Addressing the scourge of food insecurity, whether provoked by natural disaster or human-generated crises, requires ensuring the availability, accessibility, and affordability of nutritious food. While these elements of food security may vary by country and by season, one element - food availability - should not be an issue today when collectively we produce enough food to feed the world’s population. Where we as a global community are falling short is in working together to ensure accessible and affordable food for all. 

FAO North America is working with the Canadian and U.S. governments to address food insecurity, its multiple causes, and its unprecedented reach. During the North America Informal Regional Conference (INARC), there was clear agreement on the need to address the root causes of hunger, which will require a transformation of agrifood systems. There was also consensus that, given the scope of humanitarian crises, a revised approach to disaster and emergency response where agricultural assistance is fully integrated into budgets and planning is needed.

The central role of innovation and technology as catalysts to transformational change was a theme that peppered discussions throughout the conference. The ePhyto Solution, led by the International Plant Protection Convention, which has made inroads in making international trade of agricultural products faster, safer, and more efficient, was highlighted during the conference as one such innovation that has been expanded to 120 countries. A recent visit by the Director-General QU Dongyu to Cornell University gave him the opportunity to speak with scientists about their global development program. He commented after this visit that the knowledge and technologies being developed at Cornell and across academia will be critical to addressing the challenges we face.

A game-changing project where FAO is working with the U.S. Department of State is the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils, or VACS. This initiative was highlighted at the Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly. This initiative will help build resilient food systems that yield climate adapted crops and help foster healthy and nutritious diets. With funding from the U.S. Department of State, FAO has started work on soil mapping in Africa and Latin America as part of the SoilFER project. Stay tuned for more news on VACS.

Another game-changer, women’s empowerment and gender equality in agrifood systems, has received strong backing by the U.S. and Canadian governments. The United Nations announcement of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, an initiative led by the U.S. government and co-sponsored by Canada, will bring the needed attention to the importance of women in agrifood systems and the benefits that we will reap by empowering rural women. FAO North America will work to ensure the success of this year.

In 2050, we will need to feed a population of nearly 10 billion people. To ensure the availability of food will require a collectively driven transformation of our agrifood systems that starts now. As the Director-General recently remarked, “Transformative partnerships must be at the heart of our work as we chart a new course for global cooperation.” 

I look forward to developing transformative partnerships with new and existing partners in North America. When you have a moment, please visit our new website, where we highlight the programs and partnerships that will make agrifood transformation possible.