VACS MOU Signing Ceremony Speech

Dear Dr. Fowler,

Dear Ismahane, Lindiwe and Bram,

Dear Ambassador Prescott,

Dear Colleagues,

I wish to start by congratulating Dr. Fowler for his nomination for the life-long achievement award – the World Food Prize – and I look forward to being there personally when he receives the award at the World Food Prize Ceremony. Through your personal commitment, with the support of the United States Department of Agriculture, we close the first chapter and open the new chapter going forward.

I am very pleased to be here to sign this Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and CIMMYT on the CGAIR/CIMMYT-FAO partnership, to advance the global Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils - VACS.

As you know, the VACS is a global movement that aims to foster more resilient agrifood systems in the face of a changing climate by focusing on the fundamentals of food security and nutrition, that is: climate-adapted nutritious food and healthy soils. 

Initially launched by the U.S. Department of State, the African Union and FAO, VACS seeks to boost agricultural productivity and nutrition by expanding access to diverse, climate-adapted nutritious crop varieties grown in healthy soils. 

VACS provides a unified investment framework for partners to advance these goals.  

FAO’s direct engagement in VACS supports our objectives set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, and contributes directly to our work on nutrition, policies, climate change, and soils.

It also offers FAO Members and development partners, in Africa and beyond, an innovative way of strengthening agrifood systems transformation towards the achievement of the SDGs.

By joining forces with the CGIAR and CIMMYT, we bring together our collective capacities to build a strong momentum and platform to advance the VACS, and to catalyze action across a wide range of public and private partners.

Dear Colleagues,

Investing in the generation of knowledge and innovative solutions through agricultural Research & Development and extension services, and designing appropriate enabling policies, are critical. Together with science, technology and innovation, they are the key drivers of productivity growth, and indispensable in the transition to a more sustainable pathway.

But at the same time, overreliance on a few staple crops leads to systemic vulnerability, especially as extreme weather and land degradation increasingly cause crop failures and increase the exposure to pests and diseases. This overreliance can be managed with Indigenous and traditional food crops – what we refer to under the VACS as ‘opportunity crops’ in low- and middle-income countries.

These crops suffer from insufficient investment in research, which is necessary to produce them in a competitive commercial market. They are highly nutritious and adaptable to local conditions and erratic weather and are often grown by women and contribute to household diets and economic security.

Under the VACS, these ‘opportunity crops’ can accelerate plant breeding efforts for a targeted set, enhance value chain development for these crops and the nutritious foods made from them, and strengthen consumer demand for their consumption.

The combination of these activities can lead to more diverse and adequate diets and contribute to improved nutrition and related health outcomes for all.  

In addition to bringing technology, innovation, enabling policies, and “opportunity crops” together, we also must remember that our soils are essential for VACS to be successful.

We need to work on reversing the trend of soil degradation and erosion by increasing access to knowledge and information at all levels, from national governments to the farm and field.

To accelerate and bring to scale the expansion of these crops, we need to enable informed decision-making about what to grow, where to grow it, and which soil management practices to apply. 

This can result in adapting to the impacts of the climate crisis, and to limit land degradation by increasing the efficiency and resilience of crop systems now and in the future. 

Dear Friends,

VACS effectively brings together the Four Betters set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind.

Let’s work together for good food for all for today and tomorrow.

Before I close, I wish to reiterate my deep appreciation for the collaboration with the United States – a key Member of FAO – as well as with the CGIAR, CIMMYT and all relevant partners, as well as with Africa, for Africa and beyond Africa!

Thank you.