Mr. Al-Qaseer, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, announced the launch of the Food and Agriculture Initiative for Sustainable Transformation (FAST), which represents an opportunity for participating countries and development partners to help them obtain financing to enable them to confront these changes.
This came during his speech at the opening of the activities of the Adaptation and Agriculture Day, which was held within the activities of the COP27 Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, in the presence of a number of ministers and ambassadors of the member states, development partners and representatives of international, regional and national organizations.
This day includes a number of sessions and events related to mechanisms for strengthening the food security system through agricultural innovation, stimulating financing and investments, especially green ones, and stimulating the private sector to participate in supporting the agricultural sector, all with the participation of international, regional and Arab organizations.
The Minister of Agriculture indicated that the ambitious goal of this initiative comes in implementing concrete measures that will lead to improving climate action and the quantity and quality of financing contributions for the sustainable transformation of agricultural and food systems by 2030. It also includes several guiding principles represented in ensuring the reflection of the food security dimension and the diversity of agricultural systems. It is also keen to activate innovative financing methods with the support of major financial institutions, as well as public and private partnerships, as evidence of seriousness, and that this financing is accompanied by the provision of the necessary technology.
Al-Qusayr added that the initiative will be a multi-stakeholder partnership that will act as an accelerator for the sustainable transformation of agricultural and food systems, and in cooperation with relevant global and regional initiatives, alliances and coalitions in particular, as there is a convergence in the approach of the initiative and the “Koronivia Joint Action on Agriculture,” pointing out that it is for the governance of the initiative. FAO in collaboration with other UN agencies will act as a neutral facilitator, providing the objectivity, independence and credibility which are preconditions for the success of the initiative.
The Minister of Agriculture confirmed that the initiative will be developed into a program of cooperation between multiple stakeholders, with holding annual meetings for members to agree on a program of work, as its tangible outputs focus initially on 3 main pillars, namely: the pillar of access to financing by strengthening the capabilities of countries to determine financing and investment. in the field of climate and access to them, and the knowledge and capacity pillar, which aims to provide the necessary analyzes and develop voluntary guidelines to support capacity development among stakeholders by providing a platform for harvesting, sharing and dissemination of knowledge, as well as the policy pillar, which aims to ensure the full integration and priority of agri-food systems and importance in climate change policies.
