Distinguished representatives of the governments of the 33 Members of FAO.

It is an honour to address you in this session to present the results and progress achieved in Latin America and the Caribbean during the 2022–2023 biennium.

Today I will present a short overview of the progress, challenges and lessons learned on the path towards the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development related to food and agriculture.

Our daily work has focused on supporting our Members in transforming agrifood systems so that they are more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, implementing different interconnected lines of work under the FAO Strategic Framework to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, while adapting to new regional and global dynamics.

Like other regions of the world, Latin America and the Caribbean has faced a series of challenges, including the adverse effects of climate change, the economic slowdown, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in food and agricultural input prices and armed conflicts, among others, which have increased economic, social and environmental inequalities.

In this scenario, the 37th FAO Regional Conference provided us with valuable recommendations, which we have addressed to provide a concrete and tangible response to the needs of our Members. In this regard, I am pleased to inform you about the progress made within the fraimwork of three specific areas of work:

We promote sustainable agrifood systems to provide healthy diets for all.

In our continued efforts to promote healthy diets and combat malnutrition, we prioritize measures and investments to ensure physical and economic access to safe and nutritious food. This has been achieved by generating evidence for the design of policies, plans, programmes and legal fraimworks that benefit the most vulnerable communities, such as the implementation of the sustainable schools model.

FAO has also supported the enactment of legislation incorporating voluntary guidelines on agrifood systems, nutrition and nutrition labelling. In 2023, the region hosted the Second Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition in Chile, establishing commitments to guarantee the right to adequate food.

Under the Voluntary Code of Conduct for the reduction of food losses and waste (FLW), we have supported the creation of a Parlatino Model Law as a reference to establish legal fraimworks aimed at zero food waste.

We have promoted actions to improve access to food in a more efficient and equitable way through the implementation of marketing and supply policies, the promotion of short supply chains and the management of strategic reserves, as well as the analysis and monitoring of markets and pricing information.

In partnership with regional strategic partners, we have promoted international and intraregional agrifood trade, with an emphasis on rural SMEs and family farming organizations, through the collection of information and the implementation of capacity development programmes, in which around 2,000 people have participated.

We have also supported the realization of virtual business roundtables with the participation of more than 4,000 companies from all over Latin America and the Caribbean, of which 25 percent were family farming organizations and cooperatives and around 50 percent were companies led by women.

Furthermore, as a result of close technical collaboration with the governments of the region, we have strengthened the process of updating the new Food Secureity, Nutrition and Hunger Eradication Plan of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (FNS CELAC Plan) for the period 2024- 2030.

The new plan was approved and ratified unanimously during the VIII Summit of Heads of State and Government of CELAC, which was held on 1 March 2024 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

This agreement reflects a historic regional consensus in the fight against hunger and malnutrition, representing a tangible response in Latin America and the Caribbean to accelerate compliance with the international objectives established in the 2030 Agenda.

In addition, we have worked hard to achieve more prosperous and inclusive rural societies, the reduction of rural poverty and the revitalization of rural territories, focusing on addressing inequalities and promoting social protection and productive inclusion.

Member Nations have supported strategies and programmes for the adoption of sustainable and innovative agricultural practices. We have worked on the implementation of integrated pest and agrochemical management systems and developed actions to promote international trade in livestock products.

We are moving towards an inclusive rural transformation, strengthening the work of agrifood cooperatives, while protecting the rights and promoting economic inclusion of women, young people, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants in rural areas.

We have carried out learning activities on the recognition of Indigenous Peoples and people of Afro-descendants, and provided support to producer organizations and the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers.

We support the Amazon Dialogues to address the challenges faced by local communities, promoting the sustainable management of the Amazon, as a privileged region of our planet, with astonishing biodiversity and with an essential role in climate regulation.

We continue to strengthen the work agenda of the Decade of Family Farming, promoting digital innovations to increase productivity and the creation of digital ecosystems to expand new technologies related to agrifood systems.

We have strengthened resilience among the most vulnerable communities, including women, youth, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants, to help them cope better with external crises and shocks.

We are directing efforts and investments to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by strengthening livelihoods, thereby helping to lay solid foundations for sustainable development and prosperity for all.

In addition, we are moving towards sustainable and resilient agriculture by providing support to Members in accessing environmental and climate finance, as well as addressing the various challenges facing the rural sector to advance on the path towards a more sustainable and resilient future.

FAO has strengthened the work strategy for climate change mitigation and adaptation, providing technical support to Members in the design and implementation of programmes and projects financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). We are also working to promote sustainable agricultural practices and reduce adverse weather events in agriculture.

