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Agrifood systems in the Asia-Pacific region have been particularly vulnerable to shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, quickening the adoption of digital technologies, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said. Qu was speaking in a special event entitled “Innovation, Science and Digitalization: Transforming agrifood systems in Asia and the Pacific region” at FAO’s 36th Asia Pacific Regional Conference. He said the systems governing...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has wrapped up its largest-ever regional conference in Asia and the Pacific, with more than 1,100 participants from 42 Member nations.The 36th Session of the FAO Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference, a combination of in-person and virtual participation, was hosted by the Government of Bangladesh, 8 – 11 March, in the capital Dhaka.The historic, record-breaking participation underscored the concerns Member...

Ministers and high-level delegates from across Asia and the Pacific met today with a focus on improving nutrition, lives and livelihoods in the wake of the global pandemic, while taking aim at ongoing climate and severe weather-related threats, and tackling diseases and pests that are affecting crops and livestock in the world’s most populous region. Improved ecosystem responses in the Pacific Islands is another key topic.  The 36th Asia and Pacific...

High-level delegations from UN FAO Member nationsacross Asia and the Pacific convened today for a four day session to address and respond to the damage done to economies and livelihoods in the food and agriculture sectors in the wake of the global pandemic. Other pressing issues include addressing major nutritional problems – 40 percent of this vast region’s population cannot afford a healthy, nutritious diet – while animal and crop diseases...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has placed Small Island Developing States (SIDS) at the centre of its work to transform agrifood systems,  because of their vulnerability to the climate crisis and other shocks and their importance in the protection of marine biodiversity.  Scattered around the globe but with just some 65 million inhabitants, SIDS account for only 1 per cent of global CO2 emissions, but they bear...

Civil society organizations (CSO) from Asia and the Pacific have concluded a two-day virtual meeting in preparation for their participation in a major multilateral conference aimed at charting a course for the region’s food security and agrifood systems transformation. The CSO participation in FAO’s 36th Session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (#APRC36) aims to concentrate positions among the civil society organizations in anticipation of their contributions to...

Effective cooperation between countries in the Global South and other development partners is critical in reversing the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic which is pushing more people into poverty and hunger. This was one of the main messages that resonated today from an international high-level event on South-South and Triangular Cooperation co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural...

The ways in which forests can contribute to COVID-19 pandemic recovery will be in focus as FAO’s Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) meets this week. Leading forestry experts and policy makers from 34 member countries will explore the immense opportunities for the forestry sector to promote a more inclusive, productive and greener economic recovery, and support the transition towards a healthier and more resilient Asia-Pacific region. The 29th session of the APFC is...

Government Ministers from 46 countries in Asia and the Pacific will gather here from 8 – 11 March, to reach consensus inter-alia on the way forward, following the damage dealt by the global Pandemic to lives and livelihoods of those involved in the food and agriculture sectors in the world’s most populous region.   The Asia and Pacific Regional Conference (#APRC36), convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations...

The massive volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga last month, followed by last week’s earthquake and aftershocks, have highlighted the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a global meeting focused on the countries and convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has heard. In opening remarks at the Global SIDS Solutions Dialogue, FAO’s Chief Economist, Máximo Torero Cullen, underscored “the severe challenge that SIDS face in moving...