President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a video message to the 8th Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Istanbul.
President Erdoğan, who began his speech by greeting the audience with "Welcome!" highlighted the reality that, as the world's population grows, so does global food demand day by day.
Stating that the adverse effects of climate change such as natural disasters, water scarcity, forest fires, floods, erosion and drought were also destroying food resources, President Erdoğan said, "As production costs grow around the world, food access is becoming more difficult for disadvantaged groups of society. Ensuring food safety has become one of humanity's top priorities today."
"We can see that the pandemic has complicated matters in other areas as well"
Stating that the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic disturbed the supply-demand balance in agriculture and caused disruptions in supply chains, President Erdoğan said that this situation further exacerbated the food problem on a global scale.
President Erdoğan pointed out that UN reports revealed that the number of people suffering from hunger in the world has increased compared to last year and that according to these reports, approximately 10 per cent of the world's population was facing the threat of hunger.
Stating that there has been an increase also in the number of undernourished people, President Erdoğan continued as follows:
"Predictions for the coming period portray a pessimistic picture. We see that the pandemic complicates matters not only in access to basic food but also in other areas that affect human life. On the one hand, 810 million people cannot access the most basic foodstuffs; on the other hand, large capital owners can spend hundreds of millions of dollars for a few minutes of touristic space travel."
"It is of great importance that we increase our cooperation"
Emphasising that in such an era when communication has become so widespread that the world has turned into a global village, no one had the luxury of saying "I do not care about others", President Erdoğan said:
"Access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food is not a privilege but a right for all. As OIC members, we owe it to humanity to speak out for a more just world. Of course, for this to happen, it is of great importance to strengthen our solidarity and increase our cooperation. As Islamic countries, we need an agricultural sector that is developed not just economically but also strategically. Regrettably, we have not yet attained the desired level in this area. Despite the fact that the Organization's member states have complementary economic structures in the agricultural and food sectors, they are unable to capitalise on this potential fully.
We desire all of our brotherly nations to benefit from Türkiye's expertise and potential as a global leader in a variety of agricultural goods, owing to its extensive farmlands and favourable geographical and climatic conditions. I believe that the conference will open new horizons for our countries."
President Erdoğan wished the conference to be successful and thanked those who contributed to its organisation.