Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday took to the stage at United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome and shared the progress made by his government in strengthening livelihood and food security, with a specific focus on marginalised communities and women, a statement here said.

Patnaik, who is in Rome on an invitation of WFP, delivered an address in the presence of its executive director David Beasley and the leadership team among others, besides holding interactions with them on the existing partnerships and programmes with his government for deliverance of common agenda -- ‘Zero Hunger’.

“Over the last two decades, Odisha has been through a transformational journey in the field of food production, food security, livelihoods, disaster management, and so on,” the statement said quoting Patnaik.

The Chief Minister added that by attaining food sufficiency, initiating large-scale growth-related programmes, designed around creating climate-resilient livelihoods and nutrition, and focussing on partnerships, the state is moving consistently towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

“It would be our pleasure to share our experience across the world through WFP and its partner agencies,” the Chief Minister was quoted as saying in the statement.?Welcoming Patnaik, Beasley said that the joint goal of strengthening livelihoods and food security across Odisha is being translated into action with a series of ambitious projects to support inclusive development and new economic opportunities, especially for women.

“It’s exciting to see how our collaboration is helping to drive Odisha’s progress towards achieving 'Zero Hunger' and the other UN Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.

“We recognize and appreciate the transformational work of the state government of Odisha in the fields of disaster management, food production, and food security. The success story of Odisha can provide learning insights for other similarly placed countries. We have discussed today that the government of Odisha and WFP will collaborate to take forward this learning experience and provide a global training platform,” Beasley added.

WFP and the Odisha government have signed four agreements and initiated six projects in 2021 with a view to alleviate hunger.

-With PTI Input