Talks at the Global Forum of Food and Agriculture also focused on the post-2015 development agenda and the FAO Conference in June.

Berlin – FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva has highlighted some of the most important events on the organization’s 2015 calendar during meetings with agriculture ministers who attended the Global Forum of Food and Agriculture in Berlin from 15-17 January.

The International Year of Soils, the post-2015 development agenda and the upcoming FAO Conference, were among the themes of the Director-General’s  bilateral discussions with Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Agriculture from Germany, Palestine, Uruguay, Montenegro, Macedonia, Iraq, China, the Russian Federation, Hungary, Georgia, Sweden, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine, Argentina, Mongolia, Nepal, Romania, Tanzania, Moldova and the Czech Republic.

FAO’s Director-General stressed the importance of the International Year of Soils and urged  ministers to hold national events focusing on the topic of soils and that these be included in their countries’ official calendars.

Graziano da Silva also drew their attention to the important issue of climate change in the context of the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations is scheduled to adopt later this year.

The Director-General also invited the Ministers to take part at the 39^th FAO Conference to be held in Rome from 6-12 June. This Conference is set to decide on FAO’s Programme of Work and Budget as well as on the election of the FAO Director-General for the term 2015-2019.