WORLD FOOD FORUM 2022 HAND-IN-HAND INVESTMENT FORUM Opening Remarks

HAND-IN-HAND INVESTMENT FORUM

Opening Remarks

 

By

 

Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

 

Tuesday, 18 October 2022

 

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

1. Today, the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative comprises 54 countries and 3 regional initiatives.

2. During this forum we will hear of the priority investments of 20 most progressed countries, and 3 related regional initiatives. 

3. Hand-in-Hand supports the implementation of nationally led and owned ambitious programmes to accelerate agrifood systems transformations by eradicating poverty (SDG1), ending hunger and malnutrition (SDG2), reducing inequalities (SDG10) and others.  

 
4. Inequality between men and women, between urban and rural areas and between rich and poor - these are the three dimensions of inequality, globally.

5. The Hand-in-Hand Initiative uses advanced geospatial modelling and analytics, as well as a robust partnership-building approach to accelerate the market-based transformation of agrifood systems.

 
6. And that is the beauty of agrifood systems in the world because each county, each region and even each town has different natural resources, natural conditions and climate speciality.

 
7. Therefore, if you make yourselves more competitive, you can play a complementary role with others: other regions, other countries, other provinces, other cities – even with different sides of a mountain.

 
8. The southern part of a mountain is different from the northern part, or the eastern part differs from the western part!

 
9. We can build real, shared and complementary agrifood systems globally,  

 
10. To raise incomes, improve the nutritional status and well-being of poor and vulnerable populations, and strengthen resilience and adaptation.

 
11. Agrifood systems need investments and other engineering or biological progress to improve resilience and, more importantly, in my opinion, increase adaptation of agrifood systems through technology and from best practices in agriculture.

 
12. The Initiative prioritizes countries where poverty and hunger are highest, national capacities are limited, or operational difficulties are greatest due to natural or man-made crises.

 
13. It is a transformative initiative that brings together new and innovative, integrated geographical information system multilayer mapping, and data and analysis from across the Organization,  

 
14. To support better targeting of government and other investments to reduce poverty and improve food security and nutrition.

 
15. The Hand-in-Hand Initiative is already showing coherent, systematic and positive impacts,

 
16. Such as for example in Bangladesh with a new investment of USD 500 million through the World Bank, as well as IFAD valued at USD 43 million.

 
17. These are really coherent and systematic actions, and I am pleased to have the acting Vice-President of IFAD here with us today.

 
18. Collaboration among the Rome-based Agencies (RBAs) should be more focused at the country level where different countries have different requirements and conditions.

 
19. However, as part of the UN system, we also need to coherently coordinate policies at headquarters.

 
20. In Ecuador, for example, the government has committed USD 45 million under the Hand-in-Hand Initiative.

 
21. Ecuador took real ownership!

 
22. As I have said previously, the Hand-in-Hand Initiative is not only about the other hand, but it is about what is in your hand.

 
23. Ecuador has shown that when you want to shake hands with others you should offer your hand first – this is real ownership and partnership.

 
24. With the ongoing crisis and pandemic, more and more governments recognize the need to invest in long-term food security and poverty reduction.

 
25. The Hand-in-Hand Initiative responds to this need in advance, because we designed it three years ago, and now we are timely in speeding up real business.

 
26. The World Food Forum is a big platform for real matchmaking, to identify potential collaborators from among yourselves.

 
27. FAO is providing this platform for you and we welcome you to use it effectively and interactively by yourselves. This is the true meaning of a multilateral platform.

 
28. This platform represents a true change to the business model, which, unfortunately due to the pandemic, has been delayed by one year.

 
29. The focus is on country level diagnosis and identification of key investment areas, sectors and commodities, especially priority commodities - not only investment areas.

 
30. That is why it is in line with the One Country One Priority Commodity initiative – it is a business model to make change and lead the change.

 
31. All the FAO initiatives should be looked at holistically and with a systematic approach aimed at getting business done on the ground.

 
32. Big countries can concentrate on a number of commodities, while small, poor countries can start by focusing one only one commodity and from there you can grow.

 
33. And of course value chains are also key, in line with government priorities and in line with your comparative advantage.

 
34. Each country, no matter whether big or small, can find its comparative advantage across regions and continents.

 
35. Today’s event is focused on country-led and country-owned matchmaking sessions, reflecting the true country-led nature of the Hand-in-Hand Initiative.

 
Dear Colleagues,

 
36. Going forward, we must:

 
37. First, support the poverty-stricken countries and partners to better target investments, to sustainably reduce poverty and address food insecurity.

 
38. We must support local production, especially perishable products – like vegetables, fruit and others.

 
39. In discussions with my colleagues from WTO, we categorized three commodities from the agrifood systems point of view:

 
40. First, staple food like rice, wheat, soybeans, corn and others such as millet and barley;

 
41. Second, dry products such as cash crops and peanuts; and

 
42. Third industrial crops like wine for example.

 
43. This categorization should help to define your comparable advantages, whether you are producing for local consumption, or to supply the international market.

