Rome - Director-General QU Dongyu met today with H.E. Limber Cruz López, Minister for Agriculture of the Dominican Republic on the sidelines of the 50th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 50). The Minister was joined at the meeting by Darío Vargas, Vice-Minister for Agriculture - Extension and Agricultural Training.
The Minister expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to meet the Director-General, and provided an overview of some of the recent challenges faced by the Dominican Republic, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as Hurricane Laura in August 2020 and Hurricane Fiona which recently hit the country on 19 September. He summarized some of the concrete steps his country has taken to immediately support those most affected by the recent hurricane, while also providing an overview of measures taken to recover from COVID-19 and restart tourism in the country, for example, which has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
The Minister also informed that the Dominican Republic continues to make progress in agricultural production on a variety of fronts: in particular, he noted that the country has recently achieved self-sufficiency in rice production for the first time, while noting that livestock production continues to improve while requiring additional emphasis and investment.
The Minister also conveyed his appreciation to the Director-General for FAO’s support in addressing African Swine Fever (ASF) in the country. The delegation also requested FAO’s support on issues related to water management in the context of rice production, and on developing agricultural insurance with a focus on family farmers. The Director-General noted that the Dominican Republic could count on FAO’s technical support in these areas, as required.
The Director-General also expressed his appreciation to the Minister for his visit, while commending the leadership of the Dominican Republic in their sub-region. He stressed that the Dominican Republic has a key strategic and leadership role to play in its region and sub-region on agrifood systems transformation and other matters, and can offer support to more vulnerable countries. The Director-General also re-affirmed FAO’s support to the Dominican Republic on a variety of issues.
The Director-General thanked the Minister for the Dominican Republic’s support to the mandate of FAO, and highlighted some of the key reforms he has emplaced in the Organization since 2019 to ensure FAO is fit-for-purpose and equipped to deliver support to all its Members. In particular, he cited FAO’s new Office of SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs and highlighted the Organization’s commitment to do more and better for these countries in finding solutions to the specific challenges they face. He also referenced FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which prioritizes support to countries and territories where poverty and hunger are highest, national capacities are limited, or operational difficulties are greatest due to natural or man-made crises.
