FAO Liaison Office in Moscow celebrates the 5th Anniversary of the Host Country Agreement signature

Five years ago, on 5 February 2015, a Host Country Agreement was signed at FAO Headquarters in Rome stipulating the creation of FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation in Moscow.

FAO’s key motivation was to explore and capitalize on the full capacity of Russia’s potential, knowledge and vast expertise in the areas of agriculture, food, fisheries, forestry and rural development.

The Russian Federation became an FAO Member in 2006. Since then, FAO-Russian relationship has focused on a wide array of development initiatives. Russia, whose official development assistance to developing countries last year approached USD 1 billion, has supported various FAO agrifood-related projects and initiatives in the region of Europe and Central Asia and beyond.

Noteworthy are, in particular, the USD 3.3 million project to help authorities in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan mitigate the threats posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in agriculture and food systems. Another USD 3 million project to help rehabilitate agriculture in Syria was launched in 2019. Additionally, a USD 6 million project targeting, among others, school food and nutrition in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and a USD 3 million package for the promotion of sustainable soil use benefiting all FAO Members are financed by the government of the Russian Federation.

In the time span of four years, FAO Liaison Office (FAO LOR), which opened its doors in 2016, has established privileged working relations with Russian authorities of both federal and regional levels. In particular, with the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs, the Russian Parliament, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), the Federal Forestry and Fisheries Agencies, a wide range of industry associations, academia, NGOs, private businesses and agrifood-focused media.

The Office has helped showcase to Russian audiences – as part of various fora and communication initiatives – FAO’s expertise in fields varied but not limited to:

• strategies for sustainable development in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for which FAO is a custodian agency
• green economy
• food safety and international food standards
• precision farming and smart agriculture
• climate change mitigation in agrifood sector
• urban growth and its impact on food systems
• agritourism in rural development
• the Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) – SAVE FOOD
• awareness raising about FAO international legal instruments.

Guest speakers from various FAO departments and offices, and LOR liaison officers, have presented their professional insights at events held in cities across Russia. FAO LOR arranges and facilitates professional trainings for practitioners and experts in the field: e.g., a weeklong training at the Russian State Agricultural University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy devoted to organic agriculture, processing, certification, and marketing (October 2018).

FAO LOR also contributed to the preparation of FAO’s 31st Regional Conference for Europe (ERC) in 2018, hosted for the first time by Russia in Voronezh, the heart of the “Black Soil” region.

Partnerships continue to expand FAO’s visibility and impact in the Russian Federation, including with academic and research institutions – one of the office’s main counterparts in the country. FAO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in 2017 and with the Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) in 2019.

Every three months, the Office presents FAO flagship publications and FAO webinars at the Russia’s Central Scientific Agricultural Library, one of the largest agricultural libraries in the world. All presentations are web streamed to FAO offices and partners across the region.

The Office has, in sum, faithful to its mandate, facilitated communication and cooperation between FAO and the Government of the Russian Federation and its public fulfilling the promise of the agreement signed five years ago.