The Department of Agriculture (DA) officially designates Cherrie D. Atilano, AGREA’s Founding Farmer, President and CEO, as the Philippine Ambassadress on Food Security. Official oath-taking was led by DA Secretary Dr. William Dar on Tuesday, 3 September 2020, at the DA Headquarters in Quezon City, Metro Manila.
Amb. Atilano shared on her Facebook post, "Today, I officially accepted the role as Philippine Ambassadress on Food Security. Thank you for the beautiful words of wisdom Secretary William Dar of the Department of Agriculture. I am deeply honored to always be the voice of fishers and farmers as well as encourage more young people towards agriculture. Moreso, emphasizing the role of women as well as their rights in agricultural development."
"So happy to serve towards a progressive, developed and hunger-free Philippines. Let’s bounce back better!!!" she adds.
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Amb. Atilano has the following duties as an Ambassadress on Food Security:
- Inform the public on the main advocacies and campaigns of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in attaining its vision of food-secure and resilient Philippines with prosperous farmers and fishers;
- Help the DA encourage the Filipino youth, overseas workers, retirees, and hobbyists, to engage in agribusiness and other related agri-fishery enterprises, along the food supply chain; and
- Serve as an inspiration and spokesperson to empower Filipino women, young and old, as indispensable partners of their male counterparts in the country’s journey towards attaining food security and sustained agricultural modernization and industrialization.
With her remarkable impact in the food and agriculture sector, this new designation and responsibility as Ambassador on Food Security will support and strengthen Amb. Atilano’s impact on the food and agriculture sector: nationally and globally. Last year, Amb. Atilano was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to be a high-level ambassador of the UN Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.
READ: Cherrie Atilano named U.N. nutrition ambassador
This 2020, she was chosen as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, was appointed as a Board Member of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) based in Geneva Switzerland, and appointed as the President of the MIMAROPA Regional Farm Tourism Association.
READ: Cherrie Atilano, newest Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition director
Amb. Atilano shared in a statement: "I am proud of being a Filipino farmer. I am grateful, happy, and proud that in spite of the pandemic – we serve as front liners of every Filipino family – producing good food in spite of the odds. As Filipino farmers, we are growing food not just for our homes, but for every Filipino home we serve."