LAUNCH OF THE SOFA REPORT 2021 Opening Remarks
by Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General
23/11/2021
LAUNCH OF THE SOFA REPORT 2021
Opening Remarks
By
Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General
23 November 2021
Excellences,
Ladies and gentlemen,
1. The SOFA report is one of FAO’s flagship publications that helps to define and articulate key policy issues concerning the global state of food and agriculture.
2. This year, the report looks at how we can “make agrifood systems more resilient to shocks and stresses”.
3. Agrifood systems provide food, feed, fiber, fuel and friendly environment for the world, and are a source of livelihoods for billions of people around the globe.
4. The pandemic highlighted both the resilience and the weakness of our agrifood systems.
5. Even before the pandemic, the world was not on track to meet the commitment to end hunger by 2030.
6. Food production and supply chains have historically been vulnerable to climate extremes, conflict and other humanitarian emergencies, global food price hikes and extreme volatility.
7. All of which affect global and country level supplies.
8. The frequency and severity of shocks is increasing.
9. And agrifood systems are under pressure from longer-term stresses due to the impacts of the climate crisis and environmental degradation.
10. 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.
11. The SOFA report shows that this number could increase by an additional 1 billion people, if a shock were to reduce their income by about 30%.
12. A disruption to critical transport links could also leave up to 845 million people facing increased food costs.
13. Implementation of the follow-up actions of the Food Systems Summit requires coherent deliverables in building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses.
14. The SOFA report reflects FAO’s efforts aimed at increasing resilience,
15. And sets out new indicators to help Members measure the resilience capacity of their agrifood systems, and identify gaps for improvement.
16. These indicators also highlight different aspects of resilience capacity where policymakers could intervene, with concrete actions.
Dear Colleagues,
17. FAO provides tangible support to Members on risk management strategies for stresses and shocks, such as droughts, floods and pests, which can be anticipated based on existing evidence,
18. Through multi-risk assessments, timely forecasts, early warning systems and early action plans.
19. The SOFA report also shows, however, that agrifood systems need to be able to absorb unforeseen shocks as well - such as sudden lockdowns due to health emergencies.
20. The key message of the SOFA is that countries need to have absorptive capacity,
21. And sets out 4 concrete pathways to achieve this:
• One: diversity in input and output market sources, production and supply chains by keeping international market functional.
• Two: connecting people to markets to overcome local disruptions.
• Three: supporting development of small and medium agrifood enterprises to maintain diversity in domestic agrifood value chains.
• And Four: increasing resilience capacities of rural low-income households and small-scale producers.
22. SOFA 2021 provides overarching direction for the transformation of our agrifood systems to make them more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.
23. To support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
24. For better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life for all - leaving no one behind!
25. Thank you.