Director-General and Germany’s Food and Agriculture Minister meet after Berlin forum

18 January 2020, Berlin - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with Julia Klöckner, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture of Germany, and applauded the organization of the just-finished three-day Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin. 

He hailed the GFFA, which brings more than 70 agriculture ministers from around the world together each year, as a great platform for multilateralism and said FAO stands ready to further its engagement. 

The Director-General also thanked the German government for is support to FAO, and asked that it provided additional backing for the Global Action Plan for Fall Armyworm. 

The Minister expressed her appreciation for FAO’s work in producing a concept for the International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture. 

Ministers at the GFFA of 2019 tasked FAO with designing an entity to promote collaboration and governance in using digital technologies in agriculture and making sure smallholders around the world can benefit. FAO’s concept for the Council was welcomed by ministers earlier today.

Minister Klöckner also signaled her support of FAO’s new Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which the Director-General illustrated by way of describing the holistic programme design and integrated UN implementation of a European Union-funded project in Papua New Guinea.