Farm sector seen key to achieving SDGs

The agriculture sector is on the spot to help enable countries to meet the new 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which governments adopted on Friday, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

FAO director general José Graziano da Silva said in a statement that food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture were key to achieving the entire set of SDGs by 2030.

Graziano da Silva said 14 of the 17 new SDGs adopted at the United Nations summit were related to the goal of not only reducing but also eradicating poverty and hunger in a sustainable way.

“The second goal—which is ‘to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’—must be urgently pursued as rapid progress on that front is the key to the other goals,” he said.

The SDGs, according to the FAO chief, follow and expand on  the Millennium Development Goals,  which were adopted in 2001 with the goal of meeting them by 2015.

The MDGs set a hunger-reduction target that was met by more than half of FAO-monitored countries, including the Philippines.

However, Graziano da Silva said nearly 800 million people were still suffering from chronic undernourishment, the majority of whom live in rural areas.

“We need to build more sustainable agriculture and food systems, that are resilient to stresses and better able to cope with—and respond to—climate change impact,” he said.

The MDGs include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empower women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

On the other hand, the SDGs relate to ending poverty; eliminating hunger; ensuring good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities;

Sustainable cities and communities; responsible production and consumption; climate action; life below the water; life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions; and partnerships to achieve the goals.