FAO Director-General highlights role of agrifood systems as climate and biodiversity solution providers
High-level dialogue sets the stage for stronger commitments ahead of COP 30
Agrifood systems hold myriad solutions to address the impacts of the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and food insecurity. This was the message FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, delivered during a high-level dialogue “Scaling Up Climate Response through Agrifood Systems: Sustainable and Resilient Agrifood Systems to Deliver Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment, and Better Life” organized on the margins of the fifth annual World Food Forum (WFF) at FAO headquarters.
Dr QU stressed that unleashing the power of agrifood systems requires strong partnerships – and compared it to bringing separate elements together to make a single mosaic, highlighting the need for an inclusive approach that draws on a diverse range of voices including youth, academia, women and Indigenous Peoples. Referencing the upcoming COP 30 climate conference in Brazil, he underlined the importance of bio-solutions for agrifood systems, saying that the COP 30, which would focus on biodiversity would be “an opportunity not only to talk about biodiversity for the local community but in terms of global agrifood solutions. From biodiversity to food diversity” in line with FAO’s mandate.
Special occasion and an honoured guest
This year’s WFF marks a special occasion as it coincides with the 80th anniversary celebrations of FAO, which was founded on the principles of food security for all. The forum is an opportunity for agrifood stakeholders worldwide to come together and discuss concrete ways to advance sustainable and resilient agrifood systems, guided by FAO’s “four betters” : better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life.
Crafting agrifood solutions to tackle the climate crisis offers a unique entry point to achieving the four betters – this was the theme of the high-level dialogue, which included the participation of Her Excellency Rosângela Lula da Silva, First Lady of the Federative Republic of Brazil and COP 30 Special Envoy for Women. In her role as Special Envoy, she noted that “women suffer the greatest impacts of climate change, so women need to be at the table negotiating final solutions” and called for goodwill and increased funding for implementation of solutions.
The First Lady was accompanied by Her Excellency Carla Barroso Carneiro, Permanent Representative of the Federative Republic of Brazil to FAO. In her intervention, Ambassador Barroso referred to the upcoming COP 30 saying that “the spirit of Belém is about connecting people, bringing them together – no other thing symbolizes this as clearly as climate change... Belém will be the first time we will be hosting the COP in the Amazon forest – the home of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and the other countries of the Amazon, the custodians of biodiversity.” She thanked FAO for its ongoing support to tackle climate, food security and social equity challenges, including through its technical collaboration with the COP 30 Presidency on global efforts such as Resilient Agriculture Investment for net Zero land degradation (RAIZ). She also announced that COP 30 will see the launch of a Declaration on Hunger, Poverty and Human-centred Climate Action.
Keynote address, country actions and civil society perspectives
Further contributions to the dialogue included a keynote address by H.E. Manoa Kamikamica, Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives, and Small and Medium Enterprises who spoke of the special regard for nature among Fijians, expressed through the concept of Vanua, which encompasses the deep interconnectedness between people, land, ocean and the environment. He noted how climate change was already a reality for Fiji and other Small Island Developing States in the Pacific – so-called “Big Ocean States” – but said that proven, local solutions rooted in traditional knowledge and science were ready to scale up with the right support, in particular climate finance.
Government ministers from across three regions gave context-based examples of how their countries are scaling up the climate response through agrifood systems: H. E. Luis Alfredo Fratti Silveira, Minister for Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Uruguay; H. E. Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, South Sudan; and H.E. Sarvan Jafarov, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Azerbaijan. All mentioned the importance of catalysing innovation and mobilizing finance to enhance capacity in agrifood systems to build climate resilience.
The focus of the dialogue then turned towards climate solutions being developed by civil society actors, from farmers’ associations and research and academia to sustainable supply chain experts and youth representatives. It featured contributions from Ms. Diane Sibanda, President of the Botswana Farmers Association (World Farmers Organization); Te’o Lau Viliamu Iese, Samoa people, Senior Research Fellow (Drought Resilience and Climate Studies), Melbourne University, Australia; Mr. Roel Van Poppel, Olam OFI, Chief Sustainability Officer, and Ms. Helina Teklu, Lead of the WFF Ethiopia Youth Chapter and CEO of Seed Balls Ethiopia.
Next stop Belém
Summing up the rich and varied contributions to the dialogue, the Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment of FAO, Mr Kaveh Zahedi, who moderated proceedings, concluded by stating “We heard it loud and clear today: Food security is climate security. Every dollar invested in sustainable and resilient agrifood systems is an investment in a safer, fairer, and more sustainable future”.
FAO was proud to host the dialogue as a valuable contribution to the Global Ethical Stocktake. The stocktake is an initiative launched by the Brazilian Presidency in the lead-up to COP 30, which will take place 10–21 November in Belém.
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