 
44. For example, if you are exporting perishable products, you need a lot of high-energy consumptions for transportation, logistics, and cold chain.

 
45. Overall, the environmental impact is not positive or friendly – we must remember we all share one small planet.

 
46. So I encourage you to keep international trade open, particularly regarding staple foods as some countries cannot produce enough staple foods as they do not have favourable conditions, and it is not economically viable or competitive.

 
47. For this reason, FAO as a globally operating UN agency with 194 Members, supports local production, processing and marketing of agrifood products, which are nutritious, and ensure better and sustainable market access for smallholder producers who do not have the capacity for long-distance supply chains and logistics.

 
48. Going forward we must also support the upscaling of investments and efforts in support of reducing poverty and food insecurity.

 
49. This includes the use of innovative digital tools, better economic analysis, and increased partnerships and country level engagement.

 
50. Investment should cover hard infrastructure, value chain development, innovation, new technologies and digitally inclusive approaches, as well as human capital and national institutional development.

 
51. For this reason we welcome and encourage all the private sectors to work with us, because they can provide the investment, marketing channels and the transfer of advanced technology.

 
52. They also have the capacity for sizeable products to be marketed internationally – this is critical for the successful transformation of agrifood systems.

 
53. Finally, going forward we need to also foster policies and strategies that increase productivity efficiently and sustainably for our planet and climate.

 
54. Our focus has to be on transforming agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, to deliver healthy diets, and for a more equitable society.

 
55. This will require significant financial investment, that should be at least 10% of the size of the agrifood market – and this is a conservative estimate.

 
56. We need to bring more and new partners into the agrifood family, who will invest in reducing poverty and in impact and climate focused funds – I am pleased to see more of these partners with us today.

 
57. We also have a strong presence here today of Heads of State and Government, Ministers and high level officials, and the five key players of the Hand-in-Hand Initiative – who are the really important players.

 
58. High level government officials are important because they have the important task of helping their people overcome poverty, and have access to sufficient food.

 
59. Representatives of international organizations are also crucial, as are representatives of academia like scientists, extension workers, and technology developers, from both public and private academic institutions.

 
60. Civil society, farmers group and consumers groups also have an important role because they protect the interests of farmers and consumers.

 
61. Consumers are the ones that are the driving force effectively leading the change in the transformation of agrifood systems.

 
62. And NGOs also have a role to play.

 
63. The presence of so many Heads of State and Ministers is a reflection of the commitment and interest firstly from our developing Member Nations to work Hand-in-Hand, but also from developed countries as it is now timely and important for them to also participate.

 
64. We are living on one small planet, and we should not only be talking about climate change and broad global issues, but also about local commodities.

 
65. If you visit the supermarkets here in Rome for example you will find fruits from all over the world. This means that 90% of the water needed to produce this fruit coming from areas which are often water scarce regions.

 
66. We need to help these countries produce high quality products locally and processed locally.

 
67. We need to help them create jobs locally, to create value added industry locally to avoid having to import 90% of the water from these regions.

 
68. We often speak of Green Development, but green is only a colour, it needs to have a scientific meaning not only at the global level, but also in the interest of individuals and local consumers.

 
69. We must keep up and expand our support to local producers with better tools, better technology, a better business model and better marketing channels, as well as better and more responsible investment and a better return on that investment.

 
70. To ensure more informed, focused and targeted investments for sustainable agrifood systems transformation.

 
71. FAO remains committed to moving forward by providing neutral, professional, independent and high quality data and information publicly, not only for individual Members.

 
72. That is why since I came here three years ago I established a Digital FAO.

 
73. All FAO information is transparent and readily available on the FAO website, including of my meetings with high level dignitaries and representatives.

 
74. Since I took office in August 2019, my policy has been one of transparency with all stakeholders and supporters across agrifood systems, and all those working with agriculture, food and rural development.

 
Dear Colleagues,

 
75. Let us walk the talk!

 
76. We must work together using Hand-in-Hand to accelerate transformation of our agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all, leaving no one behind.

 
77. I look forward to the productive discussions focused on ensuring better investments, on the knowledge needed for effective transformative change, and on strategic matchmaking for effective hand-in-hand partnerships.

 
78. You need to work across government departments, beyond silos, through broad dialogues.

 
79. And FAO is here to support you to build a real, efficient, effective and coherent approach to transforming our agrifood systems, for rural development, and to help the most vulnerable in both developing and developed countries globally.

 
80. We are all united by our common countryside, no matter where you are in the world, we are the same. FAO is here to assist all of you.

 
81. Thank you.