ESCWA calls for improved regional food access

Two international organizations called for increased food security in Lebanon and the region Tuesday, according to the state-run National News Agency. The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia organized the conference with the International Food Policy Research Institute at the United Nations House in Beirut. Participants at the conference recommended developing job opportunities to reduce food insecurity as well as expanding agriculture in places where there is limited food resources, the NNA reported. Titled “A Food Secure Arab World: A Road Map for Policy and Research,” the conference focused on improving people’s access to affordable food in the Middle East. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made a priority of trying to ease major food security problems in the world and established a task-force to that end. Food security is defined as the availability and access to food. Lebanon imports much of its food, which combined with a global rise in food prices puts the country more at risk for food shortages or inaccessibility than agriculturally sufficient nations. A focus of the conference in Beirut was on coordinating food imports and food market development. Conference attendees said encouraging small businesses and more sophisticated food transportation would be particularly beneficial in that regard, the NNA reported. Participants also raised the importance of improving agricultural productivity and preserving natural resources. Lebanon was one of the first recipients of U.N. food security development. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. set up operations in the country in 1977. Beirut - The Daily star