Read-out of the FAO Director-General’s bilateral with Ambassador James O’Brien, US Department of State

Rome - FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu and Ambassador James O’Brien of the US Department of State today met and discussed concrete steps to support the most vulnerable populations around the world affected by the impact of the war in Ukraine, as well as to assure availability of food and fertilizers for the 2022-23 planting season.

The Director-General highlighted the prominence that the food security agenda and more specifically FAO’s Policy Proposal on a Food Import Financing Facility (FIFF) have received at different international fora, including at the G20 Finance Ministers as well as support by the United Nations Secretary-General.  - indicating FIFF as a critical tool that helps economically vulnerable countries ease their immediate food import needs and costs.

Ambassador O’Brien expressed his appreciation for FAO’s role in producing timely and transparent data and information, especially in the context of the food crisis. He noted how factual data plays a vital role to stabilize markets and avoid unnecessary speculations that would negatively affect food prices and the agricultural sector.

The meeting also discussed the support to farmers in Ukraine through the increase of storage facilities and the potential impacts of opening the Black Sea ports, as well as mobilizing greater assistance to the most vulnerable countries affected by the food crisis.

The importance of the newly launched platform by FAO to track trade of fertilizer, which quantifies remaining import needs and unrealized availabilities for fertilizer, was also discussed.

The Director-General and Ambassador O’Brien agreed to strengthen concrete areas of collaboration to address the current challenges to food security and nutrition.