FAO urges farmers in Asia-Pacific to tackle food insecurity
Hanoi - Farmers should cooperate to tackle food insecurity in the Asia-Pacific, the regional chief of the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said Monday.
"Farmers must unite and strengthen their bargaining power, supported by capacity development, better access to markets and other value chain technologies," regional FAO chief Hiroyuki Konuma said.
A week-long meeting of 40 representatives of countries is being held in Hanoi to discuss food insecurity, hunger and diminishing natural resources.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts prices of basic grains prices will rise dramatically by the end of the decade. Rice is forecast to rise by 40 per cent, maize by 48 per cent, wheat by 27 per cent and oilseeds by 36 per cent.
The FAO warned that sustainable intensification of agricultural production was needed to stop poverty and hunger leading to social and political instability.
"Increasing investments in agriculture and promoting household food security is the way to overcome hunger and the instabilities it causes," Konuma said.//DPA
