The Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Mahendra Reddy has urged everyone to support our agricultural and fisheries sector to ensure that we reap its health and wealth benefits.

His message coincided with the World Food Day 2016 theme, ‘Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too’.

Mr Reddy said this during the celebrations at Veiuto Primary School in Suva yesterday.

With food security being the biggest challenge when it comes to climate change, the minister stressed that it was important to have a sustainable agriculture system we should all support.

“Access to cheap agricultural products allow families to be food secure, and healthy workers can boost the family income – allowing all families to purchase or receive more diverse food, and better food.

“It allows people to reduce debt levels.

“Agriculture is the backbone of the country. A strong, efficient and dynamic agricultural as well as fisheries and forests system has wide reaching benefits for everyone.

“Children don’t need to fill the gap if basic family incomes are sufficient.

“Education helps alleviate poverty and rural and urban areas. More children will enroll and stay in school when their families can afford school supplies and uniforms.

“So on World Food Day 2016 let us resolve to give our farmers and our communities a helping hand, so that we can have healthier agricultural systems, adequate fish supplies and more forests to mitigate against the effect of climate change.”

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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