COLOMBO, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Forty countries from the Asia and Pacific region agreed on Thursday that transforming agrifood systems was imperative to providing food security for their children's generation and beyond, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said here on Thursday.

The agreement was reached at Thursday's close of the 37th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC37), which was hosted by the Sri Lankan government.

Forty countries of Asia and the Pacific attended the event, with the vast majority attending in person, including some 20 government ministers.

It was the first time since 2018 that a large in-person gathering of the region's food and agriculture ministers and other policymakers was convened by FAO.

The event showed the attention needed to recover from the pandemic and disruptions caused to food production and distribution that have plagued many countries in the region ever since, according to the FAO.

The global pandemic, coupled or followed closely with a shortage of food, feed fuel, fertilizer and access to finance, caused food prices to jump significantly, said the FAO.

"Food and agriculture are now at the center of the global development agenda and this is an opportunity for all of us, including civil society and private sector organizations to decisively reimagine and reshape agrifood systems for global economic, social and environmental benefits," said Jong-Jin Kim, FAO's assistant director-general and regional representative for Asia and the Pacific. Enditem

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