Remarks by the UN Resident Coordinator on World Food Day 2023

Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera;

Excellencies;

United Nations colleagues;

Distinguished Guests;

Good afternoon.

I am delighted to welcome you to your United Nations Compound to commemorate World Food Day.

As we mark the halfway point for the Sustainable Development Goals, we are reminded of the goal we set in 2015: to achieve zero hunger by 2030.

Eight years later, 780 million people worldwide are experiencing hunger, and almost fifty million children are dangerously malnourished.

As the UN Secretary-General highlighted, the global food crisis is rooted in conflicts, climate extremes, inequality, and economic instability.  It is also clear that these challenges are closely interwoven and global currents have local impacts.

The situation of hunger in Sri Lanka is a case in point

At the height of the economic crisis, close to a third of the population faced some degree of food insecurity. Despite clear improvements this year, several districts still grapple with food insecurity.

Those already vulnerable to crises, including Estate sector workers and daily wage earners continue to be among the most affected.

Water, this year’s theme, is the cornerstone for nutritious and healthy food production but food production also imposes an immense strain on our water sources.

Severe droughts and unpredictable rains are effecting severely crop production causing a rapid increase in food insecurity among rural households.

It is a particular concern for Sri Lanka’s dry zone, which accounts for two-thirds of the country and over 70 percent of paddy production.

As we grapple with the escalating impact of climate change, this cycle is one we must navigate consciously and sustainably.

We must find ways to produce more food with less water while distributing water more equitably;

The United Nations in Sri Lanka, is committed to supporting the agricultural sector to become more productive, innovative, adaptive, and efficient in its use of water.   This drive cuts across 3 outcomes of our Cooperation Framework agreed last year with the authorities

We recognize that small-scale farmers, are a critical part of any sustainable solution.

FAO, is supporting 6,000 paddy farmers to adopt sustainable approaches reducing chemical inputs and improving yields. 

IFAD is helping enhance water and land management and helping smallholders adopt efficient irrigation methods like drip irrigation.

WFP is strengthening the dissemination and accessibility of weather-related information to help Sri Lanka build resilient and adaptive food systems.

Cooperation around food systems between these three agencies and others working on climate adaptation is a great examples of UN agencies with complementary mandates working together closely, achieving jointly what would be more difficult alone.

Going forward, we must design evidence-based policies in a participatory and consensual manner to better plan and manage water in the agricultural sector.

We must support these policies with increased investment, new legislation, improved technologies, and capacity development.

This means financing infrastructure that supports efficient water management, such as tank cascade systems that store rainwater for later use.

It means assisting small-scale farmers and ensuring that they have the resources and expertise they need.

It also means closing the green skills gap among youth, making sure that they are prepared to live in a sustainable and resource-efficient society.

This will require new public resources which must be generated through state and fiscal reforms.

Gathering at the SDG Summit in New York last month, world leaders agreed to urgently step up their efforts to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Among the six High-Impact Initiatives outlined at the Summit, sustainable food systems was highlighted as a driver of transformative change across all SDGs.

Prior to the Summit, the key role of water for sustainable food systems was spotlighted at the UN Water Conference, which produced the Water Action Agenda—a collection of voluntary commitments to accelerate progress in the second halves of both the Water Action Decade and the 2030 Agenda.

Thank you for being here today and specially for your commitment towards a future where no one goes hungry.

Thank you.