Read-out of the FAO Director-General’s meeting with Modibo Keita, Minister for Rural Development of the Republic of Mali

Rome - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today met Modibo Keita, Minister for Rural Development of the Federal Republic of Mali, at the sidelines of the World Food Forum (WFF) being held at the Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome (17-21 October 2022).

The Minister for Rural Development of the Republic of Mali expressed his appreciation for the close collaboration with FAO. He also expressed his appreciation for being invited to take part in the WFF, and underlined the importance of this initiative and specifically mentioned the valuable opportunity it offered to share knowledge and technical expertise. He noted that the occasion also allows to better harness production capacities and improve value addition for agriculture products, which is a key component to address food insecurity and achieving agrifood system transformation. The Minister mentioned the worsening conflicts in the subregion and the resulting disruption of agriculture livelihoods that the Government is addressing through the revision of national development frameworks.

The Director-General congratulated the Minister for his support and the efforts being implemented to address the increased food insecurity. He highlighted to the Minister that under the Hand-in-Hand Initiative and through the geospatial data platform, Mali could address better production by identifying and diversifying its agricultural production. However, it is also critical the Director-General noted, to increase investment and this would require stability. While addressing these matters he also noted the need to have a structured urbanization plan for sustainable cities.

The two agreed to a continued strong collaborative cooperation.