Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu has cited trade as a means via which countries can appropriate their local advantages and accelerate efforts towards bridging the food security gaps across the globe.

Dongyu made the assertion at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, during a Joint High-level Panel tagged “Harnessing trade for achieving sustainable development goal 2,” pioneered by the FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO).

A point of consensus reached at the Forum was that trade policies should form part of a larger integrated strategy and enable smallholder farmers in developing countries to benefit from integration into the world’s agri-food value chains.

For the FAO Chief, the goal is to “improve efficiency” with an eye to sustainability, natural resources, and the environment. He added that there is a need for efficiency gains and a balance between agriculture and environmental factors.

“Every country has a different situation and FAO has to deal with all these differences.” He stressed.

Dongyu stated that FAO’s new initiative as a “new business model” gears towards engaging all United Nations agencies, the private and civil sectors, and academia to elevate vulnerable countries and people.

The Director-General also stressed that “We have to rethink agriculture, including crop production and animal husbandry, and our ways of life,” adding that new approaches to digitalization are needed, “because we are already a digital world.”

He further stated that the first two Sustainable Development Goals, which call for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, are top priorities of the FAO.

SOURCE: AGRONIGERIA