DILI, 18 october 2022 (TATOLI) – The President of the National Council for Food Security, Sovereignty, and Nutrition in Timor-Leste (CONSANTIL), and the current Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAP), Pedro dos Reis, highlighted the importance of investing in the agricultural sector to guarantee food security in the country.
Minister Reis made the statements in a national seminar organized by CONSANTIL with the theme: “Leave no one behind” to strengthen the healthy, resilient and nutritious food system for the people of Timor-Leste.
“It is very hard for us to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition in the country. We have abandoned fertile areas in the country. In addition, illegal fishing continues in the country, which cost us more than US$25 million annually,” Reis said at the Dili Convention Centre (CCD).
“We will continue to put efforts with the support of development partners to improve the farming productivity to ensure access to nutritious food for all people to reduce poverty in the country,” he said.
According to the minister, the world is facing the problem of food insecurity due to the health crisis caused by covid-19, climate change, and conflicts between Ukraine and Russia, which caused fuel and fertilizer prices to rise.
MP Antonino Bianco also highlighted the need to invest in the agricultural sector to guarantee food security and prevent import dependency.
Meanwhile, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bilal Durrani, said that although the world has made progress towards building a better world, “too many people have been left behind.”
“Raising concern on the growing number of people who have been affected by hunger amid global concerns, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres flagged, yesterday, a staggering figure that the number of people affected by hunger has more than doubled in the past 3 years,” he said.
Durrani said over the past decade, Timor-Leste has made significant progress in addressing Zero Hunger, with the proportion of hungry poor falling from 46.9% to 34.3%: “While we have more to achieve, we are posed with the challenge of being able to sustain the gains that we have had in the recent two years. Severely impacted by an array of crises – COVID-19, Climate Change, and Conflicts, the food systems of Timor-Leste have been strained significantly. The Consumer Price Inflation in Timor-Leste reached 5.7% in the first quarter of 2022. Further, The World Bank forecasts indicate that this would reach 7% on average in 2022.”
He informed that prior to the array of crises, the Timor-Leste Food and Nutrition Survey (TLFNS-2020) indicated that 8.6% of the children are wasted and 18.8% of Women of Reproductive age are thin (BMI<18.5).
“The rise in food and fuel prices are likely to impact women and children much more as they tend to have few ‘financial’ resources to fall back on or draw on in times of crisis, exacerbating the already high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity,” he concluded.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
