CL 179 Side Event: High-Level Launch of the State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture 2025 Report (SOLAW 2025) Opening Remarks

Your Excellencies the Ambassadors from Egypt, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Senegal, France, China and the EU Representative,

Dear Colleagues, 

I am so happy to see you all here today, especially on the opening day of the 179th Session of the Council - the first with the newly appointed Independent Chairperson of the Council (ICC).

We need fresh energy. I always try to gather new energy to change. I already have plenty, but I want to gain even more from 气功, if you are positive enough.

Welcome to the launch of The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture 2025 Report — SOLAW 2025.

SOLAW is one of FAO’s flagship publications, and this third edition is especially significant because it builds on previous reports and offers an even stronger evidence base and clearer guidance for action.

I always encourage my colleagues to be action oriented, rather than purely theoretical. Having been a professor, I understand the value of theoretical thinking, but we also need action-oriented approaches. These lead to solutions and results. I know it is challenging, but with consistent effort you can see the difference.

My colleagues are very clever, I know. You just need a slightly critical boss to push, and guide you, and then you can see tangible results and change.

Today’s report comes at a critical moment.

Disasters have cost agriculture USD 3.26 trillion over the last three decades.

In 2024 alone, 673 million people were hungry.

And by 2050, we will be 9.7 billion people on this planet, requiring 50 percent more food and 25 percent more freshwater than in 2012.

Freshwater does not come only from underground sources and rainfall. That is the increment management, it is a limit. Based on my 7.5 years of experience in the most drought-prone areas of China - the Ningxia Province, which receives only 200 millimetres of rainfall - we managed to improve water-use efficiency.

Water efficiency remains a major challenge; however, we have a significant potential for improvement by biological methods or through engineering, and through effective management. There are three main ways to enhance water and resource efficiency, including the use of land.

Today, 95 percent of our food is produced on land, which is why I strongly advocate for aquaculture, not only fish, but all types of aquatic foods.

As I had emphasised in the preparation of the UN Food Systems Summit - and thanks to the Secretary General for accepting my recommendation - aquatic food is not limited to fish; it also comes from plants, algae, and weeds.

Seaweed, for instance, is a very popular vegetable in East Asia, especially China, Japan, Korea and across Southeast Asia.

Strategically, aquatic food has a great potential, while on the other hand we also need to continue to improve land-based productivity. Therefore, we need a strong, holistic plan on how to use our resources, especially land and water.

Over 60 percent of human-induced land degradation occurs on agricultural lands, on croplands and pasturelands.

Tomorrow we will launch the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 together with the President of Mongolia. We know that these lands have a big potential, if we could improve productivity by just 10 percent on global grasslands, meeting future food needs would be much more achievable.

For centuries, the scientific potential of grasslands has largely been overlooked.

If we could improve grasslands scientifically, the margin of utility of investment would be much higher than when investing in fertile land, as fertile land has taken around 10 000 years to reach its agricultural potential.

That is why we need to develop a comprehensive action plan for land use, not just for soil use.

The gap between demand and the condition of our productive resources is widening.

The message from SOLAW 2025 is clear: our land, soil and water systems are finite, fragile and central to global food security, and they require attention and investment now, particularly in innovation and management.

Dear Colleagues,

It takes more than one million years to turn rocks into fertile soil, yet we can destroy it in a single generation, and pollute it within a few years through heavy metals and industrial pollution. It takes hundreds and hundreds of years to recover, and, in many cases, recovery is almost impossible. That is why we have to protect our precious fertile land.

This edition of SOLAW highlights where the greatest pressures lie, but also where the greatest opportunities exist. 

With sound policies, targeted investments and improved practices, countries can close yield gaps, accelerate recovery and build resilience. 

Healthy soils, productive land and reliable water supply remain the foundation of food security and nutrition.

Two years ago, when I visited Egypt, as the Ambassador knows, I saw the land that produces chili peppers. By introducing a new variety, it would be possible to double the yield using the same investment and the same resources, soil and water.

Innovation is the top priority, as it is a cost-effective investment. Second is management. In the small village I visited farmers were harvesting cucumbers and chili peppers.

By the time these products reach Cairo, one-third is already lost due to the lack of a cold chain and proper packaging. We therefore need a comprehensive value chain design, focusing not only on land or soil, but also on end-products and end-market.

That makes it more relevant to politicians and investors.

I always challenge Dr Li Feng, the Director of the FAO Land and Water Division; when you talk about your own work, politicians are not very interested in, but when you talk about the linkages with water, land, entrepreneurs, end-markets and the improvement of livelihoods for consumers and farmers, then politicians pay attention.

For years, at FAO people only talked about things related to their own silos; they did not connect their work with the interests of politicians.

This is also true in Europe. There are first-class scientists - I have known many over the past 40 years, including my professor, students, and classmates. They are all outstanding.

But how many have actually transformed agrifood systems in Europe?

I am not only talking about China, India or the global South. Even in Europe, where resources, investments and technology are abundant, transformation has not occurred. Why did it not happen? We need dialogue and a bridge.

The release of SOLAW 2025 is part of a broader FAO effort to elevate land and water to the centre of global attention.

I really count on all the Ambassadors. You are not the experts, but you can send very concrete suggestions to your leaders. Leaders are the ones who can drive change - not scientists, not the FAO Director-General, not the Ministers of Agriculture, not even the Ministers of the Finance - only leaders.

If anyone has the chance to visit the new part of Cairo, they will see that they do not have money when they started. But now, under the leadership of President El-Sisi, things have changed. Leaders can create added value for products through their development.

It is a call for our collective efforts to build more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable global agrifood systems.

This year, as we conclude the 2024-25 biennium with water as its theme, FAO also presented two other global assessments focusing on land and the urgency of addressing land degradation: 

• The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA 2025), and
• The Status of Land Tenure and Governance.

Together, these three publications offer a comprehensive picture of where the world stands and where countries can take action on integrated land-soil-water management. They build on the momentum of this biennium’s focus on water and reflect strong Member commitment.

Collectively, I think these reports reaffirm FAO’s commitment, through partnerships, to translate insights into action on sustainable use of land, soil, and water resources for the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life – leaving no one behind.

That is why we support the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), as a technical arm of FAO, to hold the Second International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD+20) in Cartagena, Colombia, next year.

This is our role, as a technical body, but the CFS should also play its own role, as it is an independent committee.

Whenever any political forum, such as the G20, G7, BRICS or others, require technical support, especially on agrifood system related issues, FAO is definitely willing to play its part.

I know that next year Senegal will continue to host the UN Water Conference, which is a positive continuation. I told your Ministers and your leaders that FAO will fully support Senegal, not only because it is located in Africa, but also because developing countries can benefit from your experience and active role to stand up.

Through FAO’s Conceptual Framework for Integrated Land and Water Resources Management, we are working closely with countries and partners – including UNCCD, GEF, GCF, and the Global Soil Partnership – to conserve, restore and manage land and water resources more sustainably.

The core message of SOLAW 2025 is critical: the choices made today on land, soil and water management will determine the world’s capacity to feed a growing population in the future, while safeguarding the health of our planet for the next generations.

Be ready to participate in the One Health Summit. I have said many times to our colleagues, especially from the Land and Water Division, from the Forestry Division, from the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, and from the Fishery and Aquaculture Division, that we should consider the One Health approach starting from soil and water,  moving up to plants and animals, and ultimately to ourselves as intelligent beings – human beings.

So, let us work from the ground up, not from the air. 

Thank you.