An inaugural general meeting of the cross-party Parliamentarian League for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was held in Tokyo on May 10.
The Parliamentarian League was set up by about 80 members of the Diet belonging to various parties such as the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito party and the Democratic Party.
The League aims at promoting and supporting FAO’s activities which fight against global hunger and malnutrition as well as achieve food security in the world.
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva attended the meeting of the Parliamentarian League to make a presentation about “Food and Nutrition Security in the world and FAO’s roles.”
“Farmers are now finding it more difficult for them to achieve stable supplies of foods due to population increases and climate changes in the world. We will have to address a major challenge of consolidating a global system for achieving food and nutrition security,” Graziano da Silva emphasized.
He also expressed his hope that Japan will continuously play an important role, appreciating Japan’s steady contribution to FAO’s budget that is the second largest after the United States.