WORLD FOOD FORUM 2025 High-Level Event: Implementation of the FAO One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative Opening Remarks

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is the third day of the World Food Forum, but it is a happy day and a busy day. You are my bosses, so I have to report back on what are going to do together.

Your Majesty the King of Lesotho, I really appreciate that you are a close supporter of FAO, who walks the talk. You are a FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition. Food is also about unique cultures, history, flavours and textures, and food choices are not necessarily related to nutrition.

Good morning to all and welcome to FAO headquarters.

Today, we are coming together to accelerate transformation – one country, one product, one future at a time, through the One FAO Network.

That is our power. That is our real soft power. No organization can replace FAO. Of this I am confident.

This High-Level event on the implementation of FAO’s flagship initiative – Once Country One Priority Product (OCOP) – takes place at a special moment as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of FAO during this 5th edition of the World Food Forum.

For eight decades, FAO has been at the forefront of the global fight for food security and nutrition, working together with Members to transform global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

OCOP is an approach. You need a solutions-based approach. If we have only ideas, it is just like the work of a professor. When you face a new group of class of students, you repeat the lesson again; that is a professor.

However, FAO is not a group of professors. We need to lead solutions and change on the ground and in the field. That is OCOP, a systematic approach.

We always push our FAO staff and divisions to offer solutions and approaches.

More than 95 countries across all 5 FAO regions are now advancing 56 Special Agricultural Products—across crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries.

We started with crops, then asked divisions to include fisheries and animals because this is a FAO-wide initiative.

Let me highlight a few powerful examples:

In Asia and the Pacific, Bangladesh is transforming jackfruit into a source of nutrition and income.

China is pioneering low-carbon tea. We have been drinking tea for more than 5 000 years but not low-carbon tea. That is the new requirement from society, combined with environmental considerations.

And the Pacific Islands are reviving crops like taro and cocoa. Taro is the healthiest fruit, if you cook it with animal fat to allow for fuller digestion of the starch. 

In Africa, Malawi is scaling up banana production, while Lesotho is driving a more robust potato sector to support farmers. Because in Lesotho, if they produce a high quality of potato, they can export it to the market in South Africa.

In Europe and Central Asia, Uzbekistan is boosting sweet cherries, and Albania is expanding chestnut production through agritourism.

In the Near East and North Africa, Egypt is developing its iconic date palms, while Lebanon is reviving traditional chickpeas.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago is strengthening cocoa; Mexico is promoting amaranth - Amaranth leaves are a very healthy food used in many diet products - and Brazil is opening new markets for Tambaqui fish.

These examples show the real strength of OCOP – local solutions to global challenges!

Countries are harnessing their agricultural strengths to drive inclusive, sustainable development that connects farmers to markets and consumers to healthier food.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The true engine of OCOP is partnerships among different key players.

Through the OCOP we are delivering real, meaningful change especially for small scale farmers and rural communities

Governments lead, and that is why your leadership as Ministers and other key partners is so important. 

You are the champions of OCOP on the ground. 

You are leading the political commitment and the implementation with your local government.

So, it depends on you.

This forum is just to recall, reaffirm and re-ensure the speed up and scale up of our initiatives.

If you do not have a scale up, it is just a demonstration.

Let us work on the OCOP, making all the consumers enjoy the food, the healthy food, as much as possible.

That is my real wish.

Thank you so much.