The Hon’ble Sanam Lyonpo attended the Global Forum on Food and Agriculture (GFFA) Agricultural Ministers Meeting organized by the Federal Government of Germany on 28 January 2022 under the overarching theme “Sustainable Land Use: Food Security Starts with the Soil.”
Speaking to the forum, Lyonpo highlighted the importance of soil health and land management for enhancing food security. During the deliberation, Lyonpo emphasized the issues of agriculture farming in Bhutan where agriculture is practiced in steep topographical terrain prone to frequent soil erosion and other forms of land degradation.
In hindsight, Lyonpo also informed on the initiatives taken in addressing soil health and land degradation issues such as organic agriculture, sustainable soil and land management technologies, and protected agriculture.
Further, Lyonpo called upon the global communities for combined efforts to enhance and sustain soil health for sustainable land use and food security. He also called for international support for small countries like Bhutan where agriculture is challenged by fragile ecosystems highly vulnerable to the impacts of global warming. To that end, he requested technical and financial support for climate-smart agriculture and agriculture digitalization in Bhutan.
The Agricultural Ministers’ Meeting adopted the Communique which outlines the voluntary actions to be undertaken by participating countries in enhancing sustainable soil and land use for food security.
Before the Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting, the Director for the Ministry’s Department of Agriculture attended the GFFA Senior Officers’ Meeting on 25 January 2022.
-Submitted by Policy and Planning Division
