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HomePosts Tagged "QU Dongyu"
Acquaculture, Live Stock, World

COFI Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management is also set to discuss improvements in the methodology to assess the state and health of the world’s marine fisheries stocks

A new global fisheries management body began its inaugural meeting with key items on the agenda including best practices and approaches for the effective management of fisheries resources, and improvements in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) methodology to estimate the state and health of the world’s marine fish stocks.

The fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, the promotion of adaptive responses to the climate crisis, and the mainstreaming of biodiversity will also be on the agenda of the COFI Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management’s 15-18 January 2024 meeting, with a specific focus on small-scale fisheries.

Over 500 million people globally depend, at least partially, on fisheries for their livelihoods – nearly half of them women when considering the whole value chain. While 65 per cent of fish stocks were within biologically sustainable levels, 35 per cent were estimated to be at unsustainable levels – a proportion that has been increasing since the 1970s.

The COFI Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management’s main functions are to provide technical and policy guidance on fisheries management, identify global challenges and opportunities, and promote collective solutions to ensure the environmental, economic and social sustainability of a sector crucial for global food security and nutrition.

“Improving global fisheries management remains crucial to restore ecosystems to a healthy and productive state and to protect the long-term supply of aquatic foods,” said QU Dongyu FAO Director-General in his address to the opening of the meeting’s virtual plenary session. “This improvement also includes eliminating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and on addressing the impacts of the climate crisis, and biodiversity degradation that are also heavily impacting aquatic and coastal ecosystems and dependent communities”.

The Director-General noted that the Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management will guide FAO’s Blue Transformation roadmap and its core objective of ensuring that global fisheries resources – including lakes, rivers and seas – are efficiently and effectively managed.

COFI Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management is also

Live Stock, Sustainability, World

To recognise and celebrate the vital contributions these animals make to livelihoods, food security, and nutrition

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) officially launched the International Year of Camelids 2024 at its Rome headquarters, to recognise and celebrate the vital contributions these animals make to livelihoods, food security and nutrition.

Camelids, including Bactrian camels, dromedary camels, and wild camels, as well as South American camelids such as domesticated llamas and alpacas, and wild vicuñas and guanacos, play a pivotal role in diverse ecosystems. They are particularly important in desert and mountain regions, where they form an integral part of the livelihoods and traditional practices of indigenous communities.

At the launch event, QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General underscored the cultural and environmental importance of camelids.

“Even in the most extreme climatic conditions, they produce milk, meat, fibre and organic fertiliser, and provide transport, boosting food security, nutrition, and livelihoods while helping to conserve fragile ecosystems. Camelids also build resilience to the impacts of the climate crisis – particularly in mountains and drylands and can contribute to the transformation of agrifood systems,” he said.

“The International Year of Camelids is a great opportunity to highlight and value the economic, social and cultural importance of camelids around the globe – especially highly vulnerable communities.”

Camelids, vital for millions of households in over 90 countries, originated in America 45 million years ago. Serving as working animals, they support Indigenous Peoples and local communities in South America’s Andean highlands, as well as the deserts of Africa and Asia. Bactrian camels and dromedaries, for example, known as “ships of the desert,” are crucial for nomadic life in drylands.

The Year seeks to raise global awareness of the multifaceted role of camelids not only as sources of fibre, milk, and meat but also as resilient and sustainable contributors to local economies. In challenging environments, camelids are indispensable for their ability to endure harsh conditions and provide crucial support to communities.

To recognise and celebrate the vital contributions

Foodgrains, Sustainability, World

Production growth to slow in step with population, while geopolitical tensions, climate change, animal and plant diseases and price volatility pose long-term uncertainty

Global agricultural and food production is projected to continue to increase over the next ten years but at a slower pace of growth than the previous decade due to demographic trends, according to a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032 is the critical global reference for medium-term prospects for agricultural commodity markets. While uncertainty has risen due to geopolitical tensions, adverse climate trends, animal and plant diseases and increased price volatility for key agrarian inputs, global production of crops, livestock products and fish are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.1 per cent during the period, half the pace recorded in the decade ending in 2015. Total food consumption is expected to rise by 1.3 per cent per annum to 2032, indicating an increase in the share of agricultural commodities used as food.

These projections assume a fast recovery from recent inflationary pressures, normal weather conditions, no major policy changes and on-trend evolution in consumer preferences. The possibility is that persistent inflationary pressures pose downside risks to global food demand and production.

