Addis Ababa hosted the World Without Hunger Conference held under the theme: “A World Without Hunger is Possible,” bringing together over 1,500 key stakeholders. The three days conference concluded this Thursday. Leaders call urgent action to end hunger.
Visionary leadership crucial to achieve zero hunger: President Taye
Strong political will, sufficient financial and technological support, and visionary leadership are essential to transforming efforts to end hunger into meaningful action. Effective mobilization, societal engagement, and robust resources are foundational elements for a zero-hunger commitment.
Empowering smallholder farmers, strengthening communities, and investing in both physical and digital infrastructure to transform agriculture and manufacturing is vital to eradicate hunger and achieve zero hunger.
Ethiopia is actively developing integrated agro-industrial parks and investing in drought-resistant crops like wheat and sorghum to boost food security.
Taye Atske-Selassie, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
E Ending world hunger requires tackling systemic issues: PM Abiy
In a crisis-prone world with a growing population, ensuring food security demands innovative solutions. We must adopt sustainable practices, advance modern farming, expand access to essential agricultural inputs, and address climate change to enhance productivity.
However, ending world hunger is about more than just increasing food production; it requires us to tackle systemic issues such as poverty, inequality, and climate resilience in a holistic manner.
In Ethiopia, our focus on agricultural transformation and productivity over the past six years has allowed us to double our cultivated land, with promising outcomes driven by our emphasis on high-value industrial crops. By uniting global leaders, experts, and advocates to discuss innovative solutions and partnerships, I am hopeful that our collective efforts to eradicate hunger and ensure food security for all will bear fruit.
Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Prime Minister of Ethiopia
The world needs strategic shift to end hunger by 2030: Kenyan President
In a world marked by growing inequality, widespread poverty, conflict, and climate disruption, the urgency to end hunger and ensure food security for our rapidly expanding populations has never been more urgent. These interconnected factors are intensifying global hunger to remain a critical challenge of our time.
The world needs radical strategic shift to end hunger. Without a radical strategic shift, we risk failing in our commitment to end hunger by 2030. Global leaders and institutions should maximize the potential of agricultural and food systems to nourish the world’s population urgently.
William Ruto, Kenyan President
Africa is not on track to end hunger: AUC Chairperson
Africa is not on track to end hunger. Over 280 million Africans, representing over 20 percent of the continent’s population, are food insecure, and another 850 million people cannot afford a healthy diet. This is paradoxical as 60 percent of the world’s unused arable land is here in Africa.
We also have the youngest population and significant water reserves. Given all that, the situation is unacceptable. In fact, it is a crying shame, that with all these resources, Africa still cannot feed itself. This has to change! On our part, the African Union has led the development of a new 10-year Action Plan which aims to build resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for a healthy and prosperous Africa.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson, African Union Commission
Food demand to increase by 70% by 2050: UNIDO head
The food demand will increase by 70 percent by 2050 and that is the challenge for the next 20 years. As a result, we need catalyze investment in agriculture sector and expand access to finance to small scale farmers.
Mobilizing much more private and public investment and technology partnerships between industrialized countries and developing countries in agribusiness is also crucial to boost agricultural productivity.
In recent years, government expenditures on agriculture, particularly in developing regions have decreased relative to the sector’s contribution to GDP. Public investments are not keeping up these growing demands of global food security.
Gerd Muller, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director General
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2024
