Asunción, Agencia IP.- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Paraguay ratified their commitment to continue working within the country’s cooperation framework to reduce rural poverty and strengthen food systems and agriculture peasant families.
It was during a bilateral meeting held in Rome between the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña, and the General Director of the Organization, QU Dongyu.
«We talked about joint projects on food security, sustainable production, and the strengthening of agriculture,» said the Head of State, who is in Italy for a series of official government meetings.
The FAO General Director noted, «It is an honor to meet President Santiago Peña. I thanked him for Paraguay’s continued support of FAO. «We will continue to help the country in its efforts to reduce poverty, accelerate the transformation of agri-food systems, and address the climate crisis,» he expressed.
The meeting joins the series of other official ones that took place in recent months between the Government and FAO authorities.
In this sense, a delegation from Paraguay, made up of a solid public-private alliance and headed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, participated in October in the World Food Forum and the Investment Forum of the Hand in Hand Initiative.
Our country presented two investment notes for the dairy chain and banana production sectors, seeking international investments from the private sector or support for multilateral organizations. President Peña was invited to that occasion but could not participate due to an already established agenda.
During the Forum, the Paraguayan delegation, led by the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Giménez, met with the General Director. On that occasion, the Director encouraged the Paraguayan government to build a national brand for specific products and promote them internationally by using FAO as a platform through the One Country, One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative.
Likewise, he congratulated Paraguay for promoting public-private partnerships. He noted that Paraguay’s food production is vital for global food security.
FAO’s and Paraguay relations
FAO and Paraguay have a long working relationship. The country has been a member of the Organization since 1948. It has had a permanent Representative Office in the country since 2002, which aims to make the relationship between the Organization and the Government of Paraguay more direct and fluid.
In Paraguay, FAO emphasizes its efforts in areas of great relevance to the country, such as reducing rural poverty and promoting inclusive food systems, environmental management, and climate change.
The Organization carries out projects that mainly aim to combat poverty, including priority groups such as women, youth, and indigenous people, strengthening the focus on equality between women and men, guaranteeing food and nutritional security, strengthening family farming for the provision of safe, nutritious food in adequate quantities, sustainable forest development and environmental services and the generation of resilience to the effects of climate change.
FAO’s activities aim to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to good quality food that enables them to lead active and healthy lives. FAO’s mandate is to contribute to the eradication of hunger and poverty and to promote the sustainable use of natural resources.