FAO Reaffirms Commitment to Scale up Global Food Production

Gilbert Ekugbe

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has reaffirmed its commitment to boost food production across the globe to reduce the number of people facing hunger in the world

According to FAO, over 735 million people faced hunger in 2022.

It pledged to work together with stakeholders to bring food and agricultural solutions to the scale needed to increase the quality, quantity, availability, affordability and accessibility of food for all.

The Director General of FAO, QU Dongyu, stated this at the Borlaug International Dialogue of the World Food Prize 2023 in Iowa recently.

According to him, the FAO is well positioned to better serve its members and the farmers of the world as recent reforms have made the agency more agile, more efficient and more fit-for-purpose to provide professional and scientific expertise to all.

Dongyu said: “A new thinking at FAO has led us to a different path. We continue to leverage our collective expertise to help vulnerable populations and stand united to achieve real progress. “Our focus is to attain zero hunger, and to ensure that the world’s farmers are well supported, and rural areas are made more attractive for the younger generations.”

He emphasised how the aspiration of the Four Betters – Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life, leaving no one behind have underpinned its Strategic Framework 2022-2031, saying that collective actions are necessary to meet both immediate and longer-term objectives.

He listed five key actions that need to be addressed to meet global objectives, pointing out that all countries must commit to well-functioning markets and market transparency.

The FAO boss also said that vulnerable countries need support to meet their food and fertilizer needs while accelerating the transformation of global agrifood systems, by making the right investments urgently and strengthening the provision of public goods such as soil maps and extension and advisory services as well as innovation, research and improving infrastructure in rural areas.