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AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE OPENING

Hunger levels in Africa have increased in the past two years, due to lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflicts, the climate crisis and economic shocks, but the continent’s possibilities are vast and optimism about the opportunities that lie ahead is in order, FAO’s Director-General QU Dongyu said today.

Language English

Duration 3m49s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 04/18/2024 2:48 PM

File size 504.81 MB

Unique ID UF15Y6J

No Restrictions

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist STORY: FAO / QU AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE OPENING
TRT: 3:49
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS

DATELINE: 17-18 APRIL 2024, RABAT, MOROCCO

SHOTLIST:

18 APRIL 2024, RABAT, MOROCCO

1. Tracking shot, conference room
2. Wide shot, Qu coming to the lectern
3. Wide shot, conference room
4. SOUNDBITE (Engllish) QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:
“Hunger in Africa has increased, driven largely by the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic shocks, the climate crisis, and ongoing conflicts.”
5. Wide shot, delegates in conference room
6. SOUNDBITE (Engllish) QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:
“We are meeting at a critical moment which requires our urgent and collective action. Despite the many challenges, I remain optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead. Africa boasts the largest area of arable land of any continent and is abundant in natural resources.”
7. Wide shot, delegates in conference room
8. SOUNDBITE (Engllish) QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:
“It is through the transformation of Africa’s agrifood systems that we can unlock the benefits across food security and nutrition, the economy, equality, the environment, and resilience. The urgent need for agrifood systems transformation is central to the discussions at this Regional Ministerial Conference, and the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 is a roadmap towards more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable agrifood systems. For better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.”
9. Med shot, delegates listening
10. SOUNDBITE (Engllish) QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:
“Let us use this Regional Ministerial Conference as a platform to exchange knowledge and best practices, to the benefit of all African countries. Each country must take its own lead in transforming its agrifood system, and FAO stands ready to support you on this important journey. Your input over the next days will be critical is progressing your national pathways, as well as shaping our collective efforts, by identifying the priorities for your region over the next biennium. Let us do more and better together, for a better life for all Africans across the continent, leaving no one behind.”
11. Various shots, meeting

17-18 APRIL 2024, RABAT, MOROCCO

12. Med shot, QU arriving at the National Institute of Agricultural Research
13. Various shots, QU and delegation tour the bitech lab and gene bank of the Institute
14. Various shots, QU and delegation tour the equine clinic at the Agronomic and Veterinary Institute
15. Various shots, QU and Morocco’s Ariculture minister planting an argan tree

Script Hunger levels in Africa have increased in the past two years, due to lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflicts, the climate crisis and economic shocks, but the continent’s possibilities are vast and optimism about the opportunities that lie ahead is in order, FAO’s Director-General QU Dongyu said today.

Opening the 33rd Session of the FAO Regional Ministerial Conference for Africa (ARC33), QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said “We are meeting at a critical moment which requires our urgent and collective action. Despite the many challenges, I remain optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead.”

QU added in “Africa boasts the largest area of arable land of any continent and is abundant in natural resources.”

Pushing forward on the regional agenda embodied in joint commitments such as the Maputo Declaration and Malabo Declaration will require charting a new course, together and now, to transform the continent’s agrifood systems, Qu said, calling for strategic partnerships, greater investments, and harnessing the power of digital technologies to drive efficiency and productivity in Africa’s agriculture sectors.

He said “It is through the transformation of Africa’s agrifood systems that we can unlock the benefits across food security and nutrition, the economy, equality, the environment, and resilience.”

Hunger in Africa reached 19.7 percent in 2022, twice the global rate and up from 17 percent before the pandemic and up from an estimated 14.8 percent in 2012. Moreover, 868 million Africans, 61 percent of the population, did not have access to adequate food in 2022, and around 146 million people in 36 countries may have faced acute food security. (IPC3 or higher). At the same time, hunger rates vary enormously within Africa, with low rates in countries such as Algeria and Ghana and rates close to or even above 50 percent in others such as Madagascar and Central African Republic.

The ARC33 enables high-level consultations to identify key priorities in the Region to be taken into account in preparing FAO’s Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium.

The Four Betters – Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – are the cardinal points of FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-31 and roadmap towards more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems.

While protracted conflicts are a major obstacle to progress and impose a hefty burden on rural populations, as do the impacts of the climate crisis, Africa is home to many of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and the emerging shift to a continental free trade area promises to reinforce its potential, making it a natural destination for investments.

36 sub-Saharan African countries have now joined FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, and investment plans for the region now exceed USD 12 billion. Ten countries in the region are currently participating in the FAO 1000 Digital Villages Initiative, 29 in FAO’s One Country One Priority Product initiative, and 16 have rolled out the Agricultural Information Management System (AIMS). FAO has also mobilized more than USD 91 million from the Global Environmental Facility and the Green Climate Fund for projects in Africa. These figures highlight FAO’s success in forging effective and strategic collaboration with resource and technical partners in the country and enable greater dynamism and agility going forward.

The Director-General flagged an array of FAO innovative initiatives in the region, including one using drones to deliver quality germ cells for livestock reproduction in Rwanda, another using the larvae of black flies to turn food waste into organic fertilizer in the Côte d’Ivoire, and another using DNA sequencing to assure the integrity of avocado seedlings in the United Republic of Tanzania. More local highlights are detailed here.

Qu urged ministers to use the ARC33 to exchange knowledge and best practices so as to enable each country to take its own lead in transforming its agrifood system. FAO stands ready to continue to support these journeys, he added.

The Regional Conference features several special events including ministerial roundtables that will investigate emerging technologies, climate resilience strategies, market dynamics, the potential of aquatic foods, agricultural mechanization, digitalization, inclusive policies empowering women and youth, biodiversity challenges, desertification and livestock development strategies.

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