Bilateral meeting with the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Mr Robert Bonnie

Rome – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),met and discussed the longstanding partnership between FAO and the United States of America.

The Director-General thanked the Under Secretary for the USA’s ongoing support to FAO’s mandate and looked forward to continued, constructive engagement. He also expressed appreciation for the Under Secretary’s multiple visits to FAO over the last few years and reiterated that USDA plays a key leadership role on matters related to science and innovation in agrifood systems.

The Director-General and Under Secretary shared views on the importance of science, technology, innovation, and private sector engagement for sustainable agricultural production.  They also briefly discussed biodiversity and food diversity; the importance of transparency; youth engagement in agriculture; the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS); and the Director-General’s priorities for FAO over the coming four years, among other matters.

The Under Secretary commended FAO for organizing two important conferences this week (the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation and the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization), while the Director-General thanked the Under Secretary and USDA for their active participation in the conferences.

The Director-General expressed appreciation for the foreseen participation of the USDA Chief Scientist in the upcoming World Food Forum 2023 in Rome, Italy from 16-20 October 2023, and invited the USA to continue playing an active role in the WFF, in particular on matters related to science, technology and innovation.