India reiterates its strong support for CFC
Amb. Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Managing Director of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) met H.E. Ms. Renaat Sandhu, Ambassador of the Republic of India to the Netherlands, at the Embassy of India in The Hague to discuss the issues of common interests as well as CFC's activities and its impact on the ground.
Ambassador Belal delivered an introduction on the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), underlining the growing global demand for CFC investments amid the challenges posed by the pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. He emphasized the necessity for increased support to meet the expectations of member countries. Ambassador Belal further briefed Ambassador Sandhu about the Agricultural Commodity Transformation (ACT) Fund, previously known as CIIF, which has been introduced at the LDC5 Conference in Doha. He invited India, as a global success case on alleviation of poverty, to encourage others to join this shared journey through more resources for CFC as well as in the ACT Fund so that CFC could significantly improve its funding to meet its heightened demand.
Ambassador Sandhu expressed appreciation for the CFC's initiative in launching the ACT Fund and pledged her support and coordination with all member states. She commended the CFC's work and envisioned future collaborations. Stressing the significance of commodities and their impact on grassroots communities, she advocated for increased CFC investments in India and beyond to uplift more people from poverty.
Before taking leave, Ambassador Belal handed over a copy of CFC’s 2022 Annual Report with “All in Millets” as its cover and lead feature article with the help of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam. Millets as CFC’s cover was inspired by India’s lead in making 2023 as the Year of Millets through a decision of the United Nations General Assembly (#UNGA). This gluten-free, high in fibre and low in glycemic index, millets are reservoirs of nutrition making them good for production in a climate resilient way as well as for healthy consumption.
In response, Ambassador Sandhu shared India's commitment to towards alleviation of poverty and assured to share India’s success stories in the agriculture and relevant fields so that CFC could scale up some of those ideas globally.
Both Ambassadors reaffirmed their dedication to the shared journey of sustainability and poverty alleviation.