NATION

2019 Launch for Policies On Food, Nutrition Security

Stringent policies on Food and Nutrition Security and the Fiji Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition Security will be launched in January 2019. The Government is aspiring to work
18 Oct 2018 11:00
2019 Launch for Policies On Food, Nutrition Security
Minister for Agriculture Inia Ratu, Minister for Health and Medical Services Rosy Akbar and Ateca Kama launched of the new capsicum variety during the World Food Day at the Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka yesterday. Photo: MERELEKI NAI

Stringent policies on Food and Nutrition Security and the Fiji Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition Security will be launched in January 2019.

The Government is aspiring to work on policy areas by adopting an integrated and cross policy ap­proach.

Minister for Health and Medical Services Rosy Akbar highlighted this while officiating at the World Food Day national celebrations at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka yesterday.

“This focus is on national strate­gies, promoting synergies between social protection, sustainable agri­culture, nutrition, health and edu­cation policies,” Ms Akbar said.

“These sectors all have the same goal. To lift people out of poverty and hunger so they can contribute to national development and eco­nomic growth.”

The ministry is partnering with academia and investing with the new generation as future agents of knowledge and innovation that can be channeled towards efforts to achieve zero hunger.

“Academia has a responsibility to use their knowledge to reconnect youth and students with food and what it stands for, ultimately pro­moting a healthier way of life,” Ms Akbar said.

Strategic partnerships with Aca­demia and Research Institutions can generate significant and rel­evant information to assist gov­ernment ministries and agencies address challenges faced in achiev­ing food and nutrition security, she added.

Health is wealth

Key messages she was trying to drive through during the World Food Day 2018 launch were ways to eliminate food waste, source locally and responsibly, share your knowl­edge and experience, empower women and promote financial in­clusion, establish new partnerships and strengthen existing linkages, be resource-efficient and champion food safety.

“Wasting less, eating better and adopting a sustainable lifestyle are keys to building a nation free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition,” Ms Akbar said.

“The choices we make today are vital for a secure future of food and nutrition.”

The theme for this year’s World Food Day celebrations is “Our Ac­tions are our Future. A Zero Hun­ger world by 2030 is Possible”.

Fiji has been celebrating the World Food Day since 1981 and has joined more than 100 countries around the world in taking bold steps to ad­dress issues like hunger and mal­nutrition.

The United Nations Food and Ag­riculture Organisation celebrates World Food Day each year on Octo­ber 16, the day on which the organi­sation was founded in 1945.

Ms Akbar thanked the other agen­cy partners – Adventist Develop­ment and Relief Agency (ADRA) Fiji, Japan International Co-op­eration Agency (JICA) and Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA).

FACT FILE

The objectives of World Food Day are to:

n Encourage attention to agricultural food production and to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental efforts to this end.

n Encourage economic and technical co-operation among developing countries and encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions;

n Promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world and also strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and nutrition, and agricultural development.

Edited by Percy Kean

Feedback: mereleki.nai@fijisun.com.fj

 

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