Story by Peter Chivhima
HARARE-THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states have commenced a week-long virtual engagement to deliberate on the region’s food security situation, with a strong focus on strengthening agricultural value chains and implementing sustainable solutions in response to climate change-related challenges.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri, who attended the virtual meeting of SADC Senior Officials on Monday, provided insight into the scope of the engagement and its objectives.
“The meeting of senior officials kicked off this morning. We have started with 13 member states and others will be joining us. We are examining a variety of issues including the food security situation in SADC, the agro-value chain, and the water situation. We are also exploring specific value chains such as rice. Recommendations from this meeting will be presented to Ministers during the high-level meeting scheduled for Friday,” he said.
The engagements come at a critical time when the region continues to grapple with erratic weather patterns and declining agricultural productivity, largely driven by climate change. As such, discussions are centred on practical measures to bolster resilience in the food and water sectors, enhance intra-regional trade, and fortify collaboration across member states.
Senior officials will consolidate their inputs throughout the week, culminating in policy recommendations to be tabled before SADC Ministers of Agriculture during a virtual ministerial meeting on Friday.
