Food system resilience in APEC’s focus

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies adopted on Tuesday principles aimed at strengthening the resilience of food systems through innovation and digitalization, as extreme weather, supply chain disruptions and rising production costs pose growing challenges to agriculture across the region.

The Joint Statement on the 11th APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting and the Principles for Strengthening Food Systems Resilience in the APEC Region through Innovation and Digitalization were adopted at the meeting in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province.

According to officials at the meeting, the principles call for the greater use of innovation and digital technologies to strengthen food systems, improve agricultural productivity and help economies respond to risks, including those posed by extreme weather.

Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong emphasized that APEC plays a pivotal role in maintaining global food security. He added that China is willing to work with other economies to jointly build a more robust food security system.

Liu called for stronger innovation-driven efforts and deeper agricultural science and technology cooperation to jointly cultivate new ways of safeguarding food security.

Eduardo Pedrosa, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, said that food security has become one of the defining challenges.

"Extreme weather, supply chain disruptions and rising fertilizer and fuel costs are all adding uncertainty for farmers, rural communities, producers, and consumers in an interconnected region," Pedrosa said.

Innovation is central to APEC's efforts to strengthen food systems, improve productivity and help farmers adapt to changing conditions through digital technologies, artificial intelligence and agricultural biotechnology, he said. "The principles for strengthening food systems resilience through innovation and digitalization reflect our shared commitment to ensuring the technologies serve people and empowering food security," said Pedrosa.

However, ensuring that new technologies benefit farmers will require measures to close the digital divide among different economies in the region that are at different stages, Pedrosa said.

In the immediate future, APEC economies should also focus on facilitating food trade and reducing losses along supply chains, he added.

Carlos Vasquez, Peruvian ambassador to China, said that research and development, innovation and digitalization should be priority areas for agricultural cooperation in the region.

He said that the intensive application of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, could help economies mitigate uncertainty from extreme weather events such as the potentially strongest-ever El Nino later this year.

"We should increase our mutual cooperation in the forum regarding the very important need of applying new digital technologies to improve the resilience of our food systems," Vasquez said.

Meanwhile, smallholder farmers, who are the backbone of the agricultural system in Peru, need greater access to digital training, finance and infrastructure. "It's going to be a combination of the intensive application of digital technologies plus the development of key infrastructure for them to be connected to markets," the ambassador said.

Nelson Simbiken, director-general of Papua New Guinea's National Agricultural Research Institute, said that APEC economies should use digital tools to map different ecosystems and develop smart farming systems suited to local conditions.

Simbiken also called for greater data sharing and cooperation in areas including environmental sustainability and agricultural planning.

zhaoyimeng@chinadaily.com.cn