Fiji has commenced a series of national dialogues on food systems ahead of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) taking place in September 2021.
According to a statement by the Fijian Government, the first national dialogue on Action Track 1 to “ensure safe and nutritious food for all” was held virtually on Monday, May 10, 2021 and marks the commencement of series of national dialogues across all five Action Tracks.
Officiating the online dialogue forum, Ministry of Agriculture permanent secretary Ritesh Dass addressed the forum.
“In Fiji and the Pacific, the food we eat brings us together as families, communities, and nations and links us back to the land and sea, where our food is traditionally sourced from,” Mr Dass was quoted saying in the statement.
He further stressed that food underpinned our cultures, our economies, and our relationships with the natural world.
“Our involvement in the Summit has come at a crucial time as our country battles the COVID-19 pandemic once again. This makes this Food Systems Summit even more crucial to us as it will enable Fiji and the rest of the world to study the challenges exposed or exacerbated by the COVID crisis and to find transformative solutions to emerge and build back.”
Mr Dass said given the COVID situation, it would be very likely that the remaining four national dialogues would be held virtually.
The Fiji national dialogues will consolidate diverse and transformative views and voices from stakeholders, which would feed into Fiji’s national report and submission to the UNFSS global Summit, being convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in September.
