Bilateral meeting with the Swiss Confederation FAO National Committee

Rome - Director-General QU Dongyu and the Swiss Confederation FAO National Committee met on 4 June 2024 at FAO headquarters in Rome. The Committee President, Dr Martijn Sonnevelt, led the conversation with the Director-General. Also present were Dr Jean-Marc Chappuis, Deputy Director-General, Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture; H.E. Amb. Krisztina Bende Permanent Representative of the Swiss Confederation to FAO and the members of the Committee.

The Director-General welcomed the group and recalled his recent visit to Switzerland where, among other engagements, he visited a cooperative of vegetable farmers and a farm where he had witnessed innovative sustainable farming practices, as well as the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne to see cutting edge Swiss innovations.

Dr Sonnevelt described the make-up of the Swiss National FAO Committee which has 14 members elected from diverse stakeholder groups. He described the fruitful agenda of meetings that the Committee were undertaking in FAO and referred, as an example, to a meeting with the Director responsible for livestock to discuss sustainability in livestock systems. The Director-General welcomed this close engagement with FAO and noted the pragmatic Swiss approach to agrifood systems solutions both nationally and internationally.

Dr Sonnevelt referenced the active participation of Swiss third level students in the Youth Forum of the World Food Forum taking place in October this year. The Director-General welcomed this participation and noted the synergy with the Swiss World Food Systems Centre, as well as Switzerland’s close collaboration with FAO’s work on the true cost of food, which seeks to quantify indirect costs such as those pertaining to the environment and health.

Dr Sonnevelt appreciated the strong engagement with FAO and the pair agreed to further strengthen the close and constructive relationship.