FAO GLOBAL AGRIFOOD BIOTECHNOLOGIES CONFERENCE “Biotechnologies for a Sustainable Future: Driving Agrifood Systems Transformation” Opening Remarks

Excellencies,  

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Good morning, 

I am so pleased to welcome you to the FAO Global Agrifood Biotechnologies Conference - an event that brings together science, policy, and practice at a critical moment for global agrifood systems.

Biotechnology is a forward-looking topic of great relevance.

Already in 2022, it was endorsed by the FAO Strategy on Science and Innovation, and in 2024 during the Science and Innovation Forum of the annual World Food Forum, biotechnology was highlighted for its transformative potential for agrifood systems transformation.

Today, we have continued our efforts and built on that momentum.

With rapid scientific advancements and the simultaneous growing global challenges, it is a timely moment to place biotechnologies once again at the center of our collective agenda, to help us turn these challenges into opportunities for people and planet, and to ensure prosperity for all.

Biotechnology is a vital driver of agrifood systems transformation, helping us to ensure increased efficiency (productivity), inclusiveness (technologies sharing), resilience (resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses) and sustainability (social-economic development based on high-tech and science – this is the only solution!).

Biotechnology includes a wide range of tools and techniques - from tissue culture and marker-assisted selection to genomics, diagnostics, bio-vaccine, gene-modified products and bioinformatics.

These have already proven valuable in areas like genetic improvement of crops and animals, disease diagnosis, vaccine development, and the conservation of genetic resources and cost effective new agri-products.

Recent innovations such as gene-editing, genomic selection, single-cell genomics, synthetic biology, and precision fermentation are opening up unprecedented opportunities to address and mitigate the impacts of natural crisis, improve productivity, enhance nutritional value of foods, and establish high-tech industry and economy.

ITC application and Digital Technologies are revolutionizing biotechnology.

Artificial Intelligence is accelerating everything from data collection and analysis, laboratory automation to protein structure prediction and gene sequencing. 

Even the integration of new agrifood systems with functional foods and medicines would be speed up based on the interactive design of BT (biotechnology) and IT (information technology).

These advances are making biotech solutions more precise and scalable, more coherent, and are a key innovation under the FAO Science and Innovation Strategy, as well as a technology accelerator crosscutting the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31.

Biotechnology is also central to advancing the bioeconomy—especially in low- and middle-income countries—by fostering income generation, job creation, and environmental sustainability.

But biotechnological innovation alone is not enough.

It must be innovative, cost effective, inclusive, and more importantly to be available, accessible and affordable to agrifood systems and rural communities, especially small-scale producers, Indigenous Peoples, and vulnerable communities.

This is why FAO promotes the responsible use of biotechnologies that are equitable and context-specific, tailored to local needs.

We support Members in developing national strategies, strengthening technical capacities, facilitating science- and evidence-based dialogue on biosafety and policy, and ensuring technologies benefit all - leaving no one behind.

While biotechnology offers great promise, it is not a substitute for traditional knowledge but should be seen as a powerful and value-added complement - a part of the broader toolbox for agrifood systems transformation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As new technologies are adopted, governments together with all key partners must do so responsibly and effectively to ensure food safety, conduct thorough risk assessments, address ethical concerns, and maintain public trust.

Policies and regulations must guide their development and deployment, keeping in mind animal welfare, environmental impact, and social acceptance.

This global conference, which is part of FAO’s 80th anniversary celebration activities, is an opportunity to reflect on where we stand and where we must go. The world is changing whether we like it or not!

As a biologist and agronomist, evolution with adaptation is a real solution to any uncertainty, to changes, and survival to challenges.

Over the next couple of days, we will explore the latest advancements, examine both opportunities and risks, and ask how biotechnologies can deliver meaningful, equitable impact across agrifood systems.

But we cannot achieve this alone.

To unlock the full potential of biotechnology, we need efficient, effective and coordinated efforts across governments, scientists, innovators, small-scale producers, civil society, and the private sector.

Dear Colleagues,

As we start this important dialogue, I invite us to think together, work together, learn together and contribute together.

Together, we can shape the future of agrifood systems where innovation drives efficiency, inclusion, resilience, and sustainability, and the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind.

FAO must be ready to embrace a new era of agrifood systems driven by data and biotechnology!

Thank you.