Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

Reproduced from the FAO website here. FAO’s  80th anniversary   was also a pivotal year for the teams working under the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment.   From Biodiversity and Climate communities convening in Rome to COP30 in Belém, and from  Sahelian rangelands  to  Cambodian rice fields , OCB worked across FAO to make the case that food and agriculture are not only affected by climate change and biodiversity loss; they are central to solving them.   Agrifood systems in the global spotlight  The year opened with the  resumed session of the Biodiversity COP  at FAO Headquarters. Bringing together the biodiversity world at FAO HQ sent a clear signal that biodiversity goals cannot be met without transforming agrifood systems. This includes the vital...

Qu Dongyu,   Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture  of China was elected Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Sunday the 23rd of June. Qu Dongyu received a total of 108 votes out of 191 cast, constituting a majority in the first round, followed by France's Catherine Geslain-Laneelle with 71 votes and Georgia's Davit Kirvalidze with 12 votes .  The election took place during the 41st session of the FAO Conference (22-29 June 2019), the highest governing body of the Organization.  Qu Dongyu will be FAO's ninth Director-General since the Organization was founded on October 16, 1945. The term of the new Director-General, who will succeed Brazil’s José Graziano da Silv a, will start on 1 August 2019 and run to 31 July 2023. FAO Directors-General Since the establishment of FAO in 1945, there have been eight Directors-General: Sir John Boyd Orr, United Kingdom, 1945-1948  Norris E. Dod...