The UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, Ms Amina Mohammed has called on African leaders to commit to achieving zero hunger on the continent
Ms. Mohammed made the call at the Africa Regional Food Systems Summit on Tuesday, at the UN headquarters in New York.
She tasked African countries to come together at the Dialogue, to meet the target, saying, “we need African leadership to realise our vision and meet the goal of zero hunger by 2030.
“I look forward to an outcome that puts us on track to delivering a more sustainable and resilient food future for all Africa’s people,’’ she said.
She stated that the aim of the Dialogue was to help the continent to think through how to strengthen national pathways for food systems transformation so as to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
By the time of the Summit in New York, she said, we would be able to show how countries and regions around the world had articulated their own pathways to 2030, joined by a range of partners to accompany them on their journey.
Mohammed said science had confirmed that transforming food systems offered an opportunity to drive progress across the board, from climate action to reducing pollution, noting that this was the rationale of the Food Systems Summit.
She said over 140 Member States had responded to her invitation to convene the national Food Systems Summit Dialogues.
In addition, she said, like the power or transport sectors, food systems could and must contribute to the green and blue transitions.
She further said that malnutrition in all its forms remained entrenched, particularly among women and children.
“While we are severely off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal two – zero hunger – by 2030, this goal cannot be achieved in isolation.
“Ending hunger requires us to consider food as a system, revealing a range of intersecting challenges that are undermining our progress towards all the SDGs.’’
NAN
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