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World Food Program Country Director, Alpha Bah, says they are hoping for fruitful outcomes at the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States underway in Antigua and Barbuda.

Bah has assured WFP’s full commitment to any outcomes that will be reached at the conference, saying they will work together to support the vulnerable SIDS community.

The SIDS conference is held every 10 years and the last one was hosted by Samoa in 2014.

Bah says it is an opportune platform for all leaders to find solutions to the current climate changed induced problems.

“When we look at the work the World Food Program doe and we will continue to do in the Pacific or in Fiji and in the wider Pacific, our focus has been on capacity strengthening of national institutions because we believe that that’s the only way we can build sustainable solutions.”

Bah is emphasizing on government partnerships to ensure World Food Program projects are sustainable.

“So for food security to work in the Pacific, we have to look at working with the government in developing local solutions and how we ensure that that is sustainable in terms of sustainable agricultural production.”

This year’s Conference will adopt The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) – a Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity, which sets out the sustainable development aspirations of small islands over the next 10 years and the support required from the international community to achieve them.

Fiji’s delegation to the Conference is led by the Minister for National Disaster Management Sakiasi Ditoka.