TASHKENT, January 21. /“Dunyo” IA/. The Minister of Agriculture of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev took part in the 13th Global Forum on Food and Agriculture (GFFA) at the invitation of the Minister of Food and Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany, Julia Klöckner, reports “Dunyo” IA correspondent.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture the forum runs from January 18 to 22, 2021 within the framework of International Green Week in Berlin, which is one of the largest events in the field of food, horticulture, agriculture and forestry (www.gffa-berlin.de/en/fachveranstaltungen-2021/).
The GFFA is appreciated around the world as a leading forum on relevant issues of agriculture and food security. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has been shifted to a virtual format for the first time.
Minister Jamshid Khodjaev, who was elected as a Chairman of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe and Central Asia in November 2020, addressed the GFFA Forum on 19 January 2021 as a part of a high-level expert meeting organized by FAO. The main topic: "How innovation can help strengthen the sustainability of food systems and prevent future pandemics?".
Moreover, the GFFA meeting was also attended by FAO Director General Qu Dongyu, South African Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Thokozile Didiza, the Director of the Federal Office of Agriculture of the Swiss Confederation, Christian Hofer, the General and Executive Director of Syngenta Group, Erik Fyrwald, and directly the Minister of Food and Agriculture of Germany, Julia Klöckner.
- Due to the pandemic, the disruption of livelihoods and food supply chains in Uzbekistan has inevitably had an impact on access to certain agriculture and food products for many Uzbek farmers and consumers. For example, there were problems with potatoes and vegetable oil; therefore, currently we are reviewing the volume of placement of potatoes and oilseeds in order to be independent of imports, - noted Jamshid Khodjaev in his speech. - In general, during the pandemic, a number of new initiatives were introduced for social protection of vulnerable groups of the population and existing social support programs to partially offset lost incomes were expanded. Timely measures aimed at stabilizing consumer food prices, primarily through enhanced use of the national strategic food reserve, as well as upgrading of some of the existing ‘green corridors’ at the borders and streamlining certain administrative procedures for agri-food traders. Some tariff rates on agricultural food imports were reduced and "payment holidays" for some farm credit repayments were introduced.
In addition, the Minister of Agriculture of Uzbekistan noted the actions of the government, which has allocated significant resources to support the gradual renewal of agricultural research systems. Moreover, the support can be seen by expanding the potential of education and training in this area, as well as creating an effective network of consulting services on agriculture, which in the future will allow farmers and agricultural enterprises to successfully develop their business.
