Let’s get to work Building a food secure future

March 20, 2017 | 10:22

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The ASEAN+6 conference “Let’s get to work. Building a food secure future” will be held in Hanoi on March 22 and 23, 2017, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands.

Facts & Figures
• In Asia in total 28.7 per cent of the food is lost and wasted
• Reducing food losses and waste can add to 30 per cent of the aimed increase of production
• 18 per cent people in Southeast Asia experienced food insecurity in 2014-2015
• 18.4 per cent Vietnamese children under five suffer under-nutrition that causes stunting

Aiming to bring together a broad range of high-level delegates from governments, international organisations, NGOs, knowledge institutes, and the private sector, the conference will focus on concrete contributions to the implementation of several Sustainable Development Goals.

The ASEAN+6 is one of the regions which are most vulnerable to climate change. This is an alarming reality since the economy activities in the region largely depend on agriculture, and climate change has already made its impacts on the level and quality of agricultural production and food systems.

In addition, for a fast growing region, factors like population growth, urbanisation, and rising incomes are resulting in increase in demand for high-quality nutritious food and putting pressure on already scarce natural resources.

Vietnam is taking the initiative to organise “Let’s get to work. Building a food secure future” conference based on a national sense of urgency to come up with solutions for climate change and growing demand for high-quality food.

The conference is an invitation to share, discuss and demonstrate ideas for converting challenges into opportunities, and global objectives into clear and concerted regional actions.

Therefore, a regional action plan for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals is expected to be made and agreed upon by the end of the conference.