Bogota, January 2024. With the aim of promoting clean and responsible food production, facilitating physical and economic access to food, and the development of a nutritionally adequate supply so that end consumers can lead a healthy life, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce (CCB), together with public and private actors and academia, will launch the Bogota - Region Food Security Cluster Initiative.

The Food Safety Cluster Initiative seeks to articulate companies in the gastronomy, agro-industry and agriculture sectors on behalf of more than 65,000 companies and establishments that represent them with these different actors.

Ovidio Claros Polanco, president of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, stated that "In alignment with the National Development Plan, the CCB created the Food Security Cluster as a scenario of collective and collaborative work and commitment to align objectives, efforts and resources and thus address the challenges we face to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for everyone, a purpose that undoubtedly unites us".

According to DANE figures (2022), 28.1% of Colombian households are in moderate or severe food insecurity. That is, 28 out of every 100 people had to reduce the quantity and quality of food because they do not have sufficient means to access a timely and healthy diet.

According to the report of the World Food Program of the European Union, as of October 2023, Colombia faces a complex situation regarding food security. Nearly 30% of the country's households, 15.5 million, are in a state of food insecurity. The report relates that these figures have been impacted mainly by the migratory movement, the situation of violence, inflation and currency devaluation, the climate crisis and the economic scenario resulting from the residual effects of the pandemic.

The Launch

The launching event of the new Cluster Initiative will be held next Tuesday, January 30 at the Salitre Business Center located at Av El Dorado No-68 D-35 floor 1 from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm. Those interested can register here.

Attendees will be able to learn first-hand about national and local commitments related to food security and the right to food, as well as international best practices to promote programs, projects and specific support actions articulated between the public and private sectors and academia along the agri-food chain in Bogota and Cundinamarca.

Likewise, through an institutional exhibition, they will learn about the offer of the CCB and other entities of the ecosystem relevant to the sector to respond to the growth needs of companies and productive units related to the field, agribusiness and gastronomy.