Read-out of the meeting between FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Honduras, Ambassador Lisandro Rosales Banegas

Today, 25 May 2021, the FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, had a virtual meeting with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Honduras, Ambassador Lisandro Rosales Banegas, in which they discussed ways of rebuilding and strengthening agri-food systems in the Latin-American country, especially after the damage caused by tropical storms Eta and Iota in November 2020.

Ambassador Rosales shared a video about the impacts of the storms in the main productive areas in Honduras, such as San Pedro Sula, and the ongoing response plans. He mentioned the FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative as a potential tool to support the recovery measures, as well as the Government’s intention to focus on reforestation in partnership with FAO.

The FAO Director-General recognized the difficult situation in Honduras and highlighted the importance of identifying opportunities to mobilize resources. In this sense, Dr QU noted the willingness of the Government of the United States to focus on the dry corridor in Central America and the root causes of distress migration, such as poverty and hunger. He said that FAO, together with other UN agencies, aims to scale-up and speed-up efforts to work with the United States regarding Central American issues. Dr QU also stressed the importance of building resilience of agri-food systems.

The FAO Director-General mentioned the Global Climate Fund (GCF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) as important sources of international funding, and highlighted that FAO is preparing specific projects with Honduras aimed at accessing those funds.

Dr QU also cited the soon to be launched initiative One Country, One Commodity. He noted the potential of avocado as a cash crop for Honduras, as well as the importance of adopting a new business model through private investments, innovation, digital tools and enabling policies.

He also noted that the Hand-in-Hand Initiative offers a platform for countries to work with international financial institutions through FAO.

In response, Ambassador Rosales acknowledged that Honduras needs new tools to mobilize resources, improve capacity and produce new data on agri-food systems.