As part of its 80th anniversary celebrations and ongoing commitment to ending hunger, FAO hosted a Global Technical Recognition Ceremony on 15 October 2025 to honor the work of countries and institutions which have modeled effective practices and innovations in contributing to the transformation of agrifood systems. The recognition categories spanned six thematic areas, including land, soil and water resource management for resilient agriculture and food security.

Land, soil and water lay the very foundations of our agrifood systems. The conservation and sustainable use of these precious resources is at the heart of FAO’s work. FAO’s Members and Partners are driving efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems transformation by championing informed policies, leveraging technical guidance and exploring bold innovations to protect and responsibly manage land, soil and water resources with the Organization’s strategic support. Thirty nine entities were recognized for their contributions to land, soil and water resources management for resilient agriculture and food security:

• Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management, Austria for their solution Soil pioneers 2050: Lighthouse farms as innovators of climate change mitigating and soil health improving management systems to achieve the Green Deal targets;
• Belgorod State Agricultural University named after V. Y. Gorin, Russia for their solution Adaptive landscape farming systems;
• Brazilian Soil Science Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência do Solo) and Brazilian Federation of the No-Till System, Brazil for their solution No-Tillage System: a genuine Brazilian technology that meets current global demands;
• Bureau of Center Land Consolidation, Royal Irrigation Department Thailand, Thailand for their solution Integrated land consolidation for agricultural development in Kalasin province;
• Department of Farmland Construction Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, China for their solution Black soil conservation project implementation plan;
• Direction de l’Irrigation et de l’Aménagement de l’Espace Agricole (Ministère de l’Agriculture, de la Pêche Maritime, du Développement Rural et des Eaux et Forêts), Morocco for their solution The Chtouka Project: An integrated and participatory water management approach to strengthen territorial resilience;
• District Administration, Washim, Maharashtra, India for their solution Assured sustainable holistic integrated resourceful war against agricultural distress (Ashirwaad);
• Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Kazan State Agrarian University, Russia for their solution A comprehensive set of measures for the restoration and modernization of hydraulic structures (HS) and the development of land reclamation using water-saving technologies in high-risk farming areas (case study: Republic of Tatarstan);
• Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil for their solution SeloVerde: A governmental platform to support environmental due diligence in Pará and Minas Gerais, Brazil;
• Institute for Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification, Brazil for their solution The Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals Estimating System (SEEG);
• Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Japan for their solutions: Biological Nitrification Inhibition-enabled wheat (BNI-enabled Wheat); Dissemination of the P-dipping technique to boost lowland rice yields and climate resilience with minimal fertilizer inputs in sub-Saharan Africa; Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) technology; and Partial subsoiling and deep planting technologies for sugarcane cultivation to reduce environmental impact and improve productivity;
• Karnataka State Open University, India for their solution The Krishi Bhagya Scheme;
• Land Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand for their solution Integrated land consolidation for agricultural development in Kalasin Province;
• Land and Survey Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources Development of the Government of Tuvalu, Tuvalu for their solution Tuvalu land and green registry: SOLA/OT solution for improved tree inventory and land governance;
• Lebanese Agriculture Research Institute, Lebanon for their solution ICT tool for irrigation scheduling for the Bekaa Valley based on WaPor ETp;
• Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Research Services, Chitedze Research Station, Malawi for their solution Addressing water scarcity in agriculture through applied and adaptive research on sorghum and cowpea and the promotion of drought resilient and nutritious varieties;
• Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Moldova for their solution Land;
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland for their solution Soil Scout – fully buried, 20-year wireless root-zone sensor network for water-smart, climate-resilient farming;
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies, Türkiye for their solution TAGEM-SuET (Irrigation Management and Crop Evapotranspiration System) decision support tool;
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Water Management, Türkiye for their solution Integrated water resource management in Gediz River Basin in Turkiye;
• Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology, Solomon Islands for their solution Integrated management of protected areas for natural resources conservation and economic benefits in Solomon Islands;
• Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, General Directorate of Combating Desertification and Erosion, Türkiye for their solution Land degradation neutrality decision support system;
• Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development Cooperativa Chortitzer, Paraguay for their solution Sustainable land management practices in the Paraguayan Chaco to combat land degradation;
• Ministry of Natural Resources, People’s Republic of China, China for their solution The Yunhe rice terraces in China—Comprehensive management solution based on land, soil, and water resources;
• Ministry of Environment, Colombia for their solution Integrated Water-territorial resilience: Science-community hybrid model for La Mojana, Colombia;
• National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, China for their solution Soil testing and formulated fertilization;
• Natural Soil Service Centre, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock Bhutan, Bhutan for their solution Sustainable land improvement;
• National Water Authority, Peru for their solution Disaggregation of water stress level (SDG 6.4.2) at the river basin and sub-basin level and its application in water policies: Cases from Peru;
• Public Joint Stock Company PHOSAGRO, Russia for their solution Global Soil Doctors Programme;
• Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, University Program of Interdisciplinary Soil Studies of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico for their solution Global Soil Doctors Programme – Mexico;
• Royal Irrigation Department, Thailand for their solution Bang Rakam Model: Participatory community flood prevention and mitigation;
• Rwanda Water Resources Board, Rwanda for their solution Strengthen water governance for greater food security, and be prepared to adapt to climate change, water scarcity and increased competition for water resources in an equitable and sustainable manner;
• Somalia Disaster Management Agency, Somalia for their solution Protecting lives and livelihoods: Somalia’s flood early warning system as a model for anticipatory action;
• Swiss national research centre on Agriculture (Agroscope), Switzerland for their solution Open smart irrigation: A robust and accessible platform for climate-resilient water management;
• University of Pécs, Hungary for their solution Spongecity - Improving urban climate change adaptation capacities by testing and promoting the sponge city methodology on transnational level;
• University of São Paulo, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, Brazil for their solution SOHMA KIT®: A field-based soil health assessment toolkit;
• VITO Research Center, Belgium for their solution Restoring soil health in conflict zones: A Ukrainian-Belgian training partnership for resilient agri-food systems;
• Water Resources Research Institute, National Water Research Center, Egypt for their solution Integrated water resource management for sustainable agriculture and community resilience in South Sinai;

To watch the Ceremony, please find a webcast recording here. >>

Photo album of the ceremony is available here. >>