Ecuador: Coordinating Board on Food Security and Rural Development supports Human Rural Development workshop

At the latest meeting held by the Coordinating Board on Food Security and Rural Development on 26 March, members decided to support the organization of an international dialogue workshop to establish long-term strategies and policies regarding Human Rural Development in Ecuador.

Aiming towards uniting efforts among the different stakeholders participating in Ecuador's rural development, this workshop is being promoted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and FAO who are also seeking the involvement of the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock and Social wellbeing.

The representative of the Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, who attended the Board's meeting, stressed that food security is a priority for the Ministry. He also said that the Minister's plans were to establish farming cooperatives. Debates regarding the food security law are taking place in various regional forums in the country and preparations are underway to hold the last debate prior to requesting Congressional approval, said the Ministry representative.

The members of the Board also informed about the successful outcomes of the Second National Forum on Water Resources held on 8-9 May.

In addition, FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP) presented a project proposal to measure Food Security Indicators which will call for the existence of a National Observatory on Food Security. The observatory will periodically inform the country, through the Coordinating Board, the state of malnutrition and hunger of Ecuador. The projects carried out by the Network of Projects Regarding Food Security (REDPESA) could give basic indicators providing new information to the study.

For further information, please contact the FAO representative in Ecuador, FAO-ECU@fao.org