In talks held the day before at the Casa Grande del Pueblo (government headquarters) by Bolivian President Luis Arce and FAO Director General Qu Dongyu, the parties analyzed how to resume productive activities affected by forest fires and climate change, it was reported.

Bolivian Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa also attended the talks, among other national authorities.

‘We are working on a broad agenda with cooperation actions that will allow us to continue guaranteeing our security with food sovereignty and recover the different food and agricultural productive activities affected by the fires and the climate crisis’, Arce wrote on his social networks.

FAO’s director is in Bolivia to attend the ‘First Regional Meeting on South American Camelids: Nourishing life, preserving the future, which aims to address problems and opportunities in the sector from a comprehensive and sustainable perspective, and will close on Tuesday.

The day before, Qu delivered the forum’s keynote speech, saying that this year represents a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the social and cultural importance of camelids for millions of households in Africa, Asia and the Andes.

In his words, it is also important to strengthen the reassessment of ancestral foods, such as quinoa, oca, amaranth and others, because of their health and nutritional benefits and as a way to promote sustainable food practices.

Regarding the llamas in the Andean area, he emphasized that they play a key role in supporting these communities, which have built their own resilience in the face of the climate crisis.

Ied/abo/ro/jpm