Bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State for Agricultural Production and Transformation of the Republic of Chad, H.E. Abakar Ramadan
Rome - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today met H.E. Abakar Ramadan, Secretary of State for Agricultural Production and Transformation of the Republic of Chad.
The meeting took place at the sidelines of the 172nd Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome (24-28 April 2023).
The Secretary of State reiterated the importance of the good cooperation between FAO and the Republic of Chad. He noted the importance of integrated water resource management in agrifood systems transformation. The Secretary of State proceeded to discuss how the issue of water management is negatively impacted by the climate crisis, through unpredictable droughts and floods, impacting agricultural production in the country. He underlined that FAO’s support, technical expertise and innovation are needed to reinforce and transform the agrifood systems to enable countries to deal with the new challenges they face.
The Director-General thanked the Secretary of State for his support. He reiterated FAO’s continued support to address the adverse effects of the climate crisis and noted that there is a need for an agile and comprehensive response. The Director-General noted the huge potential of the country and how through the Hand-in-Hand Initiative’s strategic design and geospatial platform, improved seed varieties and water management the country can improve its production capacity and transform agrifood systems.
The two also agreed on key strategic priorities to support agrifood systems transformation through increased production and value addition. In particular, the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative can contribute to the achievement of the country’s priorities.