Agricultural Outlook Conference

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol was invited to speak in the 6th edition of the EU Agricultural Outlook Conference organized by the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), which this year focused on the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 crisis and looked at pathways to a green recovery.

Ms Bechdol gave a keynote address to open the session on “lessons learnt from the crisis: vulnerabilities and opportunities of the EU agri-food sector” where she stressed the great potential of innovation and digital technologies in providing effective solutions to modern challenges. “Disruptions due to COVID 19 have highlighted the many fragilities of contemporary food systems and many opportunities for change.  Create opportunities to drive longer-term transformation – including for organizational and social innovation, low and high-tech innovation, digitalization and other technologies to protect those engaged in the entire food value chain,” she underlined.

Bechdol outlined the need for continued resource commitments, enabling policies and smart partnerships to build back better. Highlighting the ever-strengthening partnership of FAO with the European Union, she highlighted the organization’s work with the EU Commission, as well as the Presidencies of the Council of the EU and the European Parliamentary Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition as key initiatives to place food systems at the top of the EU agenda. “We welcome the European Green Deal and its numerous instruments, such as the Farm to Fork and the Biodiversity Strategies, as valuable initiatives for food systems transformation” she concluded.

The Deputy Director-General also presented FAO’s comprehensive Response and Recovery Programme, which has identified seven key areas of action needed to ensure rapid and continued support to the most vulnerable while anticipating the secondary repercussions of the virus.

The recording of the session is available here.