A delegation of private sector, civil agencies and government sector actors from Asia and the Pacific took the stage at an opening side event at the IFPRI organized conference on "Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security." To a person, the panelists expressed a strong wish to have their voices heard loud and wide.

The session titled "Enhancing Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security in Small-islands Economies" was organized by the Technical Centre of Rural and Agricultural Co-operation (CTA) and aimed to outline the unique challenges faced by small-island developing states (SIDS) throughout the region in addition to opportunities for enhancing resilience throughout the region.

Their representation was a welcome addition to the latest addition of the IFPRI 2020 Conference series, the sixth of its kind.

“Each of the conferences builds on including more actors,” says Rajul Pandya-Lorch, Head of IFPRI's 2020 Vision and lead organizer behind the conference. “We saw that with the South Asia conference where this time when we announced this conference, we got an immediate phone call from South Asia with an organization wanting to run a side event.

“That’s why CTA with their experience and networks are so important. And we would hope to amplify that participation at the next conference.”