Climate change will take highest toll on developing countries’ food systems: Razzaque

Climate change will leave the most adverse impact on the food system of developing countries, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said.

Agriculture and food sectors need more investment, research and innovation to address these challenges, he said.

The minister was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day UN Food System Pre-summit in Rome of Italy virtually from his official residence on Monday night.

Therefore, building a stronger and more climate-resilient food system requires the joint efforts and partnership of member countries, Razzaque.

He said unprecedented success has been achieved in food security in Bangladesh and, in the last 50 years, both rice production and productivity have quadrupled.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Qiu Dongyu, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed spoke at the opening ceremony.

The pre-summit is being held ahead of the UN's 'Food Summit 2021' to be held next September. More than 145 countries are participating in the programme that will end on July 28.