Deputy Secretary-General, Speaking at World Social Summit Session, Urges Investment in Resilient, Inclusive Food Systems for People, Planet

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed's remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the World Social Summit Solutions Session on "Leading Just Transitions: Leveraging Sustainable Food Systems to Ensure Decent Work and Social Inclusion", in Doha today:

It's an honour to open this Solutions Session. I thank the Governments of Ethiopia and Ireland for their leadership and support in convening us here today, and in particular [H.E. Minister Addisu Arega and H.E. Minister Jerry Biuttimer].

Let's talk about the paradox on our plates. Nearly 4 billion people wake up every day and earn their living from food systems. They plant food, harvest it, process it, transport it, sell it cook it.

Their hands feed the world, yet hundreds of millions of them go to bed hungry each night.

At every single step of the journey that food takes from farm to table, there are people whose livelihoods depend on the system working.

Yet agricultural employment remains predominantly informal, and in many countries, the people producing our food experience the highest rates of poverty and struggle to feed their own families.

We cannot accept this paradox. And we cannot accept that despite recent slight improvements, between 638 and 720 million people continue to face hunger every day.

Food systems touch every part of our lives. Food systems connect us to the land and to the oceans. They underpin our health, our nutrition, our cultures, our economies.

From the blue economy of our fisheries and aquatic foods, to the green economy of sustainable agriculture and terrestrial ecosystems, food systems represent diverse value chains.

Martin Luther King Jr. understood this interconnectedness. "Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning," he said, "you've depended on more than half of the world."

At the Food Systems Summit in 2021 and more recently at the Stocktake in Addis Ababa, we convened around that same understanding: That food represents our shared humanity, our interdependence and our collective responsibility.

Food systems must nourish people. Create decent work and dignity. Regenerate nature and water. And build resilience so communities withstand shocks rather than collapse under them. They must put women and young people in positions of ownership and decision-making.

We are accountable for delivering on this vision.

Food systems are an engine of opportunity, but today the engine is sputtering. Economic crises drive up prices. Climate change is battering food systems with droughts, floods and unpredictable seasons. Small farmers struggle because investment in adaptation is not enough. Within the value chain, women don't have the same opportunities as men.

Transformation depends on recognizing where systems fail people and on fixing each failure point.

That means looking at each link in the value chain and asking how it works for people. It means deploying technology, building infrastructure, opening markets, and fostering innovation at every stage. It means ensuring that women and young people have real ownership over the decisions that affect their livelihoods. It means working with businesses to generate new investment and employment. It means strengthening the local systems that communities rely on to weather shocks.

When local markets are robust, when infrastructure is resilient, when farmers have the tools and knowledge they need, communities can absorb crisis rather than be overwhelmed by it.

Local communities around the world are already linking social protection programmes to local food production, supporting small-scale farmers and reducing vulnerability.

Governments are integrating food systems into national development plans - aligning food, climate and social policy.

They are mobilizing financing and bringing civil society and the private sector to the table. They are producing in harmony with nature and advancing equitable prosperity.

At [the thirtieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] COP30 this month, we have a critical opportunity to align food systems transformation with climate action, recognizing that these challenges are inseparable.

The Political Declaration we've adopted here in Doha carries this vision forward.

The Declaration affirms our collective commitment to accelerate action and investment in sustainable, resilient and inclusive food systems for people and planet.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we will hear from Somalia, Indonesia and Brazil.

They'll show us transformation in action: Practical policies connecting farmers to markets, investments reaching women, innovations turning climate pressures into productivity.

We're here to learn from each other and scale what works. To celebrate what we can do together and the potential that lies ahead when we align our efforts with the Global Alliance on Hunger and Poverty initiated by Brazil being a good example.

We have five years left to deliver the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals].

Food systems can accelerate progress across all of them if we get this right.

The solutions are in this room. Let's use this session to identify them, share them and scale them. To ensure those who feed the world can secure their own futures.

Together, let's move from paradox to progress on our plates and make food systems work for everyone. Thank you.