Guyana’s Agri Minister elected VC of FAO Regional Conference

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has been elected Vice Chairman of the 37th session of the FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The conference opened on Monday in Ecuador, serving as a moment in which the member countries will define the regional priorities to adapt and localise the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031 to the conditions of Latin America and the Caribbean.
During the Regional Conference, the countries will analyse the work done by FAO in the previous two years in the region and agree on recommendations for initiatives and priorities that will guide the Organisation’s work during the 2022-2023 period.
In addition, delegates will present and discuss outstanding innovations that countries are implementing. During the first two days of the conference, meetings with high-level authorities will be held during which officials will be presenting and analysing the main results obtained by the FAO and Latin America and the Caribbean during the 2020-2021 biennium and also highlight priorities for the next biennium.
The following days are reserved for a series of ministerial meetings during which members will exchange their experiences and process these innovations that are underway in order to show how the region is overcoming the challenge of transforming our agri-food systems and the context of the reality of each country.
Additionally, there will also be national-level consultations with countries and regional level consultations with various stakeholders in order to identify areas of interest and emerging consensus in the region.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha will have the opportunity to share Guyana’s vision while discussing technological, institutional and organisational innovations with other Heads of Governments to find joint solutions to the challenges of food, agriculture, and climate change.
Countries will then establish the regional work priorities of FAO for the next two years and will review the results achieved.
Latin America and the Caribbean are committed to confronting and overcoming the most complex humanitarian, economic and social crisis in recent decades, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, hunger is affecting almost 60 million people, reaching its highest point in 20 years while 22 million people fell into poverty in 2020. Meanwhile, food insecurity affects four of every 10 people totalling 267 million in this region, and climate change has become an inescapable reality.
Last November, Minister Todd presented Guyana as a candidate to host the 38th Session FAO’s Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024. The voting and announcement of the next host country will take place at the conference in Ecuador and Guyana is hopeful that with the support of several Latin American and Caribbean countries, they will be selected to host LARC 38.
Already rising to the challenge to achieving better production and better nutrition, it has been dubbed as an excellent opportunity for Guyana to showcase its achievements to the Latin American and Caribbean Countries.