Latin America and the Caribbean “are truly a pillar for world food security,” said FAO’s Director-General QU Dongyu while addressing the Third Hemispheric Meeting of Ministers and Secretaries of Agriculture of the Americas.

The UN food agency’s chief hailed the region’s contribution to preventing the COVID-19 health crisis from becoming a food crisis.

Notably, Latin America and the Caribbean region accounts for 14 per cent of global food production and 45 per cent of net international agri-food trade.

It must be mentioned here that FAO has responded to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with a programmatic approach, supporting a new regional innovation and Digitalization Action Plan.

With emphasis on science, technology and innovation, Central Asian countries have potential to contribute to agri-food systems transformation and serve as a model for other regions facing similar challenges amid the COVID-19 outbreak, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said.

“The pandemic is giving us a rare opportunity to reset, rethink and redouble our efforts to build forward better and greener, using coordinated approaches that are inclusive, holistic, and coherent,” the Director-General said at the third meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of Central Asia.

He also alluded to the region’s major potential for setting up innovative models for cooperation fostering out-of-the-box solutions to several common challenges.

The Director-General reiterated the UN food agency’s support to the region with innovative approaches, including FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative.

One of the biggest vertical farming companies worldwide – Kalera – announced that former United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will join its Board of Directors, adding he has also personally invested in the company in the latest financing round.

“The addition of a global industry titan like Sonny Perdue is a validation of Kalera’s role in defining how we feed the world for generations to come,” said Daniel Malechuk, CEO of Kalera.

“We are humbled that Sonny has chosen to join us as a fully-active participant on our Board, and are excited about the unique perspective and insight he will provide through his experience as Secretary of Agriculture for the world’s leading agriculture and food producer.”

The tech-driven vertical farming company’s high-yield, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed to grow vegetables at a lower cost, and with low environmental impact.

Greta Thunberg, whose solo school strike in 2018 snowballed into an international movement to fight climate change – today turned 18.

Who can forget her emotion-packed speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019. ‘How dare you,’ she roared. ‘How dare you look away… and come here saying that you’re doing enough,’ the climate activist from Sweden asked.

Thank you so much for all the well-wishes on my 18th birthday!

Tonight you will find me down at the local pub exposing all the dark secrets behind the climate- and school strike conspiracy and my evil handlers who can no longer control me!
I am free at last!! pic.twitter.com/w1VBG83VVN

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 3, 2021

So in honour of her birthday, we take a look at more of our favourite words of wisdom from the teen activist:

1. “For 25 years, countless people have come to the U.N. climate conferences begging our world leaders to stop emissions, and clearly that has not worked as emissions are continuing to rise. So I will not beg the world leaders to care for our future.”

2. “I believe that once we start behaving as if we were in an existential crisis, then we can avoid a climate and ecological breakdown. But the opportunity to do so will not last for long. We have to start today.”

3. “Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible there is no hope. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within this system are so impossible to find then maybe we should change the system itself.”

4. “Humanity is now standing at a crossroads. We must now decide which path we want to take. How do we want the future living conditions for all living species to be like?”

5. “If we fail…all our achievements and progress have been for nothing, and all that will remain of our political leaders’ legacy will be the greatest failure of human history. And they will be remembered as the greatest villains of all time, because they have chosen not to listen and not to act.”

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the UN agency World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to address hunger and promote food security. The agency has also been applauded for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas.

Last year, the WFP provided assistance to nearly 100 million people in over 80 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger.

In 2015, eradicating hunger was adopted as one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WFP is the UN’s primary instrument for realising this goal.

David Muldrow Beasley is currently the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme.

Here are some lesser-known facts about Beasley:

• Born on February 26, 1957, David Muldrow Beasley is an American politician and member of the Republican Party.

• Beasley served one term as the 113th Governor of South Carolina (1995-1999).

• In 2017, then US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley nominated Beasley to be the next Executive Director of WFP, one of the largest humanitarian organisations addressing hunger and promoting food security.

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s José Graziano da Silva appointed Beasley to the post in March 2017, stating the former governor brought “extensive experience with key governmental and business leaders and stakeholders around the world, with very strong resource mobilisation skills.”

• Beasley had been among 23 applications or nominations for the position.

• In his capacity as WFP’s Executive Director, he serves at the level of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and is a member of the organization’s Senior Management Group (SMG) under the leadership of Secretary-General António Guterres.

• Since 2019, Beasley has been a member of the World Economic Forum High-Level Group on Humanitarian Investing, co-chaired by Børge Brende, Kristalina Georgieva and Peter Maurer.

Urging the government to invest more in agriculture, Philippines’ Vice President Leni Robredo said the country’s policymakers should make sure that the current health crisis does not turn into a food crisis.

The 55-year-old leader said food production must be increased in order to avoid supply shortage and bring stability in food prices.

The Southeast Asian country’s Vice-President also gave her suggestions on how to boost investments in areas that benefit the farming sector, especially in modern technology and farm-to-market infrastructure.

Neil Hornby has been appointed as the new chief executive of CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science), the UK’s most diverse centre for applied marine and freshwater science and research.

“It is an exciting time to join CEFAS as the UK takes on responsibility for managing our fisheries and we continue to strengthen our leading role in protecting the marine environment around the world,” Hornby said, adding science and analysis will be at the heart of this.

Currently, Hornby is the Director of Marine and Fisheries in DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), a post he has held since 2016.

Shakuntala Thilsted, WorldFish’s research program leader for Value Chains and Nutrition, has been named Vice-chair of the UN Food Systems Summit’s Advancing Equitable Livelihoods Action Track by the UN Special Envoy, Agnes Kalibata.

The role will see Thilsted responsible for guiding the global event’s direction related to building sustainable, inclusive and nutritious food systems and value chains that support both people and planet.

“The international summit is our chance to mobilize a global movement to positively transform our food production, distribution, consumption and waste. Equitable livelihoods depend on fair, fruitful and nutritious food systems that hold sustainability and resilience at their heart,” Shakuntala Thilsted said.

Before joining WorldFish in 2010, she worked as an Associate Professor in the human nutrition departments of the University of Copenhagen and The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark.

The future of US agriculture is reliant upon research, innovation and collaboration, as well as development of foods designed to improve human health, said US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.

Perdue delivered the remarks during a visit to Nebraska Innovation Campus. During the discussion, he described the USDA’s Agricultural Innovation Agenda, which calls for the US to increase agricultural production by 40% while cutting its carbon footprint in half by 2050.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said producers must be able to incorporate that research into their own operations, citing the example of plant imaging technology used in the Greenhouse Innovation Centre.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue visited Iowa and designated 18 Iowa counties as primary natural disaster areas, enabling producers who suffered losses because of the recent Derecho, to be eligible for emergency loans.

“The extent of damage to crops, equipment, facilities, and the ag sector as a whole from this storm is devastating,” said Secretary Perdue.

He also reminded producers about several disaster assistance programs available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including program flexibilities and a special signup through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).