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News > World

The UN Food Systems Summit Kicks Off

  • A farmer showing an eggplant harvest.

    A farmer showing an eggplant harvest. | Photo: Twitter/ @mark_lynas

Published 23 September 2021
Opinion

The growing concentration of power in food systems led to increased profits for large corporations, while the people who work to produce food remain poor.

On Thursday, the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) began in New York. Its goal is to change the world's food systems by making them more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.

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The Summit will seek to achieve concrete commitments from States and food companies so as to transform how food is produced, processed, and consumed.

Over 85 Heads of State and government are attending this event, which was prepared by 148 countries. They carried out dialogues with key stakeholders to develop national strategies to achieve the meeting objectives.

"After 18 months, the world is on the eve of a Summit that aims to change the trajectory of global progress by uniting everyone in a shared commitment towards achieving sustainable development goals” said Agnes Kalibata, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to UNFSS.

 

However, several humanitarian organizations consider that UNFSS governance has not ensured a proper involvement of those most affected by hunger and directly engaged in activities related to food production.

This was also the positon of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) position, which urged participants to take concrete steps to ensure that developing countries' small farmers, who produce a third of the food consumed in the world, receive fair wages.

The IFAD's Rural Development Report pointed out that the growing concentration of power in food systems led to increased profits for large food corporations, while the people who work to produce, process, and distribute our food remain poor and hungry.

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