Readout of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E. Spilios Livanos, Minister of Rural Development and Food of Greece

25 October 2021, Rome – Today the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met with H.E. Spilios Livanos, Minister of Rural Development and Food of Greece.

The Minister congratulated the Director-General with his successful and consistent vision of sustainable agri-food systems and his efforts to fight against hunger. He underlined that Greece and FAO share the same views and agreed that problems can be an opportunity and source of progress.

The Minister recalled his intervention during the FAO Conference calling for a holistic view on sustainable agri-food systems.

The Minister commended the Director-General for the recent appointment of Mr Stafanos Fotiou, a national of Greece, as director of the newly established Office of SDGs (OSG), as well as with the establishment of the new office.

The Director-General expressed his admiration for Greek culture and civilization and stated that Greece can play a central role in sharing its rich experience --for example through the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), geographical indication and climate resilient farming -- with the world’s smallholder farmers, who account for most (84%) of the world's 570 million farms.

The pair agreed that good investment opportunities in agri-food systems can be an engine for sustainable multi-sectoral economic growth. Greece has a huge potential to create local, traditional and historically based agri-food systems that put real farmers at the center, while enhancing their capability for a better life and help with digital rural transformation.

In that respect the Director-General mentioned the International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture and the opportunities that new business models provide for startups that can help transform our agri-food systems.