May 2021
Action Track 3 | Boosting Nature – Positive Food Production
The United Nations says there is a global urgency to boost nature-positive production systems that rebuild soil, store carbon, create employment and nourish everyone, everywhere IMAGE United Nations Food Systems Summit
The United Nations Food Systems Summit is drawing on the input of experts to identify sustainable solutions for the future of food.
Fiji’s Ministry of Agriculture is co-convening a dialogue alongside others to ensure the role of healthy sustainable food systems is heard.
Director Forest Resource Assessment & Conservation Ministry of Forestry, Deborah Sue emphasised the value of diverse food production as drivers of food security, and acknowledged the dialogue as an opportunity for the forestry sector to work collaboratively on solutions that will benefit food producers and consumers.
“There is a pressing need for Urban Forestry Policy and Governance because everything that we have so far is quite fragmented.”
“Urban forestry is an extremely new area for forestry to be moving into because usually we think of our history occurring in rural areas, but this is an opportunity to put forestry in where people live.”
“Our forests has a lot of fruit trees and native forests but we don’t utilize them and it leads to an insufficient appreciation of fruit and nut trees, and no appreciation of the natural pollinators such as birds, bees and bats, and it basically leads to unhealthy food nutrition habits.”
“We also have unrealized appreciation of the economic potential in the food and nutrition products, and it leads to unrealized industry opportunities that are particularly important during this global pandemic because a lot of this work when they develop is outdoor based.”
The dialogues are expected to conclude by June end 2021.