ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – Liberia’s Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, addressing the United Nations Food Systems +4 Summit held from July 27–29, 2025, has urged world leaders to strengthen accountability and accelerate collective action toward food security, sustainability, and inclusive agricultural systems. Representing President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and the people of Liberia, Vice President Koung emphasized that for Liberia, food systems are not just about agriculture; they are the foundation for peace, equity, and national resilience.
Speaking before a gathering of global leaders, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Koung applauded Ethiopia and Italy for convening the summit. He emphasized the importance of taking stock of progress made since the inaugural UN Food Systems Summit and called on member states to shift from rhetoric to results.
“For Liberia, these systems transcend mere agricultural processes. They are engines of peace, platforms for equity, and pillars of national resilience,” Koung declared.
Outlining Liberia’s National Pathway for Food Systems Transformation, he identified three top priorities: promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture to tackle malnutrition and stunting, implementing climate-smart practices in partnership with local farmers and cooperatives, and fostering inclusive governance that amplifies the voices of youth, women, and marginalized communities.
But Koung stressed that real transformation hinges on accountability, not statistics. “We must honestly ask ourselves: Are our actions effectively addressing the hunger that breeds despair? Are our systems reaching the communities where policy has historically fallen short?”
He further reaffirmed Liberia’s commitment to regional and international agricultural frameworks, particularly the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and its alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Koung also underscored the nexus between food security and peacebuilding, especially in conflict-affected and fragile states. He noted that sustainable transformation of food systems can play a pivotal role in rebuilding trust and stability in societies recovering from war and political upheaval.
As the summit progressed, Liberia pledged its continued support for the UN Food Systems agenda. Vice President Koung called on delegates to remember the summit not only for its declarations but for the transformative actions it should inspire across the world.
“Let us invest not only in agricultural yields, but also in sustainability, human dignity, resilience, and lasting transformation for future generations,” he said.
The Vice President’s remarks were well received and positioned Liberia as a committed partner in the global push for food system reform, even as it contends with its own domestic challenges related to climate change, poverty, and undernourishment.
In closing, Koung expressed hope that the shared spirit of unity and purpose among nations would lead to tangible outcomes that uplift vulnerable populations and fortify global food systems for decades to come.
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