The Europe and Central Asia region has achieved striking success in fighting poverty and food insecurity over the last ten years, with agriculture playing a key role, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said in his speech to the 27th FAO Regional Conference for Europe in Yerevan, Armenia.
But the international financial and economic crisis could threaten that process Diouf warned.
– The financial and economic crisis could adversely affect the progress and the significant improvement in living standards that have been achieved in the region in the last decade, he said.
FAO studies have shown that that the crisis has weakened agriculture, particularly in the countries of Central and East Europe.
In addition, World Bank estimates show that Europe and Central Asia is the region that has been hit hardest by the crisis.
INVESTERING I CENTRALASIEN KAN FØRE TIL MEGET
Investing in Europe and Central Asia could help resolve hunger in other regions of the world, Diouf suggested.
It was estimated that with sufficient investment, nearly 10 million hectares of arable land could be brought back into cultivation to grow grains and oilseeds in Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Diouf, who on Tuesday launched a major international anti-hunger campaign, the “1billionhungry project”, to bring pressure on world leaders to pull a billion people out of hunger, said he was convinced that
– Together we can eliminate hunger from our planet.
But, he added:
– For that we need to move forward from words to deeds and above all to do it quickly.
