Read-out of the FAO Director-General’s meeting with Jennifer Moffitt, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Rome - Director-General QU Dongyu and Jennifer Moffitt, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, USDA met and discussed the fruitful and effective collaboration between FAO and the United States of America.

The Director-General thanked the Under Secretary for the steadfast support of the United States of America to FAO. He commended USDA’s leading role in agricultural innovation, and expressed appreciation for the United States’ constructive engagement and support to the development of FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-31 and the three strategies recently emplaced to support its implementation: the FAO Strategy on Climate Change, the FAO Strategy on Science and Innovation, and FAO’s Strategy for Private Sector Engagement.

The Under Secretary extended appreciation for the important work of FAO, and for the Director-General’s leadership on matters related to science and innovation.  She also thanked the Director-General for FAO’s engagement with the Coalition on Sustainable Productivity Growth, which was launched by USDA at the United Nations Food Systems Summit in 2021.

The Under Secretary updated the Director-General on several key USDA initiatives, such as the US Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities initiative and the recently launched Western Water and Working Lands Framework for Conservation Action, which will address key water and land management challenges across 17 US states.  She also touched upon USDA’s renewed focus on supply chain resilience in local and regional food systems, and on the importance of supporting farmers to get ‘value-add’ out of the agricultural products they produce.

The two also discussed the climate crisis and its impact on agrifood systems, noting that science, innovation and technology can play a key role in enabling farmers to produce more with less, while adapting to climate change.  Among other matters, they briefly discussed Rome-based agencies (RBA) collaboration, water scarcity and integrated water management, agricultural trade, and food diversity.  They also touched on the need for urgent support for Türkiye and Syria in the aftermath of the earthquakes that hit the region.

The Director-General also informed the Under Secretary that the Science and Innovation Forum, the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum and the Youth Forum will all take place during the World Food Forum from 16 to 23 October 2023, and expressed his hope that the United States of America could participate.