Committee on Agriculture – 27th Session

Statement by Dr. QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

Committee on Agriculture – 27th Session

Opening Ceremony

Rome, Monday, 28 September 2020

 As prepared

 

 

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. I am pleased to join you at the opening of the 27th Session of the Committee on Agriculture.

2. This is the first virtual Session in the Committee’s long history.

3. I wish to acknowledge your flexibility and thank you for your support in ensuring that the Committee continues its important work despite the pandemic.  Thank the COAG Chair Jennifer Fellows (Canada) for stepping in just a few weeks ago to assume the Chair’s role with Amb. Emadi’s departure.  She has done a great job in navigating the final details ahead of the meeting. I am very much appreciated to them.

4. By entering the era of virtual meetings, you are joining a group of important governing body sessions already held this way in FAO: from Council Committees, Regional Conferences and the Council Session itself.

5. But also beyond that, since the beginning of the pandemic, I have briefed the UN Security Council, attended events of the General Assembly, the G20, ECOSOC and many more, from my home.

6. This is the new digital world and we need to make the best out of it. We cannot let the disease stop us from delivering. That is a process of evolution.

Distinguished Delegates,

7. From the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak we started to monitor the impacts of the pandemic on food security and food systems around the world.

8. It soon became evident that the combined impacts of the disease, its suppression measures and the subsequent economic recession would increase the number of the hungry and poor, especially in low-income countries.

9. And we focused on ensuring the continued delivery of our mandate while safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our employees.

10. We used a wide range of tools to support policy analyses and assess the impact of COVID-19 on food and agriculture, value chains, food prices, food security across the globe.

11. We provided Members with data, analysis and advice on how to face this unprecedented challenge.

12. We know that while global food markets are well supplied, access to food will be negatively affected by income reductions and loss of jobs.

13. Our assessment suggests that the pandemic may add up to 132 million people to the ranks of undernourished in the world in 2020.

14. This would be disastrous, particularly in the context of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

15. In particular with the rise in hunger and malnutrition we have seen over the last three years:

• One out of nine people in the world does not have enough to eat;
• about two billion people in the world do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food, and
• at least three billion people cannot afford healthy diets.

16. We need to face the additional challenges posed by the pandemic and build back better.

17. We do this through a comprehensive and holistic approach for recovery and building back better from perspective of FAO overall mandate.

18. We have presented the FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery Program in July, which spans seven key priority areas, where action is urgently needed:

• Reinforce a Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19;
• Improve Data for Decision-making;
• Ensure Economic Inclusion and Social Protection to Reduce Poverty;
• Bolster Trade and Food Safety Standards;
• Boost Smallholder Resilience for Recovery;
• Prevent the Next Zoonotic Pandemic through a strengthened One Health Approach; and
• Trigger Food Systems Transformation.

19. The Program is aimed at preventing a global food emergency during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, while working on medium- to long-term development responses for food security and nutrition. It is a truly coherent, joined-up corporate response to your needs, linking all parts of the Organization, harnessing our technical, operational, normative and data capacities to support action at global, regional, and country levels.

20. In pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, it aims to mitigate the immediate impacts of the pandemic while strengthening the future resilience of food systems and livelihoods.

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21. But we need to look beyond the pandemic and keep our focus on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.

22. We do this through the Hand-in-Hand Initiative.

23. A country-owned and country-led initiative that prioritizes those who are at risk of being left behind, where extreme hunger and poverty are increasing.

24. This includes Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Least Developed Land-Locked Countries (LLDCs), as well as those facing severe challenges in confronting the pandemic.

25. It is a new business model for collaboration, which uses a broad spectrum of partnerships and leverages the technical and data capacity of the Organization, to determine where and how actions can be targeted to reach the most vulnerable and have the greatest impact on poverty and hunger.

26. It is not only innovative in the thinking behind it, but also uses state-of-the-art tools and technologies:

27. The Hand in Hand Geospatial Platform: A GIS data platform accessible to all, which supports stakeholders with rich, shareable data, while respecting the proper protocols of data confidentiality.

28. The Data Lab for Statistical Innovation: that implements the combined use of non-conventional data sources, big data, data science and text mining methods for decision-making and impact assessment.

