46 Countries In Asia-Pacific To Consider Recovery Plan After COVID-19 Dealt Heavy Blow

Forty-six countries in Asia-Pacific to consider recovery plan after COVID-19 dealt heavy blow to lives and livelihoods in region’s food and agriculture sectors 

• Advancing the application of innovation, science and digitalization to help an agrifood systems transformation in the world’s biggest and hungriest region

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Government Ministers from 46 countries in Asia and the Pacific will gather here from 8 – 11 March, to reach consensus inter-alia on the way forward, following the damage dealt by the global Pandemic to lives and livelihoods of those involved in the food and agriculture sectors in the world’s most populous region.  

The Asia and Pacific Regional Conference (#APRC36), convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), will be hosted by the Government of Bangladesh, in the capital Dhaka. Her Excellency, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh will welcome delegates to the Conference, convened in Hybrid modality.

The Issues at Hand

While a significant focus of #APRC36 deliberations will be on COVID-19 recovery efforts, the Ministers attending #APRC36 will also consider responses to multiple longstanding and ongoing issues. Biodiversity and nutrition in the Pacific Islands is an important topic for discussion. Balancing the needs of people, domestic animals, wildlife, biodiversity, and ecosystems through One Health approaches, in the face of limited natural resources, while addressing ongoing threats to plants/crops and animals, such as Locusts, Fall Armyworm, African Swine Fever and Avian Influenza, across the vast region will also be discussed. Implementing the new FAO strategy on dealing with climate change and opportunities that are emerging from applications of innovation, science and digitalization in the food and agriculture sectors to provide solutions will be discussed. In-depth explanation of all of these topics is available here and more information about the #APRC36 can be found on the Conference Website homepage.

The Conclusions

Ultimately, the aim of the Conference is to build back better, with Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life for all – leaving no one behind. The 46 Member Nations in Asia and the Pacific, as FAO’s regional Governing Body, will set in motion a two-year course of work for the FAO Regional Office and its technical specialists, through direction of a set of prioritized country and regional needs.

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