Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli participated online in the presentation of “Turkey's National Roadmap Towards Sustainable Food Systems”.
Emphasizing that the world has faced a number of global problems that have caused food insecurity in recent years, Pakdemirli emphasized that it is extremely important to transform existing food systems into sustainable ones, considering future generations.
Pointing out that 1,3 billion tons of food produced for human consumption, which corresponds to approximately one-third each year, is lost and wasted due to social, economic, environmental and most importantly climate change-related problems, Pakdemirli said: Considering that with climate change, deforestation, desertification, erosion, reduction of biodiversity and our need for food to live, it is imperative that we transform and sustain our existing food systems, which have borders, on a global and national scale.” made its assessment.
Emphasizing that they support all efforts and initiatives carried out within the scope of the Food Systems Summit held in September 2021, Pakdemirli said, “Within the scope of the Summit, in order to improve the country's food systems and make them more sustainable, our producer organizations should be strengthened, and production efficiency should be increased in many areas, such as increasing the income levels of our producers. we detected. In order to improve our food systems in a sustainable way until 2030, the priority is to protect and sustainably use the environment and natural resources, to transition to sustainable consumption, to prevent food loss and waste, to improve public health and food safety, to reduce poverty especially in rural areas, to combat food crises. We will focus on increasing the resilience of our systems.” used the phrases.
Pakdemirli listed the 10 priority targets included in the national roadmap, which was prepared with the opinions of a wide range of stakeholders, from public, private sector, non-governmental organizations, professional chambers to manufacturers, for the improvement of food systems:
“Improving fair access to safe and nutritious food, especially for vulnerable groups, improving public health and food safety by strengthening inspections and controls with innovative methods, promoting the sustainability of the supply and value chain in the agriculture and food sector and reducing food loss and waste, raising awareness among consumers and promoting sustainable consumption. Improvement of production models compatible with climate change, efficient use of water resources, sustainable use of natural resources, development of more inclusive policies and measures for disadvantaged groups in agriculture and food sector, revitalizing rural life, increasing the resilience of food systems against climate change, natural disasters and unexpected crises. ”
Pakdemirli pointed out that among the actions taken to reach the 10 priority targets in Turkey's roadmap, there are issues such as everyone's access to nutritious, sufficient and safe food at reasonable prices, ensuring food security against emergencies and future crises caused by climate change and natural disasters. “We believe that the transformation of food systems can be achieved through the development of communication and collaborations on both a national and global scale.” said.
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