29. I am pleased to say that many Members are already engaging with the Initiative, and now we have started implementing in 22 countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

30. The impact of COVID-19 is increasing the burden for family famers and the most vulnerable people. They require greater support and increased investment in knowledge, infrastructure and technology for sustainable agriculture.

31. At the same time, agricultural and food systems are under pressure from other unprecedented threats, like transboundary pests and diseases, and the adverse effects of climate change.

32. This is reducing yields and the diversity of crop and animal species, and is increasing the incidence of diseases, and their distribution.  A third of today’s diversity could disappear by 2050.

33. The people most vulnerable to climate shocks and natural hazards are the 2.5 billion small-scale farmers, herders, fishers and forest-dependent communities who derive their livelihoods from natural resources.

34. Our biggest challenge is to tackle the root causes of hunger and malnutrition through transformative changes to the way we produce, distribute and consume food.

35. To achieve this, an agri-foods system approach is needed, addressing food security, livelihoods and the management of natural resources in a comprehensive and effective way.

For this to happen we need to:

• Transform food and agriculture systems, assuring inclusiveness and equality;
• Identify and implement innovative approaches and introduce digital technologies in agriculture;
• Shift to more sustainable and diversified production and consumption patterns; and
• Create an enabling environment through improved governance and political willingness.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

36. The theme of this Committee’s Session is Sustainable Livestock for SDGs.

37. The livestock sector is a key driver for a sustainable agricultural development.

38. Sustainable livestock farming must improve food security, nutrition and healthy diets, while fostering an inclusive economic growth, improving livelihoods, sustaining animal health and welfare, and addressing environmental issues.

39. A holistic and inclusive approach to livestock sector policies and technical actions is needed that includes all stakeholders within the foods system

40. We need to build the capacity of countries to develop and use coherent evidence-based policy, institutional and technical tools, generate analytical evidence and facilitate policy dialogue.

41. In that respect, let me highlight the vital role the private sector needs to play and the importance of strong partnerships with the sector.

42. Just last week I stressed this point in the keynote address I delivered to the Annual Global Dairy Platform Meeting. It was the first time an FAO DG was invited to do so.

43. I emphasized our willingness to strengthen and deepen the engagement with the private sector, through mutually beneficial collaboration at country level to better support our Members in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ladies and gentlemen,

44. Since the last COAG Session, we have many achievements to share with you.

45. On the normative side, the International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers and the Ten Elements of Agroecology were adopted by the FAO Conference; and the FAO Climate Change Strategy is being implemented.

46. On the operational side, we continued to support our Members in combatting plant pests and animal diseases that affect lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

47. Such as the Desert Locust, a threat that remains a priority for FAO with the pandemic making activities on the ground even more difficult.

48. Here again, we do not let the pandemic stop our work:

49. Between January and August 2020, over 760 000 ha have been controlled across ten countries from the Horn of Africa to Yemen.

50. In the Horn of Africa and Yemen, control operations have averted the loss of an estimated 1.52 million tons of cereal in the region.

51. This amount of grain is enough to feed 9.88 million people for an entire year and is valued at USD 456 million.

52. In addition, control in arid and semi‑arid lands have allowed nearly 685 000 pastoral and agro-pastoral households to enjoy adequate access to grazing areas.

53. Now FAO and governments are fighting the second generation of locusts in some countries (Ethiopia and Somalia in particular).

54. National governments continue to lead control and surveillance operations supported by FAO through the provision of pesticides, bio-pesticides, equipment, aircraft and training.

55. And we have launched the Global Action for Fall Armyworm Control for a strong and coordinated response to the rapid spread of the Fall Armyworm at all levels.

56. FAO is providing assistance for a Peste des Petits Ruminants-free world, to counter African Swine Fewer and other major animal diseases.

57. We are leading with UNEP the upcoming UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).

58. We engage with our partners for the UN Decade of Family Farming (2019-2028) and lead the international community to support family farmers; and

59. Last but not least, the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021 will provide a major opportunity to help stakeholders to better understand and manage the complex choices that affect the future of food systems.

Ladies and gentlemen,

60. Your deliberations and professional conclusions will contribute to defining the strategic priorities of our work and the transformation to sustainable agri-food systems in the coming years.

61. We are eager to listen to your comments and views.

62. The goal we want to reach together is well defined: A tomorrow that is free of hunger; through better production, better nutrition, and a better environment for a better life!

63. I wish you a very productive week and every success in your deliberations.

Thank you.