participation at the next conference.”

   This year’s conference attracted more than 800 participants – 300 more than Pandya-Lorch had anticipated – as well as 21 side events, twice the number of the last conference hosted in Delhi.  

   CTA sponsored a side event with a high-level Pacific and Caribbean panel to discuss “Enhancing resilience for food and nutrition security in small island economies”. Chaired by CTA director Michael Hailu, the panel also included Gyan Acharya, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.  

   The key themes that emerged from the panel was: higher consumption of locally grown produce contributed to better health; farmers needed to own more of the value chain to become more productive and profitable; and that there needed to be more co-operation within and between the two regions.

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