Kathmandu. Country-level National Consultative Meeting for the 35th Asia Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations was held at Kathmandu.

Addressing the meeting, Dr. Yubak Dhwoj GC, secretary of Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that the forthcoming 35th Asia Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) of FAO is highly important for the developing countries like Nepal. He also mentioned about the participation of the Government of Nepal in the conference with High-Level Delegation.

He also said that the government will prepare the country paper following intense discussions with various stakeholders and highlighted the importance of the national consultative meeting held and thanked all the participants for sharing their thoughts and idea as feedback for the preparation.

As the organizer of the event, Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO Representative for Nepal and Bhutan welcomed all the participants and highlighted the essence of the country level consultative meeting.

Informing that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is organizing the 35th session of the Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) in Thimphu, Bhutan, from 17-20 February 2020, he said that the APRC Regional Conference would share FAO’s work and experience on the specific regional priorities and areas of technical focus that will be discussed at the APRC gather feedback from a broad range of stakeholders on these technical and programmatic issues; foster greater ownership of the APRC outcomes; and promote a more inclusive dialogue between FAO and all stakeholders in food security, nutrition, and agriculture in country.

“The APRC is an official forum held every two years, where Ministers and high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and other related Ministries of all Member States in the region meet to discuss challenges related to food security, nutrition and agriculture,” said Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO Representative for Nepal and Bhutan.

“In addition to discussing traditional agenda items such as current and emerging regional trends and challenges, the 35th session of the APRC will also discuss innovation and digital technologies that are helping to improve food security and nutrition, the new Director-General’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, water management, and other topics,” said Dr. Pipoppinyo.

He also said that for the first time FAO will hold country-level consultations with key partners from the Government, Civil Society, and Private Sector prior to the APRC.

Addressing the consultative meeting, Mr. Sushil Tiwari, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation said that the government of Nepal is working to integrate agriculture development with irrigation. He said that the outcome of the regional conference will be of high importance for Nepal.

Dr. Binod Shah, Assistant FAO representative made a wide presentation about the FAO, its objectives and highlighted the agenda of the 35th session of the Asia Pacific Regional Conference going to be held at Thimpu.

Mr. Nahendr Khadka, leader of the National Peasants’ Coalition, discussed the importance of the country level consultative meeting and welcomed the new initiative of FAO as Hand in Hand Initiative especially focused on the least developed countries, landlocked countries, small island developing countries and highly populated small countries.

Speaking on the event, he said that in addition to the common agenda of the regional level, Nepal must have some work out on the national level such as linking the Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS) of the Government of Nepal with the FAO country program and insisted to follow the concept of Food Sovereignty as the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act has been already promulgated in the country.

“As agriculture is not possible without farmers, farmers’ issue must be included in the APRC agenda and there must be a program for the peasants’ rights so as to implement the concept of UN declaration on the Peasants’ Rights”, Mr. Khadka said.

He also suggested the necessity of transforming the agriculture production system in addition to the proposed reshaping of the food system so as to mainstream local knowledge, community wisdom and emphasize sustainable agriculture.

Senior officials of the Government of Nepal, leaders of the Peasants’ organizations and civil society organizations, and representatives of the UN Agencies participated in the meeting and shared their feedback on the consultation.