Experts focus on food security at IDB meet

Called the Expert Group Meeting (EGM), the deliberations, taking place at IDB headquarters in Jeddah, focus on food-related issues and challenges that the IDB member countries face in the post-crisis world.

The agenda of the meeting, opened by IDB President Ahmad Mohamed Ali, was set by IDB Chief Economist Ifzal Ali, who in his opening remarks, highlighted issues involved in ensuring food security. He said the emergence of major constraints in agriculture on the supply side would need to be progressively relaxed with the provision of adequate public goods and services but more importantly mainstreaming private sector involvement. "In doing better with less in ensuring food security, there is a paramount need for better and smarter governments, not bigger government roles ... Sustaining the development gains of the last half century in the emerging context of rising food prices hinges on ensuring sustainable food security in the 21st century," he said.

Delegates from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Sudan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria as well as representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) are taking part in the meeting.

The final outcome and recommendations will be distributed as a background document to IDB governors for further deliberation during the IDB annual meeting on June 23-24 in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is expected to enable the IBD Group to develop an action plan to further improve security in its member countries.

There were three sessions on Sunday - "Climate Change and Food Security, "Priorities for Transforming Agriculture," and "National/Regional Food Strategy for IDB Member Countries." On Monday, the topics are "Fostering inter-OIC FDI in the agriculture sector," "Fostering intra-trade in agricultural commodities," and "Public and private partnership: Shifting the balance of activities."

Experts feel that achieving food security requires increasing food availability, food access and food adequacy for all. Since food insecurity is directly related to poverty, it is necessary not only to alleviate poverty but also create wealth for the target population. Thus, the experts are of the view that the agricultural sector must be at the center of the development agenda in order to enhance food security in member countries.

http://arabnews.com/economy/article49492.ece