18 -19 September 2014, Rome

FAO hosted a two-day International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition, culminating in a high-level round table which discussed recent experiences and experiments in the field with agriculture ministers from several countries.

More than 50 experts, including academic professors, researchers, private sector, government officials and leaders of civil-society organizations, made presentations or speeches at the symposium, which was attended by  more than 400 people.

“Agroecology continues to grow, both in science and in policies. It is an approach that will help to address the challenge of ending hunger and malnutrition in all its forms, in the context of the climate change adaptation needed,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

FAO hosted the symposium as a means to allow experts and advocates to debate Agroecology, an emerging set of practices that seek to apply ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable food systems. Agroecology is increasingly becoming part of the debates of intergovernmental bodies and its approaches are repeatedly mentioned by the Committee on World Food Security.

The closing round-table discussion featured interventions by several agriculture ministers, including Stéphane Le Foll from France, Papa Abdoulaye Seck for Senegal Abdelwahad Nouri for Algeria, Luis Felipe Arauz-Cavallini for Costa Rica, and Hidemichi Sato, Japan’s parliamentary vice minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Brazil’s agriculture minister,  Laudemir André Müller, and Dacian Ciolos, the European Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, also participated with video messages.

Agenda [PDF]

Twitter hashtag: #agroecology #UNFAO