Preparations are underway for the 2018 APEC Food Security Week to be held in Port Moresby during August 4-10.
This will be a week-long exhibition on the potentials of agriculture and fisheries with a focus on enhanced food security and sustainable agriculture through ICT use in response to issues surrounding climate change, women in agriculture and fisheries; and sustainable development and management of fisheries resources.
The theme for the Food Security Week is ‘Engaging in Productive and Sustainable Food Systems’.
The exhibition, which will run parallel to the 3rd APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3), will be jointly hosted by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL), PNG National Fisheries Authority (NFA) and the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).
And the organizers have called on interested stakeholders especially in the agricultural food and fisheries industries, small to medium enterprises, farming groups, processors, producers, exporters and others to make contact with DAL or the NFA and ABAC to submit expressions of interest.
The Food Security Week is a significant event to promote and create awareness on the importance of food security and how the economies could work together to deal with food security concerns and issues and all related factors such as climate change.
The agriculture and food show will focus on displays of food products for trade, new farming innovation and technologies and information. The show will provide an opportunity for value chain actors (farmers, fishers, marketers, buyers, entrepreneurs, etc) from APEC economies to display their products, technology, information, etc, and meet each other and establish contacts to do business in trade and marketing of food products in agriculture, fisheries and other related food services activities.
DAL Secretary, Dr Vele Pat Ila’ava said earlier that “this is an opportunity for PNG to bring together some of the most successful and enterprising agricultural companies, industries, SMEs, and farming groups, to showcase their products to the APEC delegates and the general public.”
“I wish to encourage some of our active, sustainable and promising agriculture companies and industries and agriculture ventures and farmers to participate in the FSW and showcase to the world what we in PNG can also offer to them and in doing so we may attract investment, trade and marketing opportunities.”
During the Food Security Week, a Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS) Meeting, a High-Level Policy Dialogue on Agriculture Biotechnology, an Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group Forum, and an Ocean Fisheries Working Group Meeting will be held. The PPFS fora has confirmed to have a dialogue on women in agriculture and fisheries. ABAC will also organize a symposium during the Food Security Week.
