World Pulses Day 2023 Opening Remarks

World Pulses Day 2023

Opening Remarks

By

Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

10 February 2023

 

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to this year’s virtual World Pulses Day celebration. It is now the 5^th year that we gather to celebrate the importance of pulses, and their contribution to food security. The theme for this year is “Pulses for a Sustainable Future”, whichaims to highlight the key role that pulses can play in transforming our agrifood systems to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the contributions of each of you to the important work carried out by the World Pulses Day Steering Committee, as well as the continuous support from the Global Pulse Confederation. Much work is done behind the scenes to get these initiatives off the ground, and to continue building on the efforts and achievements from previous years.

We still have much work ahead of us.

The extensive benefits of pulses are still not widely known, and this is a key objective of World Pulses Day – to continue to raise awareness and share experiences. Beans, chickpeas and peas are the most well-known and commonly consumed types of pulses, but there are hundreds of varieties from around the world, all with great nutritional, environmental, social and economic benefits.

Pulses contribute in diverse ways towards the transformation of our agrifood systems, and can help us address multiple global crises, especially for smallholder farmers.

COP 27 recognized agriculture to be a key leverage point for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Pulses can contribute to increasing the resilience of farming systems, especially for farmers in water scarce environments. They have a low water footprint and can better tolerate drought and climate-related disasters compared with other food crops.

At the last UN Biodiversity Conference COP 15, nations adopted a landmark framework to support global biodiversity. Pulses help to improve soil biodiversity, and are crucial components of multiple cropping systems. And when included in crop rotations, they can improve chemical fertilizer use efficiency.

Dear Colleagues,

FAO stands ready to support Members to enhance production and consumption of pulses to improve and transform agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, and to achieve the 4 Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all, leaving no one behind.

We need to continue working side-by-side with all relevant stakeholders – private sector organizations, civil society, academia and intergovernmental institutions, globally, regionally, nationally and locally, to create true transformation.

This year’s theme for World Pulses Day is forward-looking because it challenges us to strive for a better food future, and to engage in the transformation of our agrifood systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

We can and must build a sustainable future for all.

Let us use this platform to go forward together towards our collective goal.

Thank you.