Director-General meets with head of Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS)

11 May 2020, Rome - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met today, via teleconference, with Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary-General of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), to discuss ongoing collaboration and pave the way for the renewal of the existing agreement between the two organizations.

Mr. Chikoti, who took office in March, thanked FAO for the fruitful support over many years, noting its importance for the visibility of the OACPS. He briefed the Director-General on the revised Georgetown Agreement, endorsed in December 2019, and its entry into force as well as the nearly-concluded negotiations to renew the post-Cotonou Agreement underpinning the OACPS partnership with the European Union.

Qu noted that the EU and its member states are FAO’s largest donor, both financially and in terms of expertise, providing 45 percent of the Organization’s annual budget. The Director-General highlighted the excellent cooperation of FAO with the EU, noting that he had personally met with many EU Commissioners in recent months. (For more details on the meetings with the EU Commissioners, see these links: Agriculture, Environment, Trade, Crisis Management and Partnerships).

“The priorities of OACPS and FAO are aligned in terms of poverty, hunger, and the livelihoods of farmers,” Qu said. He emphasized that FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative as well as the newly established office for Small Island Developing States will allow the two organizations to “closely work together on achieving our common goals.”

The Secretary-General requested FAO’s support in bolstering on-the-ground capacities in OACP member states, noting the organization’s appreciation for longstanding support in key programme areas such as roots and tubers, fisheries and farmers’ organizations. Noting the impact of COVID-19 on food supply and security, the Director-General emphasized the need for innovative approaches to generate more and better results. In particular he urged wider use of digital technologies and a new business model to produce more food in social and environmentally friendly ways.

He highlighted the importance of fostering shorter food supply chains, especially for fresh products, to promote food and dietary diversity – which could also catalyze further potential through e-commerce.

The Director-General noted that the Hand-in-Hand Initiative had been designed for FAO to intensify and focus its efforts in engaging cooperation from the donor community for vulnerable countries, particularly Less-Developed Countries, SIDS and Land-locked Development Countries. This will further add value to FAO’s cooperation with OACPS he added, particularly in achieving Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2. The Initiative’s new Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform has been launched to facilitate countries to pursue science-based and data-driven decision making, and FAO is able to provide training to leverage its optimal use.