One Country One Priority Product Secretariat reorganized as the initiative marks key milestones

The One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative marked a year of significant progress and organizational strengthening, as the Secretariat confirmed a leadership transition and reviewed major achievements during its Core Members Meeting held on 11 December 2025. 

Members also paid tribute to outgoing Secretariat Executive Director Jingyuan Xia – also Adviser to the FAO Director-General – for his role in establishing and guiding the OCOP Initiative, and for his years as the former Director of FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP). Xia formally handed over executive director responsibilities to Yurdi Yasmi, Director of NSP and current Executive Director of OCOP Secretariat. 

Yasmi praised Xia’s results-driven approach, saying it has left an “indelible mark on global agricultural practices.”  

During the meeting, Xia reviewed major achievements from the past year, including a successful High-Level event on the Implementation of the FAO One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative on 15 October 2025 as part of the flagship FAO World Food Forum: Seeds to Food global celebration 10–13 October 2025. The event coincided with FAO’s 80th anniversary and showcased Special Agricultural Products (SAPs) under OCOP from all regions. He also outlined core activities for the coming year: implementation of the Promotion of OCOP Initiative through the FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme (2025–2026); a proposed global exhibition on the OCOP Initiative in Beijing in September 2026;  a virtual global webinar on how the OCOP Initiative contributes to the Four Betters; and 15 inception workshops – some virtual – for the implementation of the OCOP Initiative through the FAO-China SSC Programme. 

OCOP Secretariat Project Coordinator Shangchuan Jiang elaborated on 2026 plans, including four inception workshops to be held during the first quarter of the year in Iraq, Malawi, Uzbekistan, plus a country in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. A workshop on special tropical agricultural products is being planned, and a new OCOP global achievements video will be developed. Three key events in the year ahead include: World Pulses Day on 10 February 2026, with a focus OCOP member country Lebanon, World Bee Day 20 May 2026, and International Day of the Potato on 30 May 2026, with OCOP attention focused on Lesotho.  

Hafiz Muminjanov, OCOP Secretariat Global Coordinator and Project Lead Technical Officer, outlined important measures taken and successes during the final semester of 2025 and highlighted regional events including the Asia-Pacific OCOP Regional Organizing Group (ROG) meeting in November 2025, the ROG of Europe and Central Asia meeting held 5 December 2025, and in the regional office for Africa, official OCOP applications were received from Liberia (coffee) and Uganda (cocoa).  

OCOP videos have been produced featuring date palm production in Iraq, chestnut production in Albania, and chickpeas in Lebanon, and a FAO-JAAS joint publication released.  

Over USD 20 million has been mobilized from various sources to support the OCOP implementation in over 87 countries. Among the 96 OCOP countries, 53 countries are engaged in the Hand-In-Hand Initiative, 39 countries involved in the Digital Villages Initiative, and 25 countries in the Green Cities Initiative.  

The OCOP Initiative, launched by FAO in 2021, promotes the sustainable development of SAPs that have unique qualities, market potential, and cultural significance by strengthening the entire value chain — from production to marketing. The initiative contributes to FAO’s strategic goal of building more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, complementing other flagship initiatives and programmes. 

As of December 2025, 95 countries have joined OCOP, promoting 56 SAPs globally. To further strengthen its implementation and foster inter-regional cooperation, the Government of the People’s Republic of China has committed USD 5 million through the FAO–China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme, marking the largest single contribution to the OCOP implementation to date. 

Yurdi Yasmi, Director of NSP, preseted a certificate of appreciation to Jingyuan Xia, the outgoing Executive Secretary of the OCOP Secretariat. ©FAO/Francisco Martinez