Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, Victor Manuel Villalobos Arámbula

26 July 2021, Rome - FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, Victor Manuel Villalobos Arámbula, had a meeting today in which they exchanged ideas on supporting countries in the Central American Dry Corridor, increasing the resilience of smallholders family farmers, addressing deforestation and transforming agri-food systems to make them more sustainable.

The Director-General thanked Secretary Villalobos for the Mexican support to FAO and other Latin American countries, particularly those affected by the impacts of the climate crisis in Central America, where investments are needed to improve the resilience of rural people, tackle poverty and thereby address the root causes of distress migration.

Secretary Villalobos also thanked FAO for the excellent relationship and praised the Director-General for the programme of work and initiatives being implemented by the Organization.

The Secretary informed of a tool developed in Mexico to generate data and information from satellite images, with a range which covers the area of Mexico and all Central America, and can help tackle deforestation, address the impacts of the climate crisis and promote sustainable agriculture, through information accumulated over the last 15 years.

The Director-General highlighted the importance of big data and satellite images to transform agri-food systems, which is a key component of the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative and its related geo-spatial platform.

On deforestation, the Director-General cited the possibility of developing and implementing programmes, to be financed by international funds such as the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), aimed at promoting reforestation and building the resilience of agricultural sectors.

He also stressed the importance of focusing on specific commodities to improve the living conditions of smallholder farmers through a new business model, digital farming, e-commerce and other innovative measures.

Secretary Villalobos also informed of the Mexican experience with regard to the protection of smallholder farmers from being exploited by, having to sell their produce at low prices as they have no access to storage facilities and consequently no bargaining power. The Mexican Government has implemented “platforms” to support those smallholders, and Secretary Villalobos noted this initiative can be useful, for instance, to support countries and smallholder farmers along the Central American Dry Corridor.