Bilateral meeting with the Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Zambia, The Honourable Mtolo Phiri

Rome - The FAO Director-General met with The Honourable Mtolo Phiri, Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Zambia, at the sidelines of the High-Level Ministerial Event for Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries.

The Minister thanked the Director-General for his strong commitment and vision, as well as his leadership of the Organization. He noted how the work of FAO in Zambia is in alignment with the priorities of the Government and has been valuable in the achievements they made.

The two exchanged views on the importance and need for holistic approaches to transform the agrifood systems and the critical role of extension workers, mechanization, gender equity, and empowerment of youth. They underlined that the transformation requires strong public policy, partnerships and an enabling environment to ensure its success.

The Director-General noted that other key industry drivers to support economic development, highlighting innovation and post-harvest processing and the modernization of the value chain as accelerator of this. The two reiterated the strong commitment to working together and support the transformation of Zambia’s agrifood systems.