“We agree with the UN’s food and agriculture organisations (FAO, IFAD, WFP) that people living in rural areas in developing countries must be given assistance on site to help them find their livelihoods and not be forced to leave their homes”, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Minster of State for Public Administration Andrea Gulyás stressed on Monday at a press conference in Budapest to mark World Food Day.
One of Hungarian foreign policy’s important goals with relation to migration is to provide care and accommodation to refugees close to their homes, or is neighbouring countries, in the interests of enabling them to return home at the earliest opportunity, the Minister of State explained. This can also put an end to one of the main causes of migration, starvation. The Ministry is supporting initiatives aimed putting local producers and products in a better position through agricultural development projects.
Ms. Gulyás also spoke about the Donation Convoy, which was founded in 2006 by the Hungarian Food Bank and the FAO, and which in addition to starvation and poverty, is also aimed at increasing public awareness with relation to food wastage and climate change.
Hungary is committed to striving to provide effective assistance to the United Nations’ food and agriculture organisations. In 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and some of its partner organisations jointly launched an agrarian training programme in Uganda that will provide for the practical-orientated training of agricultural professionals with a suitable level of expert knowledge for years to come. It is expected that the project will also be able to be expanded to other African countries. In addition, the Ministry is also training students from many low income countries via its scholarship programme. Since the programme was launched in 2008, the scholarships has helped over 250 students from 39 countries to attend Hungarian agrarian universities.
Surveys by the Ministry indicate that practically all students return home to contribute on site to the development of their home countries with their knowledge.