Famine has become more serious in Asia and the Pacific and requires a great investment in the agricultural sector.” It was the warning and the target of the FAO given at this conference. Thus, the conference was expected to look for sustainable solutions to rid the world of poverty and undernourishment, particularly in rural areas.
 

 

Being the host of the conference and an active member of the FAO in the region, Vietnam is praised as a sample nation achieving great success in rural and agricultural development, hunger elimination, poverty eradication and ensuring food security.

FAO Director General Jose Granziano da Silva said that Vietnam was one of few nations in the world that produced agricultural products for export while still ensuring food security in the country. He highly valued the model of combining aquaculture and rice production of Vietnam and considered it a sustainable agricultural production model in the future as it not only provided a sustainable food resource from rice but also an abundant nutrition resource from aquatic products. This has effectively contributed to the cause of hunger elimination and poverty reduction in Vietnam. Therefore, he believed that this conference was a good chance for regional countries to learn about and witness with their own eyes Vietnam’s experience and success in agriculture.

Although reaching the above goals, Vietnam is now facing a series of difficulties and challenges in food security and hunger elimination and poverty eradication. Addressing the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung affirmed: “It was forecasted that Vietnam was one among few countries to be seriously affected by climate change and the increasing sea water level. Supporting Vietnam in coping with climate change, agricultural development and effective and sustainable food production would make a contribution to ensuring the food security of the world. This is because Vietnam’s rice exports now account for 1/5 of the world’s supply and it also exports a great amount of aquacultural products such as seafood. He added: “Vietnam is ready to share its experience and co-operate with regional countries in agricultural and rural development via the South-South Co-operation Programme funded and regulated by the FAO.
FAO Director General Jose Granziano da Silva said that in the coming years, the FAO would give more support to Vietnam in the fields of aquaculture, rice production and rural development.
When food production must increase an additional 60% in 2050 to meet the demand of 9.2 billion people, the issue should be posed of promoting food security in countries having an important agricultural role like Vietnam. Besides active support from the FAO and other countries and organizations, Vietnam has drastically implemented many measures like restructuring of agriculture, focusing on exploiting potential fields, promoting research and the application of science and technology to production. It has also renewed policies on land, strengthened the protection of the environment, coped with climate change and the rising sea water level, implemented the national target programme on building new rural areas and sustainable poverty reduction, increased the State’s investment and devised measures to attract domestic and foreign investment in agriculture and rural areas.
The success of the 31st FAO Conference for Asia and the Pacific was not only a chance for Vietnam to share its experience and responsibility for the target of food security in the region and the world but also ushered into sound directions for Vietnam to develop the agricultural sector with the support of the FAO and international organizations.