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Food Fair highlights importance of agro-processing industry | News from Saint Lucia
Food Fair highlights importance of agro-processing industry
SAINT LUCIA AIMS TO ACHIEVE THE IDEAL OF #ZEROHUNGER LOCALLY.
Fond d’Or Heritage Park in Dennery was the chosen site for the Ministry of Agriculture’s World Food Day food fair, last Sunday.
World Food Day is commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to devise affirmative action to sustain global food systems and to tackle global hunger. The FAO states that over 800 million people around the world are food insecure or malnourished.
The global theme for World Food Day 2018 is “Our Actions Are Our Future: A #ZeroHunger World by 2030 is Possible.” In Saint Lucia, the Ministry of Agriculture focused on agro processing, and its importance to Saint Lucia’s agricultural and socio-economic development.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Minister with responsibility for Physical Planning, Hon. Herod Stanislas, said in recognizing the alarming concerns the world over concerning the availability of sustainable food systems, the time is ripe for the nation to focus on managing its own food security. Some key concerns, he added, are conflict, poverty, and climate change.
“As a matter of priority, this government continues to act with urgent haste to invest in agriculture and food security to help our people thrive and strive,” he said. “We remain focused as a nation and as a region on the realization that we must pay close attention to the deep issues of food security and production as it is vital to our survival and development.”
Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Augustus Cadette, said agriculture officials continue to work assiduously to ensure healthy, safe, and accessible food sources in Saint Lucia. He noted that while the island’s food and hunger situation is not as acute as in other regions of the world, we must continue to work to achieve the ideal of #ZeroHunger locally.
“We have made some gains, but the need has never been greater for us as a nation to build on these gains even as we ward off traditional and emerging forces that threaten to erode our gains and stymie our future progress,” Mr. Cadette said.
The Oct. 14 food fair was well attended by government officials, the diplomatic corps, regional agriculture development partners, and the general public. The event also boasted an action-packed entertainment lineup.
