During the 38th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, Honduran President Xiomara Castro urged on Monday to “change the economic model” to achieve food security.
“For food and nutrition security to be sustainable and equitable, we need to transform the economic model,” he said in a video conference address to attendees of a conference that opened Monday in Guyana.
Castro, who holds the position of pro-president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), explained that the economic model should “support rural areas, producers, create incentives and provide access to credit and markets.”
According to him, “promoting food sovereignty is urgent” because even though the region produces and exports food, hunger, poverty and inequalities persist. 43 million people still suffer from hunger.
“Globalization has not solved our problems, it has worsened them. We have a long and difficult road to eliminate the structural causes of dependency and exploitation to which our natural resources and our people are subjected,” he noted.
Castro called for dialogue and building alliances to shape policies that include women, indigenous peoples and farmers, and to regulate land and water ownership, use and biodiversity protection.
“Equitable production and access to food largely depend on it,” he added.
These policies should strengthen family farming and local markets and transform the economic model.
“I propose to transform our economic system and implement policies and measures that increase productivity in Latin American and Caribbean societies, to turn these objectives into a reality,” he concluded.
The 38th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean brings together Ministers of Agriculture and other representatives from 33 Member States to address the fight against hunger, efficient and sustainable production, adaptation to climate change and reducing inequalities. EFE
