FAO Regional Offices take stock of OCOP implementation so far and look ahead to producing tangible outputs

Rome – The Sixth Regional Coordination Meeting took place virtually with over 20 participants engaged to share the updates, lessons learnt and activities from recent OCOP implementation in all FAO regions. Haekoo Kim, FAO Technical Adviser, Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO (NSP) facilitated the meeting. 

Jingyuan Xia, NSP Director opened the meeting and provided a brief update on the implementation of the OCOP Initiative over the past four months. He highlighted several achievements, including:

• three online training sessions organized in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS);
• OCOP presentations at the FAO Global Think Labs with the participation of FAO Deputy Director-General Bech Bechdol with other core leaders and senior managers from the FAO Headquarters and the Regional and Country Offices;
• 82 countries have submitted official applications to support the sustainable development of the value chain of 53 Special Agricultural Products;
• five million USD pledged by the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Programme to support the OCOP Initiative; and
• the establishment of the OCOP Regional Organizing Group for Africa, which set an example for other regions. 

Looking ahead, Director Xia underlined the importance of establishing an OCOP community to implement this important initiative successfully. This includes a network of focal points working on the initiative for countries and regions, with coordination from OCOP Regional Organizing Groups in each region. The key upcoming activity for this OCOP community will be to conduct Regional Launch Events and Implementation Workshops for OCOP Country Projects that are beginning their work across the world. To start achieving tangible outputs, the Director highlighted the importance of selecting demonstration and alternate demonstration projects in countries representing all regions and geo-zones. He urged colleagues in the Coordination Meeting to strengthen their effective communication through the available channels, including the OCOP global website, Regional Knowledge Platforms and the OCOP newsletters. 

Yurdi Yasmi, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Africa and OCOP regional focal point for Africa, explained the steps they took establish the Regional Organizing Group in Africa, and he described its composition, tasks and responsibilities. Other regional focal points and Mariam Awlia, NSP Young Professional Officer, provided updates on the nominations of the OCOP National Focal Points across all FAO regions. Director Xia urged the Regional Focal Points to finalize their nomination lists by 15 April. 

Hafiz Muminjanov, NSP Technical Adviser, presented and discussed the draft programme of the Regional Launch Event and Implementation Workshops for OCOP Country Projects in Africa, to be held in Malawi on 12-13 June 2023. He then presented the list of potential OCOP demonstration countries and sparked a discussion about selecting the best candidate for each FAO region to lead the way for subsequent OCOP country projects to follow. 32 countries were selected provisionally during the Coordination Meeting, including ten from Africa, eight from Asia and Pacific, six from Latin America and Caribbean, four from Near East and North Africa and four from Europe and Central Asia. Regional senior managers will confirm the selected country list by 7 April 2023.

Riccardo Mazzucchelli, NSP Public Information Specialist, updated colleagues on communication and partnership activities. 

In closing, Director Xia remarked that he appreciates the support provided by the OCOP teams at global, regional and country levels and urged them to continue their close engagement with the OCOP initiative and its implementation.