WORLD FOOD FORUM 2023 Science and Innovation Forum: Innovative solutions for soil and water management for climate action - Opening Remarks

WORLD FOOD FORUM 2023

Science and Innovation Forum:

Innovative solutions for soil and water management for climate action

Opening Remarks

By

Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

19 October 2023

 

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

 

We all know well the challenges brought by the climate crises and human-made pressures on our finite soil and natural resources.

 

FAO’s latest reports show that globally our land and water systems are at a breaking point, with one third of soils degradation.

 

Healthy soils and water, together with biodiversity, are the foundation of efficient, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.

 

Two weeks ago, we organized a global symposium on soils and water, as well as the second Rome Water Dialogue, as part of the FAO Water Journey.

 

The meetings made clear recommendations:

 

First: we need a comprehensive and integrated approach to address food and water insecurity, together with the climate crisis.

 

FAO addresses these challenges with a focus on transforming agrifood systems through science, technology and innovation.

 

Second: we need to develop and strengthen integrated information systems to address pressing multisectoral challenges, which should be available to all – especially to farmers who are the custodians of our natural resources, as well as responsible for their management and are their final controllers.

 

We need to empower them to ensure they receive the necessary support from society, not only from governments. Natural resources are a public good, not only for farmers, but for all of us.

 

To support agrifood systems transformation, FAO uses innovative applications such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and diverse data sources to create the high-quality data and information needed for sound water and land use planning, policy and investment.

 

Still, we do not have a global, rationalized, land-use design. This is one thing for which FAO should take the ownership, mapping global land soil, and then to develop rationalized recommendations on how to use the land for every country on this planet.

 

Some countries may have such a mapping, but it may be just a very general design, while smaller countries may not have one at all. They just let the farmers and the local community use the land when they want, and how they want, no matter for what purpose - for agricultural, industrial, urban, public schools, and so forth.

 

That is one of the big gaps that FAO should take a leading role in, including for water – the two should be looked at together because the two make up the Planet. At FAO, we have the technical expertise and instruments, such as the cross-cutting Geospatial Platform and Big Data, to make this happen.

 

Optimizing innovations in fertilizer and water recovery and water use efficiency, and non-conventional water re-use, alleviates growing water security challenges, such as population growth, water pollution and climate crisis.

 

FAO offers many technical products to support you, but FAO is more. FAO is fully committed to the UN Water Action Agenda to improve cooperation, partnership, capacity development, and catalyze actions.

 

Especially for investment in research and development, so that the international community can act faster and at scale. Because, I say it again, in FAO we do not only support the individual scientists, but we must also support Members in scaling up and speeding up – to not remain only at the small silo level.

 

That is not what FAO, or the UN, are about, in my opinion. UN means United Nations, not united local communities, or united individuals. National and local governments must take ownership, and we provide the technical information and support.

 

There is a Chinese proverb that says that you always forget your own field, and you try to tillage your neighbors’ field, and at the end of the day your field has no crops, no production, but your neighbors are growing more prosperous because you helped them to till their field.

 

As a UN organization, we must not look at what other agencies are doing, but manage our own mandate, our own “field” where we have our own comparative advantage based on our expertise.

 

We need to focus on not more than five key areas within our mandate, this way we can ensure to have the necessary resources, capacity, and time to carry out our work efficiently and effectively.

 

This is also the principle behind the One Country One Priority Commodity (OCOP) Initiative. It does not mean only one, but one plus N, maybe some countries might be one plus ten – it is about managing well what you have the capacity to do.

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

Let us have a professional discussion today, lets jump out of our box, outside our own small silos to build big, to reach global level.

 

Thank you.