“The pandemic and global challenges inspire us to rethink old approaches, showing how important and relevant incentives for farmers and agribusiness are, as well as new farming methods,” Uzbekistan’s Minister of Agriculture Aziz Voitov said.

According to the minister, the process of reorganizing the agri-food network is underway in Uzbekistan. New solutions and innovations are required to provide even more people with high-quality food.

“We plan to attract the world’s leading scientists to strengthen the potential of agriculture and provide the population with quality food. New solutions and innovations are required to ensure more people have access to better quality food. These are the key points in the discussion of the conference and form the basis of the Samarkand Declaration,” Aziz Voitov said.

The Samarkand Declaration provides for the development of agriculture in the participating countries in an environmentally friendly manner that supports biodiversity, with rational use of water resources, promoting healthy nutrition of the population, especially children and adolescents, introducing comprehensive school feeding programs, empowering women in rural areas to increase the proportion of women in the transformation of agri-food systems, support for small and family farms on a state scale, their production, goals such as expanding access to natural and financial resources are noted.

During the conference, bilateral meetings were held with the heads of a number of international organizations and ministers of foreign states.

The conference continues today. The Silk Road Tourist Center in Samarkand is also hosting the scientific forum “Agricultural Research and Innovation in Central Asia and the Caucasus”.