The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) would like to invite you to the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets 2023

Tuesday, 6 December 2022, from 12.30 to 14.00 hours (CET)

 Sheikh Zayed Centre, FAO headquarters

Registration link: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0LzF2j6oRiqbREOD9fgUag

FAO Webcast: https://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/6087/icode/

Website: https://www.fao.org/millets-2023 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) welcomes your participation in an opening ceremony to launch the International Year of Millets 2023. The event will take place in a hybrid modality in the Sheikh Zayed Centre, at FAO headquarters and online.

Millets can grow on arid lands with minimal inputs and are resilient to changes in climate and can thus increase countries’ self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported cereal grains. The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023). FAO is the lead agency for celebrating the Year in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders. IYM 2023 will be an opportunity to raise awareness of, and direct policy attention to the nutritional and health benefits of millet consumption, suitability of millets for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions, promoting the sustainable production of millets while also highlighting the benefits of creating sustainable market opportunities for producers and consumers. As the custodian agency, FAO will facilitate the implementation of the IYM 2023 with governments, organizations and agencies of the United Nations system, other international and regional organizations and relevant stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector and academia.

Opening Ceremony of the International Year of Millets 2023

Programme

Video Message: Ms Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

Opening remarks: Mr QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Keynote addresses:

Video Message: H.E. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister  of India

The Honourable Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria [tbc]

The Honourable Shobha Karandlaje, Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture of India

Video Message: H.E. Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Panama

Introduction of the International Year of Millets 2023

Mr Arnaud Petit, Executive Director of the International Grains Council (IGC)

Ms Anahita Dhondy, International Chef, author, restaurateur, social entrepreneur and culinary Ambassador

Mr Abdou Tenkouano, Executive Director, West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF)

Closing remarks:

Mr Jingyuan Xia, Director of the Plant Production and Protection Division, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Meeting Moderators:

Ms Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Ms Jacqueline Hughes, Director-General of the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-AridTropics (ICRISAT)

Interpretation will be provided in the six official languages of FAO.