In a special assessment of key farming input prices, which have risen significantly in the past two years, Outlook calculates that every 10 per cent increase in fertiliser prices leads to a 2 per cent increase in food costs, with the burden falling hardest on the poor, who spend a larger share of their budget on food. The Outlook highlights the importance of policies to ensure greater efficiency and resilience.

“The broad trends outlined in this report are heading in the right direction but need to be accelerated,” QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General said. “Promoting a faster shift to sustainable agrifood systems will bring many benefits and help usher in better lives for all, leaving no one behind.”


“Surges in agricultural input prices experienced over the last two years have raised concerns about global food security,” Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General said. “Investments in innovation, further productivity gains and reductions in the carbon intensity of production are needed to lay the foundation for long-term food security, affordability and sustainability.”


The Outlook offers decadal projections for cereals, vegetable oils, dairy products, meat, sugar, and fish, as well as cotton, tropical fruits, pulses and agricultural output used for biofuels. It also includes projections for expected regional trends in greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and incorporates first-time preliminary analyses of the role of food loss and waste.  

Production growth to slow in step with

People, World

His new term will begin from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2027

QU Dongyu re-elected to a second term as Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

In the ballot by FAO member countries, Qu received 168 out of 182 votes deposited.

Nominated by China, Qu was the only candidate for FAO’s top position in the election. His new term will begin from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2027.

The election took place on the second day of the FAO Conference (1-7 July).

Since being elected FAO Director-General for the first time in 2019, Qu has championed many reforms and initiatives to overhaul the Organisation’s business model, improving efficiency and implementing best practices that support programme and administrative effectiveness.

FAO’s transparency, visibility and reputation have continued to increase over the last four years amid significant global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other protracted conflicts, economic downturns, and the intensifying climate crisis.

Qu has strongly advocated for the transformation of agrifood systems to make them more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, with the ultimate goal of helping Members achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

FAO has focused on boosting science and innovation and launched some important strategic initiatives. The Hand-in-Hand Initiative, for example, supports the implementation of nationally led, ambitious programmes to accelerate agrifood systems transformations. It uses advanced geospatial modelling and analytics and a robust partnership building to raise incomes, improve the nutritional status and well-being of poor and vulnerable populations, and strengthen resilience to climate change.

His new term will begin from 1

Finance, Sustainability, World

FAO Investment Centre’s 2022 Annual Review looks at achievements and priorities

Investment and finance solutions play a critical role in transforming our agrifood systems, especially at a time when multiple shocks keep pushing more people into hunger and poverty.

This is an area where “the FAO Investment Centre is leading that charge,” QU Dongyu, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), wrote in the foreword of the 2022 Annual Review of the Centre, which for nearly 60 years has been helping countries and financing partners make more and better agri-food investments to reduce poverty, hunger and malnutrition, improve rural livelihoods and protect the environment.

“We must act together – and quickly – to tackle these global challenges for a healthier, more sustainable future that leaves no one behind. That means transforming the way our agrifood systems work, from how we produce, supply and consume our food to how we reduce food losses and waste in our landfills. Ultimately, the goal is to help countries realise the four betters – better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all,” Qu wrote.

According to the review published, 2022 saw the Centre clock some notable achievements against the backdrop of volatile food, fertiliser and fuel prices, supply chain disruptions, conflict, the climate crisis, humanitarian emergencies and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those include support in the design of 45 public investment projects in 32 countries, worth a total of $8.8 billion in new investments – up 22 per cent from the previous year’s $7.2 billion.

They also include investment policy contributions in 65 countries, along with 52 agricultural strategies, 25 sector studies, 17 policy studies and 6 policy dialogues, as well as 54 new knowledge products – from a high-profile study on carbon neutrality in agrifood systems to investing in youth in Africa, among others.

Of particular note was the first Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum, which was held during the 2022 World Food Forum, and matched 20 Hand-in-Hand countries and three regional initiatives with potential investors.

Above all, the Centre entered a transformative period of its own in early 2022 with the launch of its Transformation Plan, the so-called “4+2 solutions,” which seeks to make it even more fit-for-purpose, structured and staffed to respond to the growing and evolving demand from Members and investors.

FAO Investment Centre’s 2022 Annual Review looks

Environment, Nature, Sustainability, World

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) are communities which base their livelihoods and food security on their close relationship with their surroundings

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) awarded certificates to 24 new Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites.

