High-Level Event of the Task Force for Food Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean

Name: High-Level Event of the Task Force for Food Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
Start: 2023-01-17
End: 2023-01-17

17 January 2023

Overview

Agenda

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.

Click to join the virtual session

Objective

To present an update on the progress made on the roadmaps one year after the Food Systems Summit, the effects of the current situation and the adaptation of the different countries to future challenges, motivating a dialogue on the current situation, towards raising awareness and reaffirming commitments and measures to transform food systems, promoting healthy eating and the protection of the planet.

Participants

Regional Directors of UN Agencies
Resident Coordinators and Food Systems National Convenors
Counterparts from the government, academia, bilateral agencies, and civil society
United Nations agencies' staff
General public.

AGENDA

1. Welcome (30 minutes) 5 minutes each

Jeannette Sánchez. Director of the Natural Resources Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean - ECLAC.
Mario Lubetkin. Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for Latin America and the Caribbean - FAO.
Rossana Polastri. Regional Director of the Latin America and Caribbean Division of the

United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development - IFAD.
Marco Espinel. Deputy Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization - PAHO.
Juan Bello. Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations

Environment Programme - UNEP.
Lola Castro. Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations

World Food Programme - WFP.

1 Se contará con el servicio de traducción simultánea para los países del Caribe (TBC)

1.1 Presentation of the Regional Food Systems Working Group. Raphael Leao – Programme and Policy Officer - WFP. 10 minutes

2. Keynote lecture: Current context in the face of the crisis: Will we succeed in transforming our food systems? (20 mins).

Speaker: Jeannette Sánchez. Director of the Natural Resources Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean - ECLAC.

Topics to be addressed:

Expert presentation on the context in the region post COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine War, Economic crisis and fiscal deficit:

a. How the current context of rising food and fertilizer prices, and the economic and fiscal outlook, has impacted agri-food systems and commitments to their transformation

b. What public-private governance mechanisms are needed to advance the implementation of the roadmaps?

3. Dialogue (80 mins) Moderator: FAO Interventions by:

Food Systems National convenors

Beatriz Argimón. Vice-president of Uruguay and National Convener of Food Systems of Uruguay.
Zulfikar Mustapha. Minister of Agriculture and National Food Systems Convener of Guyana.

Civil Society Delegates

• Luis Carlos Costa. Coordinator of the Program for Popular Financing of Family Agriculture for the Production of Healthy Food (Finapop). Brazil.

Academia/Research Center Representative

Sofia Boza. Ambassador of Chile to the World Trade Organization and academic of Universidad de Chile.
Elisabetta Recine. Professor of Nutrition at the Collective Health University of Brasilia. Brazil

Private Sector

• Pablo Barbieri. Assistant General Manager of Cooperativa Obrera. Argentina

Indigenous Peoples

• Myrna Cunningham. Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC). Nicaragua.

In response to

What are the challenges in the countries for the transformation of food systems?
What kind of initiatives or good practices do you consider relevant and strategic

for the transformation of food systems to be MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable?

4. Closing and conclusions: Lola Castro. Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations World Food Program - WFP (10 mins).