World Food Day Talks: Resilience, sustainability and innovation

Speakers shared insights on what resilience, sustainability, and innovation can bring to everyone’s life, even in times of crisis, at the World Food Day talks hosted by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.

“In order to achieve the strategic goal of overcoming hunger, we need to build resilient, sustainable agri-food systems,” said Vladimir Olegovich Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia in his introductory remarks.

Alanna Koch, the Board Chair of the Global Institute for Food Security, and Kristie Ebie, professor and researcher at the University of Washington, emphasized the importance of collaboration between society, the scientific community and, and policymakers.

Dominique Burgeon, FAO Director for Emergencies and Resilience, talked about the challenges brought on by the COVD-19 pandemic, the Desert Locust crisis in the Horn of Africa and beyond, and various regional conflicts. “Nowadays, 2.5 billion people depend on agricultural activities for their livelihoods, and these people produce 60 percent of the world’s food production. We have many good practices, and we need to scale them up. To do so, we need political will and actions, public and private investments, and, most of all, we need peace,” he said.

FAO is appealing for over USD 860 million in 2020 to expand its efforts to strengthen the resilience and livelihoods of 35 million people.