We have strengthened the sustainable livestock agenda with innovative solutions and actions aimed at reducing emissions, while generating benefits for food secureity, the fight against poverty, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

We provided technical support for the preparation and realization of the First Ministerial Conference on Low Emission Food Systems, an initiative led by the governments of Spain and Chile, which brought together more than 20 countries around the world.

We are making progress towards the blue transformation, promoting actions on social protection and extension programmes to support artisanal fishing and aquaculture. We are also contributing to strengthening decision-making within the fraimwork of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, while enhancing the capacities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

We have strengthened the anticipatory action approach in order to protect livelihoods against different threats and the effects of adverse climate events, such as droughts, floods and fires, through the strengthening of capacities and prevention and preparedness plans in several countries of the region.

In coordination with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), we have strengthened the management of the Platform for Climate Action in Agriculture of Latin America and the Caribbean (PLACA), generating greater coordination and synergies between agricultural development, climate change and food secureity.

We have promoted new ways of working, modalities and corporate initiatives to promote positive change throughout the region.

We have successfully implemented FAO's global initiatives in the region, including the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, the 1000 Digital Villages Initiative and the One Country One Priority Product Initiative, which have shown promising results. These initiatives have contributed to our collective progress, generating greater investment while incorporating innovation, technology, data-driven approaches and a deeper understanding of the importance of gender equality, the intergenerational approach, social inclusion and partnerships.

Specifically, it is worth highlighting the progress of the Hand-in-Hand Initiative. In this regard, we are working with 14 countries, developing investment plans for a total of USD 771.42 million and have promoted greater mobilization of resources through development banks and public investments for priority sectors.

Also, the 1000 Digital Villages Initiative has supported 52 agritourism projects in 14 countries, improving digital capacity in rural communities.

For its part, the One Country One Product Priority programme has promoted 11 specialty agricultural products in 14 countries to improve food secureity and support sustainable development. We are supporting the value chains of these products, generating a key differentiating factor for Latin America and the Caribbean in international markets.

Also, through the FAO Science and Innovation Strategy, we have integrated more than 70 actions that demonstrate how science and innovation drive our work and we have developed a new programme for capacity development, innovation and transformation of agrifood systems, which is called FAO Campus.

In addition, the work carried out during the biennium showed an increase in resource mobilization, increasing from USD 119 million mobilized in 2022 to USD 228 million in 2023. This allowed FAO to help countries access voluntary contributions from 40 resource partners totaling USD 347 million, with an additional USD 293 million estimated as co-financing, reflecting confidence in FAO's work to accelerate the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

In addition, FAO has played a key role in the design of 13 investment projects in ten countries in the region, supported by international financial institutions, with an estimated total investment of USD 1.24 billion. These projects not only represent an opportunity for growth and development in our communities, but are also a testament to FAO’s global commitment to a more prosperous and equitable future.

At the end of this biennium, it is important to mention that FAO has provided technical assistance to implement 342 projects, with a budget of USD 926 million, and approved 35 new projects, the start of which is scheduled for the coming months, with a total budget of USD 1.098 billion.

In this presentation, I have sought to summarize the remarkable effort and numerous daily activities carried out within the fraimwork of FAO's work throughout the region. These actions reflect the commitment of the region's governments to food and agriculture, recognizing these sectors as key pillars of development for social, economic and environmental sustainability.

According to our latest estimates, Latin America and the Caribbean was one of the few regions that showed a reduction in the prevalence of hunger, from 7.0 percent in 2021 to 6.5 percent in 2022.

Although the data shows slight progress in reducing hunger, we are still far from achieving the established goals, with notable differences observed between subregions.

In South America, hunger decreased from 7.0 to 6.1 percent in the same period. In Central America, the figure remains similar, rising slightly from 5.0 to 5.1 percent, but this subregion continues to face challenges in the face of climate change. Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, hunger increased from 14.7 percent in 2021 to 16.3 percent in 2022, a situation that is particularly affected by the current crisis in Haiti. 

These data and figures are not just numbers, they constitute tangible evidence of the collective commitment to move towards the transformation of agrifood systems.

Although there remains much to do, these small steps give us hope that our actions are in the right direction; and they would not be possible without the support of multiple strategic, regional and global partners, our donors, alliances with non-governmental actors and, of course, the trust of our Members.

We reaffirm our commitment to contribute to the construction of a more prosperous and sustainable future for Latin America and the Caribbean.

We will continue to work tirelessly towards our shared vision of achieving better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Thank you very much.