United Nations – For Morocco, food security has always been a strategic priority and is at the heart of the new development model, said Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr Nasser Bourita.
Thanks to the proactive policy of HM King Mohammed IV, Morocco has been able to implement an integrated approach, which aims to ensure food availability, promote sustainable agricultural and rural development, prioritize the protection of natural resources and adapt to climate change, said the Minister who was speaking on Thursday September, 24, 2021, by video conference at the United Nations Food Systems Summit, held as part of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Minister said that in line with the 2030 Agenda, the Kingdom has launched a new agricultural strategy, Generation Green 2020-2030, to improve the resilience and sustainability of food systems, adding that it is an ambitious strategy with achievable goals and targets that are forward-looking.
This strategy converges with many other strategies and Royal initiatives: the INDH, Forests of Morocco 2020-2030, the Strategy of fisheries, the Program of economic empowerment of women, the large-scale project to generalize social protection, whose synergies will accelerate the economic recovery and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, he said.
In addition to being a structuring national project, food security is a fundamental commitment of Morocco at the international and regional level, the Minister added.
Mr Bourita recalled that as part of the preparations for the Summit, and in addition to the national multi-stakeholder dialogue, Morocco has organized jointly with the UN, the African Regional Dialogue, during which more than 40 African Ministers and decision-makers have identified priorities and courses of action for a successful transformation of food systems in Africa.
Morocco’s commitment to sustainable and inclusive food systems is also reflected through membership in three international coalitions: school meals coalition, food Coalition and agroecology Coalition, he added.
For Mr Bourita, the sustainability of food systems is also a privileged area of the Moroccan policy of South-South and triangular cooperation, noting that it occupies a central place in bilateral cooperation with sister countries on the African continent and is at the heart of pioneering initiatives launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI on the occasion of COP 22.
He cited the Triple A Initiative for the adaptation of African agriculture and the Triple S Initiative for sustainability, stability and security in Africa.
The Minister also noted that this Summit demonstrates once again the need to transform global food systems and the central role they play in creating a more just and sustainable world, noting that this event also shows that food systems provide solutions for food security.
Vector of development and guarantee of peace and stability, food security becomes an emergency to which must be brought innovative solutions according to a coordinated, integrated and multidimensional approach at the global, regional and national levels, said the Minister.
Mr Bourita further noted that while food systems affect all aspects of human existence and concern all inhabitants of the planet, they are also at the heart of food security issues.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, also welcomed the initiative and leadership of the UN Secretary General in convening this Summit on food systems. Morocco represented the African continent in the Advisory Committee that prepared the holding of this Summit.
This meeting comes, according to him, at a pivotal moment, a time when the global health crisis continues to claim victims and devastating human, economic and social damage.
It is also a time when the crisis exacerbates food insecurity and contributes to the vicious circle of hunger and poverty and, above all, a time when the crisis highlights the need to move towards efficient, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, the Minister added.
He concluded that this Summit is an opportunity to enhance the commitment made in the Agenda 2030, through the launch of bold and decisive measures for the transformation of food systems.
