In the Philippines, FAO Director-General addresses high-level Asian Development Bank event, showcases AI tools and visits fishing villages and ecotourism site
©FAO/Gerard Carreon
18/03/2026
Manila – There is positive but still inadequate and uneven progress in tackling food insecurity in the Asia and the Pacific region, where around 25 million people escaped hunger in 2024, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said at a high-level event hosted during the Asia and Pacific Food System Forum 2026 hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Qu praised these outcomes while noting that, despite notable advances in agricultural innovation, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, blue transformation, and digital systems, among others, the region still accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world’s undernourished population and emphasized “we need to do more and better together”. Qu further highlighted the need to “produce more with less – with enabling policies and responsible investment”.
Persistent productivity, climate, market and infrastructural challenges constrain growth in many economies, most acutely in Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and conflict-affected countries, Qu added during a leaders’ session focusing on “Food Systems Transformation for a Sustainable Future.”
Multilateral development banks and institutions are taking on a greater share of worldwide development funding as donor countries retrench their priorities. Agrifood investments are projected to be a central feature of ADB’s funding activities in the future, amounting to $26 billion by 2030.
FAO has been partnering with the ADB for more than 50 years, and its Strategic Framework 2022-2031 is geared to widening partnership networks to accelerate the mobilization of resources needed to make agrifood systems more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, Qu said. “Scaling investment in agrifood systems across Asia and the Pacific, and beyond, remains a priority for FAO,” he emphasized.
Deepening collaboration with the ADB can help operationalize FAO’s work through the FAO Investment Centre “by bringing together FAO’s technical knowledge, expertise, data and investment solutions” with those of the ADB, as well as the World Bank” he said.
Given that agrifood systems in Asia and the Pacific account for more than 40 percent of the work force, or more than 850 million people, effective transformation is critical, and urgent, as half the global population growth expected by 2050 will occur in the region. The Director-General emphasized the need for inter-institutional and cross-sectoral collaboration to drive agrifood system transformation, calling in particular for an accelerated transition from strategy to integrated solutions, building stronger partnerships, and ensuring that development financing and private investments translate into real impact on the ground and reach smallholders, women, youth and rural communities.
Field visits
During his visit to the Philippines, the Director-General showcased some of FAO’s AI tools at the ADB venue and met with youth form the national chapter of the World Food Forum’s youth delegation.
He also visited the Pampana-Sasmuan Linear Park, a coastal wetland reserve north of Manila, and visited two local fishing villages, where he met with women harvesting blue swimming crabs, an important export product for the Philippines and neighboring countries, and inspected mangroves at the Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad Critical Habitat Ecotourism Area.
Returning to the capital he visited a mega dyke built to cope with the consequences of the Pinatubo volcano eruption in 1991, which severely decimated local croplands, reforestation projects and the livelihoods of thousands of farmers.
Qu praised these outcomes while noting that, despite notable advances in agricultural innovation, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, blue transformation, and digital systems, among others, the region still accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world’s undernourished population and emphasized “we need to do more and better together”. Qu further highlighted the need to “produce more with less – with enabling policies and responsible investment”.
Persistent productivity, climate, market and infrastructural challenges constrain growth in many economies, most acutely in Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and conflict-affected countries, Qu added during a leaders’ session focusing on “Food Systems Transformation for a Sustainable Future.”
Multilateral development banks and institutions are taking on a greater share of worldwide development funding as donor countries retrench their priorities. Agrifood investments are projected to be a central feature of ADB’s funding activities in the future, amounting to $26 billion by 2030.
FAO has been partnering with the ADB for more than 50 years, and its Strategic Framework 2022-2031 is geared to widening partnership networks to accelerate the mobilization of resources needed to make agrifood systems more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, Qu said. “Scaling investment in agrifood systems across Asia and the Pacific, and beyond, remains a priority for FAO,” he emphasized.
Deepening collaboration with the ADB can help operationalize FAO’s work through the FAO Investment Centre “by bringing together FAO’s technical knowledge, expertise, data and investment solutions” with those of the ADB, as well as the World Bank” he said.
Given that agrifood systems in Asia and the Pacific account for more than 40 percent of the work force, or more than 850 million people, effective transformation is critical, and urgent, as half the global population growth expected by 2050 will occur in the region. The Director-General emphasized the need for inter-institutional and cross-sectoral collaboration to drive agrifood system transformation, calling in particular for an accelerated transition from strategy to integrated solutions, building stronger partnerships, and ensuring that development financing and private investments translate into real impact on the ground and reach smallholders, women, youth and rural communities.
Field visits
During his visit to the Philippines, the Director-General showcased some of FAO’s AI tools at the ADB venue and met with youth form the national chapter of the World Food Forum’s youth delegation.
He also visited the Pampana-Sasmuan Linear Park, a coastal wetland reserve north of Manila, and visited two local fishing villages, where he met with women harvesting blue swimming crabs, an important export product for the Philippines and neighboring countries, and inspected mangroves at the Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad Critical Habitat Ecotourism Area.
Returning to the capital he visited a mega dyke built to cope with the consequences of the Pinatubo volcano eruption in 1991, which severely decimated local croplands, reforestation projects and the livelihoods of thousands of farmers.