FAO Director-General QU Dongyu held a bilateral meeting with H.E. Christophe Hansen, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, on the sidelines of the AU-EU Agriculture Ministerial Summit, hosted at FAO Headquarters ahead of the 44th Session of the FAO Ministerial Conference.
The Director-General extended a warm welcome to Commissioner Hansen, underscoring the enduring and strategic collaboration between the European Union and FAO. He praised the EU’s historical role in the founding of FAO and its continued contributions through successive Commissioners for Agriculture. He also expressed appreciation for the EU’s vast expertise network, which remains a valuable global asset.
Commissioner Hansen, in turn, thanked the Director-General for facilitating the Ministerial Summit and elaborated on the EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food. This strategy, he noted, seeks to balance economic viability, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion, while streamlining regulatory processes. He also raised concerns about the sector’s aging workforce and the pressing need to engage and empower younger generations in farming.
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The Director-General welcomed this focus, citing FAO’s own efforts to involve youth and women through dedicated structures such as the FAO Youth Committee and the Office for Youth and Women. He stressed the importance of fostering agricultural expertise through training and of promoting dietary diversity, particularly by increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables.
The conversation also touched on the bioeconomy, a topic Commissioner Hansen highlighted as increasingly central to EU policy. The Director-General acknowledged FAO’s active engagement in this domain and pointed to ongoing collaborative efforts. He also raised concerns about transboundary threats to plant and animal health and outlined FAO’s plans to develop global mechanisms to mitigate these risks. He further noted the importance of sustainable poultry production, particularly in food-insecure regions, as a component of resilient agrifood systems.
Commissioner Hansen reaffirmed the alignment between the EU’s agricultural strategy and FAO’s strategic goals, emphasizing the necessity of supporting farmers and fostering investments in agriculture. The Director-General concluded by calling for greater awareness among policymakers and the public about the nutritional and economic importance of food diversity. He reiterated the need for enhanced funding for joint initiatives such as the FAO-OECD Agricultural Outlook, the Codex Alimentarius, and the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), expressing gratitude for the EU’s recent financial support in these areas.
Source: FAO
