OCOP in Action: Online Training Sessions on the Sustainable Development of SAPs for the Implementation of the FAO Global Action on One Country One Priority Product in the Tropics

Rome, 30 November 2022. On 28-30 November 2022, the FAO Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) and the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) jointly organized three online training sessions on the Sustainable Development of Special Agricultural Products (SAPs) for the Implementation of the FAO Global Action on OCOP in the Tropics. 

Professor Guodao LIU, the Vice President of CATAS welcomed the training participants and emphasized the importance of the course and cooperation of CATAS with NSP to promote the implementation of the FAO Global Action on the OCOP. Based on its rich experience in working in the tropics, CATAS stands ready to provide all the required technical support to elicit the overall success of the OCOP.  

"In the context of the current and emerging challenges, sustainable agriculture holds the key to supporting the implementation of the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, thus, contributing to achieving the SDGs, especially SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero hunger) and SDG 10 (Inequality)," stated Dr. Jingyuan XIA, NSP Director of FAO, as he gave his opening remarks virtually from FAO’s headquarters in Rome. 

Expert presenters from CATAS, the Shandong Institute of Pomology and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) provided reports on the sustainable development of SAPs regarding their importance, comparative advantages, demands, challenges, strategy, key action, key technologies, effectiveness, experience, lessons and suggestions. The SAPs include selected field crops (cassava, sugar cane, chili, sweet cherry), fruit crops (banana, date palm, jackfruit, mango), and horticulture crops (coffee, cocoa, coconut and tea).  

More than 140 participants from over 15 countries attended the sessions, representing national government officials, national agricultural research and extension service institutions, technical experts, farmers, private sector, FAO regional and national OCOP Focal Points, and others. The majority of the participants were from the first-round five demonstration countries for the implementation of OCOP: Bangladesh, representing the Asia and the Pacific Region and promoting jackfruit; Egypt, representing the Near East and North Africa Region and promoting date palm; Malawi, representing the Africa Region and promoting banana; Trinidad and Tobago, representing the Latin American and the Caribbean Region and promoting cocoa; and Uzbekistan, representing the Europe and Central Asia Region and promoting sweet cherry.    

The participants highly appreciated the training and actively exchanged ideas on policy support, technical guidance, knowledge-sharing, and worldwide coordination. It was agreed that enhancing the sustainable technology and capacity development for the potential OCOP projects countries is key to successfully implementing the OCOP global action plan, while FAO, with its decentralized offices, should work closely to assist the OCOP projects countries in this endeavor. 

In his closing remarks, NSP Director XIA expressed his sincere thanks to all the presenters for their excellent presentation, to all the participants for their active engagements, and to all the organizers for their coordination. "One of the most notable achievements in this three-session training is the establishment of a global technical network for the OCOP Community to get everybody on board, leaving no one behind," stated XIA. 

The training materials and the recording of the sessions will soon be available on the FAO global website for the OCOP, which will act as a useful platform to share information and lessons learned during the course of the OCOP implementation.