Experts discuss South Asia’s food insecurity

Kantipuronline.com, October 30,2008

Taking note of the implications of the Triple “F” Crises—Fuel, Food and Financial—for South Asian economies and food security, a South Asian Civil Society Forum was recently organized in Kathmandu in a bid to come up with concrete suggestions for SAARC governments for ensuring food security in the region.

The forum titled Responding to Food Insecurity in South Asia was organized by the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal; Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS)-International, India; and Oxfam (novib), The Netherlands in Kathmandu on October 23-24.

South Asian civil society experts, global agencies such as the FAO, the World Bank, the UNICEF, and several institutions working in the area of food security from South Asia and Southeast Asia attended the forum.

Issuing a statement at the end, the civil society forum urged SAARC governments to consider the issues of the statement and undertake appropriate actions while making decisions on the regional strategies and projects as well as the operationalization of the SAARC Food Bank, and Agriculture Perspective 2020 during the Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Agriculture Ministers of the Member States on 5-6 November 2008.

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