Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia Participating in International UNFAO Conference on Agri-Food Systems
Society
Ulaanbaatar, February 02, 2024 /MONTSAME/. The Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific
(#APRC37) is a
multilateral effort to reform agrifood systems across the Asia-Pacific region,
convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The regional conference comprises 46 FAO Member Nations in Asia and the Pacific
and it is taking place after years of pandemic, climate emergencies, volatile
markets, and economies that have affected millions of producers and consumers.
From Mongolia, officials
from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry and Ministry of
Environment and Tourism as well as the Environment Policy Advisor to the
President of Mongolia are attending the Senior Official’s virtual meeting held between
31 January and 2 February. An in-person Ministerial Session is planned from 19
to 22 February in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu,
is expected to travel from FAO headquarters in Rome to participate in the
Ministerial Session.
Most of the issues to
be discussed are of vital interest to Mongolia. Ministerial roundtable
discussions such as securing future food and nutrition, following lessons
learned from the above convergent crises; investment and financing for poverty
reduction and modernization, and lessons learned in saving water and food and
reducing loss and waste – all have a common interest across the region.
Building resilience
will be a key topic. A special Ministerial event will focus on a number of
thematic areas, such as championing modernization and digitalization for
smallholders in aquaculture and livestock and an overall transformation of
agrifood systems in countries across the vast region.
For Mongolia, key
priority areas are resilience of herders, One Health, export-oriented value
chain development, and regional trade and cooperation.
