Africa-Press – Angola. Food security, as it is a global public good, must be protected by the great world powers, regardless of their geopolitical differences, defended this Saturday, in Benguela, former MEP Durão Barroso.
Invited to the Grupo Carrinho forum, on his strategic vision for 2030, Durão Barroso said he agrees with lecturer Graça Machel, in her thesis that food security is a fundamental issue of human rights. “Without it, there is no economic, social and cultural development,” he said.
For the politician, the first objective is sustainable development to put an end to poverty, followed by the elimination of hunger and guarantee a strong agriculture.
“Today, food security is at risk, first because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has strangled the movement of people and goods, and now because of the war in Ukraine”, said the former prime minister of Portugal. .
He made a review of global cereal exports by Russia and Ukraine, before the war, saying that alone they represented 34 percent of wheat, 27 percent of barley, 17 percent of corn and 55 percent of sunflower oil, essentially to African and Middle Eastern countries. east.
“The embargo on Russian exports, in terms of natural gas and mineral fertilizers, greatly inflated world markets,” he explained.
Durão Barroso said that, in March 2022, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Fund (FAO), food prices reached historic highs and remain high, despite being under control.
Based on data from the United Nations, the politician stated that, in 2021, two thousand and 300 million people, around 30 percent of the world’s population, were in a situation of severe global insecurity.
Recognizing the seriousness of this situation, the UN Secretary-General, António Gueterres, warned, during a food systems summit, in September of that year, that hunger was once again on the rise worldwide.
As a result, the three major players in the world economy, namely the United States, China and the European Union, are increasingly investing in their own countries and not in a global vision.
Speaking specifically about Africa, he said that one cannot think of development without industries, but agriculture has to be at the base.
“I can say that support for development is important, but nothing replaces national efforts”, he considered.
He added that development for Africa depends on the capacity, intelligence and decision-making of its human resources.
Durão Barroso congratulated the Scientific Research Center of the Catholic University of Angola, as well as the consultancy Delloite, partners of Grupo Carrinho, for the projects developed by Angolan technicians, as well as the company’s sense of social responsibility, with emphasis on the school lunch that is benefiting many children in various regions of the country.
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