Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, and Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries of Jamaica, Floyd Green

The Director-General expressed his appreciation to the Minister for the ongoing support of Jamaica to the strategic direction of the Organization.

For his part, the Minister commended the Director-General for the direction in which he is steering the Organization, in particular his approach to ensure support to developing countries.  He also extended his appreciation for the excellent work being undertaken by the FAO Representation in Jamaica in support of his government. 

The Director-General and the Minister went on to share views on the importance of technology, partnerships, innovation, financing, youth and women to building resilient agri-food systems and addressing the many challenges faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in particular climate change and climate financing.  

The Minister specifically noted the urgency of looking at climate smart technologies that can help small farmers build protected, resilient agriculture. 

The Director-General and the Minister also highlighted that e-commerce and digital solutions play a critical role in providing broader market access to small farmers in SIDS, especially in the context of reduced mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Director-General highlighting that FAO was in the process of developing a ‘One Country, One Commodity’ initiative, noted that Jamaica could analyze and assess which of its flagship commodities could be showcased under the initiative.  The Minister noted that Jamaica would consider this issue, while also informing the Director-General that Jamaica was looking into the ‘agropark’ model for certain agricultural products.

The Director-General highlighted some key reforms he has implemented in the Organization since taking office, notably the creation of the Office of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), OSL, which plays a vital coordinating role within FAO to ensure targeted support is provided to these specific categories of countries. 

In addition, he informed the Minister that FAO would be holding a SIDS Solution Forum in the Asia and Pacific region during August 2021 (and welcomed him to attend). The Forum has the objective of establishing, in the spirit of cross-continental and inter-regional cooperation, a knowledge exchange platform that can facilitate investments by incubating, promoting and scaling-up local solutions to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).