Bilateral meeting with the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture of Germany, H.E. Claudia Müller

New York - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with H.E. Claudia Müller, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture of Germany, in New York, to discuss the need for coordinated action across all agriculture sectors to facilitate the transformation of global agrifood systems, while thinking strategically and linking global agendas – from the Global Forest Goals to the SDGs, to the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Both sides appreciated the long-standing relationship and successful collaboration between Germany and FAO.

The Parliamentary State Secretary expressed appreciation for FAO’s leadership of the Collaborative Partnership of Forests (CPF) and its high-level attendance at the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF19). She underlined the importance of forestry and its interlinkages with agriculture, and that coordinated action is needed on the ground, with CPF being able to play a key role in bringing together various actors to enhance cooperation. Both agreed on the importance of balancing production with conservation, and ensuring all partners leverage their comparative advantage in the CPF. 

The FAO Director-General underlined FAO’s role as lead technical agency for the agriculture sectors and its work in strengthening collaboration among governments, and in particular underlined the importance of agroforestry.

The Parliamentary State Secretary and the DG agreed on the importance of the 20th anniversary of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Right to Adequate Food, and were united in their call for cross-sectoral collaboration and an action-oriented approach to address global challenges and achieve agrifood systems transformation, particularly in times of crises, within the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.