FAO jointly organized Agriculture Day at CBD COP 14, Sharm El Shiekh, Egypt -- Agriculture and Biodiversity: walking hand-in-hand toward a sustainable world, on Sunday 25 November 2018 together with CBD Secretariat and the Mexican Government, in partnership with GIZ, Rare, IUCN and Conservation International.

The long-term sustainability of agriculture and food systems depends on the ecological functions and services provided by biodiversity, most importantly food security and nutrition. Tackling food security and nutrition, poverty eradication and biodiversity conservation int he face of climate change and other threats requires a better understanding and coherent actions, across agricultural sectors, to mutually support the global objectives.

Farmers, fishers and forest users need more than a set of technical solutions, however. They need an integral vision that supports them with adequate incentives to conserve or restore degraded habitats, improve production in a sustainable and efficient way, and obtain better returns for their products. Higher productivity, within sustainability limits means more land for conservation and less pressure on remaining natural resources.

The Agriculture Day aimed to bring the perspective of multiple stakeholders to illustrate why, how and who are championing solutions to protect biodiversity, while increasing productivity and improving livelihoods.The day was the second best attended Rio Conventions Pavilion event, with 135 participants, illustrating the interests of CBD Parties in FAO's work. Institutions attending included: UNCBD, UNDP, IPES-Food, GIZ, WWF, Bioversity International, IISD, IIED, ICRAF, INIA-Peru, IUCN, SAGARPA-Mexico, BFN-Germany, Forest Peoples Program, PEW Charitable Trust, ICARDA, IDDRI, MMA-Brazil, and the Egyptian Environmental Ministry, among others.