Statement by UN Resident Coordinator at National Dialogue on the Food Systems Summit

Your Excellency, The President of the Republic of Uganda,

The Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda,

The Right Honourable Deputy Prime Minister

The Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries,

Honorable Ministers and Members of Parliament,

The Chairperson of the National Planning Authority

Your Excellencies Ambassadors and Development Partners,

Dear colleagues of the UN system in Uganda,

Representatives of Civil Society and Private Sector,

Ladies and Gentlemen

All protocols observed

On behalf of the United Nations System in Uganda I am very pleased to participate in Uganda’s  National Dialogue of the Food Systems Summit. The upcoming Food Summit next month, called for by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as part of the Decade of Action is aimed at unlocking the power of food to deliver progress across all 17 of our common global Development Goals.

The most valuable part of the food Systems Summit is really the national discussions and the decisions they will trigger for national development plans. No country’s food system exists in isolation of the whole, thus the need for a global conversation. These national dialogues however form the solid foundation upon which a global discussion can be had around some of the cross border challenges and opportunities around our interconnected food systems.  

I would like to warmly commend the Government of the Republic of Uganda for according such energy and interest in the implementation of its national Food Systems dialogue. There have been many conversations engaging thousands of Ugandans discussing the national food system. These many conversations have led to us being here today. And the presence of his Excellency the President, the Right Honourable Prime Minister, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and so many key Ministers is truly impressive. It shows the importance of the subject matter to the Government of the Republic Uganda and bodes well for the team work that will be required to accelerate the transformation of the current food system into one that will:

1. ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all people in Uganda;
2. provide MANY many more needed jobs, especially for Ugandan youth and women;
3. support nature positive production, while building resilience to climate shocks.  

Mr President,

As we celebrated Youth Day a few days ago, I very clearly heard about the FOUR  sectors - Commercial agriculture, Industries, Services and ICT.  

With 72 % of Uganda’s population employed in Agriculture, Agriculture and Agribusiness in Uganda will drive these 4 sectors. And beyond, Agriculture and Agribusiness will drive the attainment of many of our Sustainable development goals. And this is especially true at this critical time as we try as we try to catch up with the time lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations system is working very closely with the Government is all the streams of work around the Food Systems discussions.

In the first stream of work we are collectively looking at ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all. Safe and nutritious food for mental and physical health has always been important. But arguably it is even more important now as we live through this corona virus crisis – not having yet secured all the vaccines we need – especially at this time, we all need to be at our healthiest and most vital state and nutritious food is a big part of the equation. The UN family is led by the Food and Agriculture Organisation in this cluster of work under the overall leadership of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture. 

In the second pillar of work looking at sustainable consumption patterns, chaired by the Ministry of Health and World Vision Uganda; the UN’s contributions are being led by the World Health Organisation.

In the third stream of work to boost nature-positive production – Chaired by the Ministry of Water and Environment; Co-Chaired by the World Wide Fund for Nature; our UN lead there is UN Development Programme (UNDP)

In the fourth stream of work looking at Advancing equitable livelihoods – Chaired by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development; Co-Chaired by Care International Uganda, the UN support is led by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

In the Fifth stream of work focused on building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress – Chaired by the Ministry of Local Government; Co-Chaired by the Commissioner, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, at the Office of the Prime Minister, the UN support is led by the World Food Programme (WFP)

We know that relooking at our food systems can unlock a lot of development gains.  Solving the food systems transformation puzzle will call for plenty of creativity, energy and steadfastness. We all must work together to transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food. In addition to the attention Government has given to this issue, I have also been very impressed by the participatory nature of the Ugandan discussions. Authorities have engaged directly with stakeholders and citizens in different parts of the country to share views on how food systems can be transformed.

The entire UN family looks forward to the new commitments and plans emerging from these food system discussions. I look forward to the reprogramming of NDP3, drawn before the pandemic that will now necessarily need tweaking, as earlier assumptions no longer hold true.

I also look forward towards the Governments necessary tweaking and reorganization of its development partners coordination mechanisms to facilitate our greater support and focus towards the new commitments.  We need the private sector arm in arm with us. They have the larger financial muscle to leverage towards greater socio economic impact and need to find more productive ways of working with them.

As I conclude, Your United Nations Family is here and desirous to support further as we unlock the opportunities of our food system. Many agencies are contributing significantly already. I mentioned a few earlier on playing leadership roles in the various streams or work, but of course behind them are many others. I reiterate our commitment to support the Government and people of Uganda through the implementation of our joint UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2021-2025.

Thank you for your kind attention.