The 24 sites, which have been designated by FAO since the last ceremony in 2018, are located in 12 countries, including Brazil, China, Spain, Ecuador, Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Morocco.

At the award ceremony, which also marked the International Day for Biological Diversity, Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General said that many of the GIAHS had become reservoirs of biological diversity.

“In the context of agri-food systems and rural areas, we need to consider the combined conservation of biodiversity and food diversity. This is the most pragmatic way to raise public awareness of biodiversity.

“Agricultural heritage systems showcase practices that offer solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss, in particular at the local level,” he said.

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) are communities which base their livelihoods and food security on their close relationship with their surroundings.

24 new Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites are:

Brazil: Traditional Agricultural System in the Southern Espinhaço Range, Minas Gerais.

China: Shexian Dryland Stone Terraced System; Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Culture System; Ar Horqin Grassland Nomadic System in Inner Mongolia; Qingyuan Forest-Mushroom Co-culture System in Zhejiang Province.

Ecuador: Andean chakra: An Ancestral Agricultural System of Kichwas Cotacachi Communities; Amazonian Chakra, a traditional agroforestry system managed by Indigenous communities in Napo province.

Iran: Qanat-based Saffron Farming System in Gonabad; Grape Production System in Jowzan Valley

Italy: Soave Traditional Vineyards; Olive groves of the slopes between Assisi and Spoleto

Japan: Biwa lake to land integrated system; Fruit Cultivation System in Kyoutou Region, Yamanashi.

Republic of Korea: Geumsan Traditional Ginseng Agricultural System; Damyang Bamboo Field Agriculture System.

Mexico: Ich Kool: Mayan milpa of the Yucatan peninsula.  

Morocco: Argan-based agro-sylva-pastoral system within the area of Ait Souab-Ait Mansour; The Ksour of Figuig: Oasis and Pastoral Culture Around the Social Management of Water and Land.

Spain: Agricultural System Ancient Olive Trees Territorio Sénia; Historical Irrigation System at l’Horta de València; Agrosilvopastoral system Mountains of León;

Thailand: Thale Noi Wetland Pastoral Buffalo Agro-ecosystem

Tunisia: Hanging Gardens from Djebba El Olia; Ramli Agricultural System in the Lagoons of Ghar El Melh.

 GIAHS, a flagship program of FAO, was established in 2002 to identify and protect important agricultural heritage sites and their associated biodiversity, landscapes, knowledge systems, and cultures. This network currently consists of 74 systems across the world, according to the FAO. 

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

Horticulture, Sustainability, World

The tea industry can become an engine for economic growth and for restoration of the ecosystems

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) kicked off a global celebration for International Tea Day 2023 at its Rome headquarters.

“In the last three years, the world has faced significant challenges, due to conflicts and economic downturns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in overlap with extreme weather events due to the climate crisis.” QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General said in his opening remarks. “The tea industry can become an engine for economic growth and for restoration of the ecosystems. It can contribute to our fight against poverty and hunger, and represents a major source of income and employment, especially for rural communities,” he added.

The focus of this year’s celebration is smallholder tea producers and Qu underlined their importance for the sustainability of the sector. “We want to celebrate their achievements, but also raise awareness about the significant challenges they face, and the urgent need to mobilise political will to support them,” he said, adding that “we must all work together and leverage all possible means, including increased and more targeted public and private investments, to transform the tea sector.”

Tea is the world’s most consumed drink, after water, and can bring health benefits and wellness to consumers. Over the past decades, the global tea industry has seen rapid growth, with a remarkably rising number of consumers globally. Especially, tea consumption by the youth segment of the market has expanded.

Global tea production amounts to over $18 billion annually. Around 13 million people are involved in global tea production. It is estimated that in the four major producing countries (China, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka), around 9 million tea farmers are smallholders. 

The tea industry can become an engine

Acquaculture, Environment, People, R&D, Sustainability, World

International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture closes with many concrete results

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) marked the close of a global year-long campaign focused on small-scale artisanal fishers, fish farmers and fish workers, underlining the need to keep the momentum going.

With over 260 events held in 68 countries, the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 (IYAFA), “celebrated the millions of people working in small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture – including some 45 million women small-scale fishers – who produce 40 per cent of all the fish we eat,” QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General said at the closing ceremony, adding: “They are stewards of valuable ecosystems, and of longstanding traditions and cultures.”

