Remarks by UN Resident Coordinator at Inception Meeting for Food Systems Summit

Acknowledgements:

Your Excellency Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda

Honourable Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives

UN Uganda Country Team Members

Ladies and Gentlemen,

What is the Food Systems Summit? On behalf of the United Nations system in Uganda, I am delighted to join today’s Inception Meeting to discuss Uganda’s contribution to the Food Systems Summit that will be convened by the UN Secretary-General later this year. I would like to commend the Right Honorable Prime Minister for your leadership as the designated convener of the National Dialogues on Food Systems on behalf of the Republic of Uganda. I would also like to convey my appreciation to the Government and UN technical team dedicated to making this Summit dialogues are efficient.

As a foundational element of the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the Food Systems Summit recognizes that we can transform our world in the next decade by working together. Guided by five Action Tracks, the Summit will bring together key partners from the worlds of science, business, policy, healthcare, academia, farmers, indigenous people, youth organizations, consumer groups, environmental activists, among others. The Secretary-General has asked WFP, FAO and IFAD to provide technical leadership at country level in close collaboration with UN Resident Coordinators, leveraging their extensive experience and demonstrating the enhanced effectiveness of our support in the spirit of the UN Reform. I would like to use this opportunity to reiterate my appreciation for their leadership and to reiterate my appreciation to UNICEF, WHO, UNCDF, UNDP who are among members of the UN in Uganda will support this initiative as required.

The UN Secretary-General through this Summit intends to accelerate the much-needed action on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – our global blueprint for people, planet, peace and prosperity. It is our hope that the Summit will focus on solutions to transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food. The Food Systems Summit is also a people’s Summit built on an increasing recognition that transforming the food systems must be central in the efforts of all countries to achieve the SDGs. As Uganda undertakes country level dialogues, it is an opportune time to reflect on our food systems to ensure that they are inclusive, providing an opportunity for those most at risk of being left behind to join sustainable value chains, that they help protect the environment and they help Uganda both achieve the 2030 Agenda and be ready for the African free Trade Continental Agreement. Food systems touch every aspect of human existence, our health, our environment, our economies, and our cultures. When they function well, food systems have the power to bring us together as families, communities, and nations.

What are the opportunities for Uganda? Uganda’s National Vision 2040 aims to transform the country into a modern society. The National Development Plan III, which serves as a roadmap for the 2040 vision and the 2030 agenda, has eight major programmes that provide us with a robust foundation to kickstart the transformation of Food Systems in Uganda. We have an opportunity to increase commercialisation and competitiveness of agricultural production and agro-processing, preserve the environment, ensure smart use of natural resources, promote resilience digitization, as well as effective governance and strategic partnerships with the private sector, communities and regional actors among others. In addition, the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan being developed has an aspirational goal to improve the nutrition status of children under five years of age, school age children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women and other vulnerable groups by 2025”. Food systems play a key role in achieving this ambition. It is our hope that the country dialogues will listen to stakeholders along the value chain from farmers to fork – households, parishes, districts and national voices should get ready to contribute solutions. Rwenzori, West Nile, Northern Uganda, Karamoja, Central, Southwest and Eastern Uganda are some of the regions in which initiatives have been implemented, now is the time to assess efficiency and impact. What is the role of the growing number of factories? How are we going to upgrade the network of silos? Which are the markets we can target once we have improved post-harvest handling?

Through the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Uganda (2021-2025), the UN system will support the Government and people of Uganda to implement climate-smart agriculture, adopt measures to sustainably intensify agriculture productivity, generate data and educate communities and private sector actors on opportunities for value chain and market efficiencies, and work with influencers to promote resilience as the means to achieving the country´s long term aspiration of transitioning into a modern industrial economy, capable of becoming a regional hub for safe, affordable, high quality foods. Specific UN agencies have been nominated to anchor each of the Five Action Tracks of the Food Systems Summit, our three Rome-based agencies (FAO, IFAD and WFP) specialize in food systems-related programmes and policy; supported by UNICEF, WHO and UNDP who are present today and already engaged with their technical counterparts to not only provide technical support to facilitate the member state dialogues but also support Uganda develop its own food systems framework specific to its needs and regional integration.

Right Honourable Prime Minister, Call to action for transformation. The urgency of this agenda has also been underscored by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to rapidly rethink how we adapt, produce, transport, process, market, and consume our food and dispose of our waste. We should turn this crisis into an opportunity to rebalance and transform our food systems, making them more inclusive, sustainable and resilient. We have before us an unprecedented opportunity to capitalize on this effort and craft a catalytic moment for public mobilization and actionable commitments to accelerate our progress.

In the current global environment, we also need to be innovative in using efficiently our human, financial resources and assets for these dialogues. For example we can use our office premises for meetings and our vehicles to move when necessary. This will help reduce the cost significantly and accomplish our goals.

I conclude by conveying my belief that only together can we end extreme poverty, ensuring that no one goes to bed hungry, win the race against climate change and conquer injustice and gender inequality. Together we can embrace the complexity of our modern world and take action to ensure equity and inclusion for all people.

I look forward to solutions oriented Food System dialogues in Uganda to support the national aspirations of achieving prosperity for all.

Thank you.