JRC and FAO: Amplifying scientific voice in agriculture

FAO Chief Scientist, Ismahane Elouafi met with the Director-General of the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) Stephen Quest to discuss ways to scale up FAO-JRC joint scientific efforts to transform agri-food systems, protect biodiversity, and restore ecosystems, while investing in human development.

This first high-level meeting enabled both partners to take stock of the current extensive collaboration, while exploring avenues for upscaling it in view of the global challenges and upcoming important international events, such as the UN Food Systems Summit. FAO and the JRC cooperate on a wide range of topics, including the sustainable management of soils, water and marine resources, forest resources and more.   Both partners agreed that this strong technical and scientific expertise should play a prominent role in the transformation of the agri-food systems. They also discussed the need to support policy-making process with solid data and knowledge and to increasingly work on it with developing countries. Dr. Ismahane Elouafi highlighted that in her new role of the FAO’s Chief Scientist, she will have a mission to upscale and drive forward the FAO’s science-based voice in agriculture and the cooperation with the JRC will be fundamental in this regard.

The JRC is the European Commission's science and knowledge service. Its scientific work supports EU policies in a variety of areas, such as agriculture and food security, environment and climate change, and innovation and growth.

Read more on FAO’s role in agricultural science/research, innovation here.