FAO DDG Laurent Thomas at St. Pete’s forum: Fragility of agri-food systems

Today, on 4 June 2021, Mr Laurent Thomas, Deputy Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), addressed the “Food X Technology” session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

The SPIEF session was dedicated to relevant issues of the inherent connection between agricultural sector and innovative technology. Discussions covered current challenges in the industry and obstacles, which might occur during the technological transformation process.

Mr Laurent Thomas who joined the session online explained the challenges posed by the increase in global population and presented FAO’s vision on how technologies could help to reach a world without hunger and provide sound and healthy food for all. FAO Deputy DG in his opening remarks noted that our food systems need to be improved, and this is a matter of urgency.

Remarks by FAO Deputy DG:

• According to FAO estimates, published in 2020, 690 million people suffered from chronic undernourishment throughout the world before the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation further, exposing the fragility of existing agri-food systems.

• The 2021 Global Report on Food Crises stated that conflict, extreme weather, economic shocks, including due to COVID-19, pushed an additional 155 million people into acute food insecurity in 2020. Today almost 10 percent of the world’s population go to bed hungry, wake up hungry and cannot provide food for themselves and their families during prolonged periods of time. Moreover, 3 billion people still cannot afford healthy diets. In addition, billions are overweight and hundreds of millions obese. The facts and evidence speak by themselves that our agri-food systems are broken.

• The COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath threaten global food security. In the longer term, the economic consequences of the pandemic can have implications on the functioning of food systems and provoke social disruption. We are at a real risk of failing to attain the paramount objective set by SDG2 – to eradicate hunger and ensure adequate nutrition and a healthy diet for all.

• It is for this reason that The UN Secretary-General has convened the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in September this year to launch the holistic redesign of agri-food systems. While efforts in the past have centered on boosting agriculture to produce more food, today’s focus is on addressing the root causes of hunger and malnutrition through transformative changes to our agri-food systems. We should produce more with less resources and drastically improve food utilization, especially reduce food loss and waste.^[1].
• Our vision in FAO is that we have to support the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems, for better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life.

• And innovation and technologies are the accelerators we need to achieve this vision. Without progress on innovation and sound applications of new technologies, we will not be able to attract the youth in the profession as an attractive domain for a better life.
  • New advanced technologies, especially digital ones, can make significant contributions towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including SDG2 on hunger elimination.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake up call and has accelerated the use of digital technologies and innovative solutions that will play a significant role in a post COVID-19 world to better address priorities such as social protection and cash transfer, water management for agriculture, increased resilience against natural and human-induced shocks and building sustainable and resilient agri-food systems.

• Most cutting-edge technologies could and should be applied in the agri-food industries: genetic research and molecular techniques, locally specific investment in knowledge like it is proposed under the concept of agro-ecology and other sustainable models of production, block chain and robotization, new materials and 3D printing, ultra-resolution satellite scanning of the Earth’s surface, innovative energy-saving know-how and, of course, the whole spectre of data-processing, storing and sharing technologies.

• The pandemic also revealed the divide that persist between those who have access and those who do not. Digital technology dividends are not automatic, and not everyone can benefit equally. Therefore, it is critical to take appropriate policy decisions to maximize the benefits and minimize the potential risks, and ensure government commitment to upscale new solutions and create an enabling environment for innovation development and application. Even in Russia and Europe there is already a big divide on internet access between small scale producers and larger commercial farms.

• The region of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is an economic and agricultural powerhouse that boasts diverse cultures, agri-food systems and climatic zones. This diversity provides opportunities to share experience and good practices within the region and beyond, but to tap this potential the region needs more investment in research and innovation. (FAO Director-General QU Dongyu)^[2]

• This ECA region and Russian Federation in particular can and could play a key role in this conversation leading the development of game-changing solutions to transform agri-food systems.

• New digital technologies are already spreading in the Russian Federation’s agriculture, for the moment mainly at the level of large commercial agribusinesses that have large land and livestock holdings, are backed by financial resources and management know-how, and use satellites, variable rate application of inputs and hyper-local weather information.

• Innovative technologies will help the region to increase efficiency of production, facilitate inclusive agri-food systems, enhance nutrition and food safety and traceability along the value chain and reduce food loss and waste.

• The Russian Federation could also benefit from FAO’s knowledge-sharing platform by enhancing its engagement in the Organization’s newest initiatives, such as “1000 Digital Villages” under which we are supporting communities to develop capacity in terms of internet literacy, e-agriculture, e-services, and e-commerce.

• To this end FAO encourages its Members to revisit their development strategies with a focus on innovation, policy, investment, and infrastructure, including roads, food storage and research facilities. FAO is ready to partner with the Russian Federation to further promote innovative and transformative approaches in the region and globally, including through FAO’s  Hand-in-Hand Initiative.

Mr Laurent Thomas concluded that FAO believes that innovation, in general and particularly in agriculture, is ultimately an accelerator for achieving a world free from hunger and malnutrition.