09/03/2015

Dr Shakeel Bhatti, Secretary of the International Treaty was among the featured speakers on the opening day of the 2nd annual Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA-2015), an international event on sustainable agriculture held this week in the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking during the Global Climate-Smart Agriculture Summit’s plenary session on Financing Climate-Smart Agriculture, Dr Bhatti said, "Plant genetic resources are a major factor in sustaining agricultural production, providing an important buffer and an 'insurance' against external factors such as climate change, insects and other pests, plant diseases that migrate with climatic changes."

He spoke of the importance of food crop diversity, and pointed to the fact that over three-fourths of all known food crops have been lost in the last 100 years, taking with them the unique attributes acquired over the years – to survive hot summers, cold winters, dry conditions, flooding and other adverse conditions. "We must maintain food crop diversity if the adverse impact of climate change is to be countered, and if food crop production is to be increased in order to meet growing human needs."

Dr Bhatti spoke of the crucial role of the International Treaty in securing food and nutrition for the future, and highlighted innovative ways of sharing technology to enable farmers to face climate change.

During his presentation, Dr Bhatti highlighted number of Treaty activities, including the development of a Treaty Strategic Action Plan specifically aimed at addressing some of the key issues facing agriculture in the Near East and North Africa Region (Treaty NENA-Action Plan), which will be launched shortly. He also spoke of the systematic sharing of large-scale data, including genomic and phenotyping data through the “Diversity Seek (DivSeek) Initiative,” a community-driven initiative that the Treaty is facilitating together with the Global Crop Diversity Trust and other partners.

The GFIA-2015 has attracted over 3000 attendees from over 61 countries, and includes a large exhibition in addition to conference sessions, workshops and roundtable discussions.

The 3-day GFIA-2015 opening ceremony featured eminent personalities, including HRH King George Rukidi IV of Uganda; HRH Prince Charles of the United Kingdom (video address); John Kerry, US Secretary of State (video address); Dr Naoki Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility; Dr Ren Wang, Assistant Director-General of the FAO; Dr Ethel Sennhauser, Director of Agriculture at the World Bank; Johan Gatsonides, Head of Food Security and Agro Resources of The Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs; and other international luminaries from the fields of agriculture, development and climate change.

The GFIA-2015 has been organized under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mansour Bin-Zayed Al-Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, and runs from 9-11 March 2015.