By Judith Kajuma
The inaugural Food and Agricultural Organisation Global Parliamentary Summit on hunger and malnutrition in Madrid Spain was attended by parliamentarians from different countries around the world.
Speaking on the sidelines of the summit Chairperson of the portfolio committee on Land, Agriculture, Climate, Water and Rural Resettlement, Gokwe-Nembudziya Member of Parliament Justice Meya Wadyajena emphasized the importance of empowering women in order to advance sustainable goal of Zero hunger in the world.
“Women must be empowered in this process, world over, we have heard hard evidence about the role they play in agriculture and farm formation. Women make up over 40% of the agriculture labour force worldwide and in our country Zimbabwe, they make over 70% of all farmers and we must understand that most women are unpaid family workers,” honourable Wadyajena said.
The UN 2030 Agenda urges countries to redouble their efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal number 2 which pledges to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture in order to build a world in which no one is left behind.
According to FAO, the number of under nourished people in the world increased to 821 million in 2017, an increase that threatens previous achievements.
The Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition is a joint initiative of the Spanish Parliament, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative, incorporating the legislative powers in the fight against hunger and malnutrition and the summit seeks to advance political will to achieve SDG 2 at the international level.
Zimbabwe was represented by a delegation comprising Members of Parliament Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Climate, Water and Rural Resettlement and the Summit was officially opened by the Spanish Prime Minister Mr Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon.
