For more than a year, the governments of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean with the accompaniment of a regional technical group composed of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP), carried out the preparation process for the Food Systems Summit (FSS) to be held on September 23rd, 2021.
ne hundred and fifteen independent dialogues were also held with the participation of non-governmental organizations, representatives of indigenous peoples and nationalities and social movements, the business sector, academia, and parliaments. On the government side, ministries of agriculture, rural development, foreign affairs, social development, planning, science and technology, health, and the environment were involved.
The Summit resulted in two types of commitments on the part of the member countries: the Coalitions, voluntary mechanisms for collaboration among their members to advance certain issues related to agrifood systems, and the road maps, which are mechanisms for action drawn up based on the national dialogues that took place in the months leading up to the Summit. So far, 16 LAC countries have joined 12 different Coalitions, and 14 countries presented Roadmaps at the Summit.
This high-level virtual event is proposed as a space to bring together stakeholders from governments, UN agencies, and different counterparts to discuss the future of food systems in this context. This is only the first of a series of webinars planned by the different agencies that make up the Regional Working Group.
