Launch of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030

Launch of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030

Opening Remarks by

Dr. QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

As prepared

5 July 2021

 

Dear OECD Secretary-General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. I wish to start by welcoming all of you and by congratulating Mathias Cormann on his recent appointment as Secretary-General of the OECD.

2. I look forward to working closely with you and further strengthening the already excellent collaboration between our two institutions.

3. Today’s joint launch is the result of our close cooperation in bringing together our knowledge and expertise to the benefit of our Members.

4. The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook has become a globally recognized reference on medium-term market trends and emerging issues in global agri-food systems.

5. report provides baseline projections for the period 2021 to 2030.

6. Its findings clearly show that we need a deep transformation of our agri-food systems in order to realize the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 

7. Already before the COVID-19 outbreak, as many as 690 million people or nearly 9% of the world population were chronically hungry.

8. The pandemic has made the situation worse. We will issue our new numbers next week at the official launch of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 (SOFI), but I can tell you the news are not good.

9. The Outlook we are launching today tells us very clearly that ‘business as usual’ is not an option.

10. If we continue operating the way we do today, we will continue facing hunger and malnutrition over the next decade,

11. and we will not achieve the SDGs, especially SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 10 (Reducing inequalities).

12. Healthier diets would persist being out of reach for the majority of consumers in low-income countries, where diets would remain largely based on a few staples. 

13. In middle- and high-income countries, the consumption of fats and animal products would increase.

14. On the supply side, according to the Outlook, productivity improvements will account for most of the projected growth in crop production.  

15. For livestock, output expansion would come from both productivity growth and herd enlargement.

16. But only through continued innovation and investments in science & technology, infrastructure and human capital, will we be able to achieve the urgently required productivity growth and at the same time minimize the trade-offs to the environment.

17. We need more inclusive and sustainable investments, which safeguard the rights of local communities and boost productivity.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

18. The baseline projections confirm that without deep reforms, the Zero Hunger goal will be missed and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture will increase further.

19. We need to move from strategy to action and transform our agri-food systems to change course and make progress towards the SDGs.

20. In FAO, we have a new Strategic Framework that places the 2030 Agenda at its centre.

21. It uses key SDGs and their targets and indicators to attain the required transformative changes.

22. We are determined to work with all Members and partners to achieve the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

23. The four betters will guideFAO’s work in support of reaching SDG 1, 2 and SDG 10, as well as supporting the realization of the broader SDG agenda.

24. The four betters also reflect the interlinkages between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of agri-food systems transformation, and account for trade-offs.

25. They also promote a strategic and systems-oriented approach in all of FAO’s interventions.

26. We apply four cross-sectional accelerators to ensure that agri-food systems transformation is inclusive and equitable.

27. These include technology, innovation, data, and a set of complements being governance, human capital and institutions.

28. Our new Strategic Framework builds on the momentum and transformation already taking place in the Organization:

29. The deep transformative structural reform and our flagship activities such as the Hand-in-Hand initiative.

30. Now is the time to “build back better”, and I am confident that this year’s Outlook report contains valuable information to support this process.

Thank you.