Lisa Martinez, the programme associate of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations country office in T&T and Suriname, says the world is facing a major challenge to feed its expanding population.
Martinez said the world population stands at 7.2 billion and to nourish the additional two billion people in 2050, food production must rise by 60 per cent. She said, however, the way food is produced must not be done at the expense of the planet. She was speaking at Tuesday’s opening ceremony of US$30 million to Improve Forest and Protected Area Management in T&T Inception Workshop at Petrotrin. The project is a venture of the Ministry of Planning and Development.
Martinez said the FAO’s mission is to eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition while promoting sustainable development.
“Yet, at the same time, just four—rice, wheat, maize and potato—of the 30,000 edible plants provide 60 per cent of the world dietary energy intake.”
However, she sounded an alarm that, “these are farmed in a manner that takes a heavy toll on the environment. Products of these crops represent a significant value in the Caricom food import bill of over US$4 billion. The crucial message is the way we produce more food cannot be at the expense of the planet.”
She said the FAO has five strategic objectives of which objective two is to make agriculture, which encompasses forestry and fisheries, livestock crops and natural resources, more productive and more sustainable.
“FAO promotes evidence-based policies and practices to support the agricultural sectors (crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries) while ensuring that the natural resource base does not suffer in the process.
“Its vision is one of a world in which food is nutritious and accessible for everyone and natural resources are managed in a way that maintains ecosystem functions to support current as well as future human needs.
“In this vision, she said, the resource users, including farmers, fisherfolk, foresters and others, are empowered to actively participate in resource decision that results in equitable benefits, decent employment conditions and jobs in a fair-price environment.”