President of Hungary János Áder has congratulated FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu for taking office, while noting the important issues FAO needs to help countries address, including the depletion of natural resources which is critical for the development of agriculture. Áder noted that his country, like many others, is losing both forests...

President Sebastián Piñera of Chile and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu met today for talks that focused on the need for people to have access to a choice of nutritious food. During their meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly, President Piñera explained how Chile’s food labelling law, which entered...

During a meeting today Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein, and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu discussed ways the agricultural sectors can be modernized to make more efficient use of natural resources while still remaining respectful of local traditions. In particular, Alois  expressed interest in FAO’s designation of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Qu explained...

The Kingdom of the Netherlands has contributed $28 million to back FAO's work to boost the resilience of food systems in Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan - part of a new initiative to scale-up resilience-based development work in countries affected by protracted crises. In such contexts, humanitarian interventions often focus on...

Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States in talks today with FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, welcomed the FAO’s new Hand-In-Hand Initiative. As Qu explained, the Initiative prioritizes targeted work that benefits people in the world’s most vulnerable regions including...

During their meeting today, Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs told FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu that the UN has high expectations on FAO’s ability to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He congratulated Qu for taking office at FAO and expressed confidence that the organization and its...

Agriculture has a crucial role in providing sustainable solutions to many of today's most urgent environmental issues, provided we change the way we farm, fish and herd livestock, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said today. Transforming the agricultural sectors requires "changing the way we think and changing the way we live ......

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu today met President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt for talks that focused on working together to improve the agricultural sectors in the country and in Africa as a whole. El-Sisi, who is also the current Chairperson of the African Union, noted that cooperation between the continent’s countries...

Tackling the challenges in the Sahel will require a "common, coordinated and coherent response" to provide people living in the desert region with viable livelihoods and establish resilient agrifood systems, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said today. He noted how since 2005, the Sahel region has been hit by repeated crises, each...

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu today met with young people on the sidelines of the Youth Climate Summit in New York to discuss concrete actions that must be taken to urgently address climate change. “Youth are the future and the driving force behind ideas and innovation,” Qu said, noting how it...

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Director-General Qu Dongyu today announced the Great Green Wall for Cities initiative that aims to support nature-based solutions to climate change. The Director-General made the announcement on the eve of this week's Climate Action Summit in New York at a Summit side event. "The rapid expansion...

FAO participation at Summits & High-level events   Saturday, 21 September | 11:30 - 12:00 (EST)Director-General book signing at Youth Summit side event Saturday, 21 September | 16:00 - 17:00 (EST)Climate Summit Side Event: Local Leadership for ClimateLive webcast available here Sunday, 22 September | 09:30 - 12:00 (EST)Nature-Based Solutions Momentum High-level event Sunday, 22...

Every person can play a role to achieve the SDGs. This was the message echoed by the young gardeners of the GreenThumb Youth Leadership Council (YLC) programme during their graduation event at UN Headquarters. For the 4th year, FAO partnered up with NYC Parks and the UN Food Garden to bring...

Family farmers need enabling public policies and legal frameworks that will “allow them to adapt and flourish in today’s changing environment” and maximize their contribution to sustainable development, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today. He made the remarks at the launch of the UN Decade of Family Farming on...

Obesity affecting populations of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is a health emergency and these nations need to take ownership of measures to address this worrying trend’s underlying causes, said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today. The FAO chief made the remarks to participants – including leaders of small...

This year’s The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report has found that world hunger is still not going down after three years and obesity is still growing.

FAO is co-organizing and participating in numerous events during the 2019 High-Level Political Forum. Join us to learn and discuss how transforming food and agriculture can transform the world.  

Coordinated action on a global scale is necessary to ensure people’s right to safe, nutritious and sufficient food, officials agreed at the New York celebration of the first ever World Food Safety Day, jointly organized by the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United...

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) presented reports to the Management Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council this week. “It is evident that we are not on track to attain SDG 2 and the relevant targets. Instead, the 2030...

The United Nations celebrated the second observance of the World Bee Day by calling attention to the threats that bees face from the combined effects of climate change, intensive agriculture, biodiversity loss and pollution, urging collaborative action to protect their survival. Jointly organized by the Permanent Mission of Slovenia and FAO,...