FAO and ACTO agree to work together to strengthen food security and reduce poverty in the Amazon region

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote practical cooperation among the eight member countries of the Amazon region, to strengthen food security and reduce poverty among the Amazon population. 

The document was signed by Mario Lubetkin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, and María Alexandra Moreira, ACTO Secretary-General, at a ceremony held at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile. 

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by both parties proposes the implementation of various joint activities, including projects, programs, plans, strategies, studies, and research, to contribute to the improvement of hunger and food security indicators for the Amazonian population of ACTO member countries, as well as the reduction of poverty levels, with particular attention to rural and vulnerable populations, together with the promotion of the sustainable use of natural resources. 

The topics that will be addressed are food security and nutrition; family and traditional agriculture; value chains of Amazonian biodiversity products and strategic positioning in markets and the bio-economy; management of biodiversity, protected areas, and the Amazon forest; early warning systems and monitoring of natural resources; the Hand in Hand initiative in the Amazon region; and integrated fire management and alternatives. 

Mario Lubetkin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, said: "We are facing unprecedented challenges to food and nutrition security and sovereignty that require concerted and focused action. Consolidating an equitable and cooperative Amazonian bioeconomy is fundamental to this process. 

To achieve this, it is essential to implement policies that redirect investment away from activities that damage the forest, strengthen cooperation among Amazonian nations, and deepen our understanding of the complex interactions between rural and urban areas. 

Maria Alexandra Moreira, Secretary General of ACTO, declared that "the Belem Declaration of the Amazon countries has established a renewed and, above all, much more realistic agenda for our region's situation. The document has 113 paragraphs, 107 of which are operative so that a joint effort can be made to work within and beyond the borders of the Amazon region. One of them is food security. It also refers to meeting the basic needs of the population. So, the declaration is a political milestone. And a fortnight ago, ACTO held a meeting to implement it."

The signing occurred during the "Closing the Socio-Economic Development Gaps: Food Security and Sovereignty in the Amazon Region" event. This was a space to generate ideas and inputs to close the socio-economic gaps in the Amazon region. It also addressed the new common agenda for cooperation, which includes the urgency of eradicating poverty, reducing inequality, fighting hunger, and promoting food and nutritional security and sovereignty. 

The signing of the agreement and the event are part of the follow-up agenda to the definitions made during the IV Meeting of the Presidents of the States Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and the Declaration of the Amazon Summit. 

Representatives of diplomatic missions of ACTO member countries in Chile, ACTO national focal points, representatives of international financial institutions, FAO, and ACTO officials and specialists attended the meeting.