Mainly carried out by families, sometimes with a handful of workers, small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture (or fish and seafood farming) add up to a massive subsector. Small-scale fisheries provide livelihoods for nearly half a billion people globally – 95 per cent of them operating in the global south.

Yet the workforce includes some of the communities most vulnerable to environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, climate impacts and economic shocks, as they contribute to the management of aquatic resources in the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes.  

To raise awareness of their role, the FAO-led campaign, supported by a wide array of partners, helped forge and strengthen partnerships among small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture workers and other stakeholders. Examples of this are the Ibero-American Network for Small-Scale Artisanal Fishing (RIPAPE) and the Maghreb and North African Platform for Artisanal Fishery.

An important body of new research carried out during IYAFA 2022 has added to our knowledge about sustainable small-scale fisheries, including the recently launched Illuminating Hidden Harvests report, by FAO, Duke University and World Fish, which investigates the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development.

The IYAFA 2022 Final Report highlights the significant number of declarations, calls to action and statements made by partners, at national, regional and global levels, as well as provide recommendations to further support the subsector. These include the areas of environmental, social and economic sustainability, governance, gender equality and equity, food security and nutrition, resilience and youth participation.

All these recommendations are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and FAO’s aspiration of the 4 Betters – Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life, leaving no one behind. This is supported by FAO’s Blue Transformation vision to change the way the world manages, uses and conserves its aquatic resources to end hunger and poverty.

Although IYAFA 2022 is ending, “it should not be the end, but a new beginning where we continue to amplify the voices of small-scale artisanal fishers and support the development of inclusive small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture national plans and strategies,” the FAO Director-General said.

International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture

Agrotech, Environment, Foodgrains, R&D, Sustainability, World

Seeds from the IAEA and FAO laboratories were sent to space on November 7, 2022

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held an event in Vienna to mark the imminent return to Earth of seeds that were sent into space four months ago.

Seeds from the IAEA and FAO laboratories belonging to the Arabidopsis and Sorghum varieties travelled in an uncrewed cargo shuttle from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility to space on November 7, 2022. While in space, they were exposed to the prevailing conditions — a complex mixture of cosmic radiation, microgravity and extreme temperatures — inside and outside the International Space Station (ISS).

Upon their return, which is expected to happen in early April, scientists at the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture plan to grow the seeds and screen them for useful traits to better understand space-induced mutations and identify new varieties.

The ground-breaking experiment aims to develop new crops that can adapt to climate change and help boost global food security. With the world’s population estimated to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, there’s a clear need for innovative solutions through science and technology aimed at producing more food, as well as crops that are more resilient and farming methods that are more sustainable.

The meeting in Vienna, which was designed to inform students, partners and the public about space science and nuclear techniques in plant breeding, saw opening statements from QU Dongyu FAO Director-General and Rafael Mariano Grossi, IAEA Director-General as well as interventions from Kayla Barron, NASA Astronaut who discussed her experience working and carrying out experiments at the ISS.

“This is the science that could have a real impact on people’s lives in the not-too-distant future, by helping us grow stronger crops and feed more people,” the IAEA Director General said. “IAEA and FAO scientists may have already been mutating seeds for 60 years and creating thousands of stronger crops for the world to use, but this is the first time we have experimented with such an exciting field as astrobiology,” said Grossi.

Seeds from the IAEA and FAO laboratories

Foodgrains, Institutions, Sustainability, World

The programme aims to improve food security and nutrition in the least Developed Countries

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have jointly launched the Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator (ASTA), a global programme designed to help Least Developed Countries make their agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable by fostering partnerships and generating public-private investments. 

The launch took place during a bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and his UNIDO counterpart, Gerd Mueller, on the sidelines of the Fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Doha, Qatar.

ASTA is the first centrepiece of a new collaboration between FAO and UNIDO and helps generate investment in the agrifood system of some of the world’s poorest countries, including through the development of value chains, market systems, business models and inclusive finance, in order to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Addressing the future of agrifood systems requires a holistic view covering many topics, such as the climate crisis, agricultural production, value chain efficiency, inclusion, nutrition, land use and biodiversity, among others. ASTA offers a concrete tool to help countries realize the objective of agrifood systems transformation,” Qu said.

“ASTA identifies investment opportunities and helps channel those investments into food value chains. With such efforts, FAO and UNIDO are natural partners. Our expertise and efforts complement each other. I am very proud of our cooperation with FAO,” Mueller said.

The programme aims to improve food security