Readout of the FAO Director-General’s meeting with His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe

Nairobi - FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met with His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, on 22 February in Harare, during an official visit to the country to participate in the FAO regional workshop on National Water Roadmaps.

The President welcomed the Director-General and said that Zimbabwe was honoured to host the workshop that will address key issues related to water management, data innovation and financing ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York next month.

Noting that the importance of water in his country goes beyond agricultural production, the Head of State emphasized that preserving this natural resource is key for the future and critical to address the impacts of the climate crisis.

The Director-General noted that Zimbabwe and FAO share excellent relations and is an important partner, and recognized that the country’s leadership had shown concrete results and achievements in rural development that needed to be shared with other countries.

He briefed the President on FAO’s Strategic Framework and the three new strategies (private sector, science and innovation and climate change) that are being implemented to help countries transform agrifood systems.

The President also highlighted that they are pleased to host the FAO national and subregional offices in Zimbabwe as they provide support to the nation through technical expertise. The President further noted that innovation and digitalization are critical for the country and underlined that the government is working towards modernizing the agriculture sector. In this context, a number of dams have been  built and irrigation systems improved to address the drought situation, and which have contributed towards addressing food insecurity.

The FAO Director-General reiterated FAO’s full support towards agrifood systems transformation plans and rural development- in Zimbabwe, and further suggested to develop the country’s aquaculture sector as it has high potential for food security and nutrition and can also advance better production.

Likewise, Qu also mentioned that he sees a high potential for agroforestry and green cities in Zimbabwe, as it could be a model for other African cities in the future.