Bilateral meetings with H.E, Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus and H.E., Maria Panayiotou, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment of the Republic of Cyprus

Nicosia - During his official visit to the Republic of Cyprus, from 5 to 7 June, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, held bilateral meetings with the President of the Republic of Cyprus and the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment.

The Director-General met with His Excellency, Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus, during which he welcomed the Director-General to Cyprus and referred to Cyprus’ close partnership with FAO since it became a member in 1960. He expressed concern for global food security and referred to the potential for enhanced collaboration on the issues of climate change and water scarcity.

The Director-General expressed his deep appreciation for Cyprus' engagement with FAO and the renewal of the partnership in the course of his official visit. He expressed Cyprus' potential to be a guide to other smaller and less developed countries through sharing knowledge and expertise in the face of challenges such as water scarcity and through success stories such as aquaculture. He referred, in particular, to the many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which could benefit from Cyprus’ experience.

The President recalled his previous engagements and referred to FAO's work in addressing growing global food insecurity. The Director-General detailed FAO’s presence on the ground around the world and its membership of 194 countries which enables the Organization to be instrumental in providing technical assistance, even in the most difficult contexts. He added that the global reduction in funding for development, technical support and coordination will have an impact on FAO’s work, such as for example in relation to transboundary animal diseases.

The Director-General also met with Her Excellency, Maria Panayiotou, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment of the Republic of Cyprus during which the Minister outlined the current challenges facing the sectors under her Ministry, including the current drought, with dams containing just 20% of their capacity, and the necessity to compensate farmers due to the lack of availability of water for irrigation. She also raised concerns regarding the resilience of the agrifood system, and the need to reduce food waste.

The Director-General recognized these challenges, referring to similar challenges facing other countries and the necessity to share experiences in a context where Cyprus could play a pivotal role. He also pointed to opportunities for diversification of agriculture into, for example, novel aqua-food products, the integration of the food industry with regional development, and the enhanced utilization of liquid wastes and other by-products in the circular economy.

The Director-General suggested that Cyprus could engage with FAO on these challenges by seconding researchers to the Organization to expedite a cross-fertilization of innovation. Furthermore, collaboration with FAO expertise and fora could be utilized to develop a proposal for large scale investment in Cyprus’ water infrastructure for agriculture.

The pair also discussed the issue of wheat reserves as a tool to buffer against fluctuations in the market, and the technical assistance that could be provided by FAO including by using the experience of other countries and avoiding unnecessary distortion in prices.

Finally, the Minister and the Director-General expressed their mutual commitment to continue strengthening relations and looked forward to marking the Organizations’ 80th anniversary in October 2025.