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STORY: AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION
TRT: 03:55
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NAT
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
20 FEBRUARY 2024, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
1. Wide shot, opening of the 37th Ministerial Session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (APRC37)
2. Pan right, participants and FAO Director-General at APRC37 opening
3. Wide shot, APRC37 opening
4. SOUNDBITE (English), QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
“We need to more, with less. We need to think innovatively, be action-oriented, and results-targeted to make the changes needed to accelerate national and global pathways towards achieving more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable agrifood systems.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. Med shot, delegate taking note
7. Med shot, participants
8. SOUNDBITE (English), QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
“The new, reformed, more fit-for-purpose FAO is ready to respond to the needs of the Members. We are ready to do more and better, together. I said that we must be smart about mobilizing resources efficiently and adapting to the changing situations on the ground across this vast region."
9. Pan up, flags
10. Med shot, Toga representative
11. Med shot, participants working with computers
12. Med shot, members of the China delegation
13. Med shot, member of the India delegation
14. SOUNDBITE (English), Ranil Wickremesinghe, President, Sri Lanka:
“How does your green economy develop? Through agriculture. So you go into agriculture, you modernize it, you make it competitive, and you go ahead.”
15. Med shot, member of the Samoa delegation
16. Med shot, member of the Singapore delegation applauding
17. Wide shot, APRC37 member delegates listening and applauding
18. SOUNDBITE (English), QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
“The Asia-Pacific region holds great potential to lead the world in many areas, notwithstanding the many challenges. The region is now home to three of the world’s five largest economies, and over the past 20 years the economies of many nations in this region have been moving out of the category of ‘least developed’ [LDC] and became ‘middle income’ [economies].”
19. Pan right, dancers performing
20. Wide shot, FAO Director-General, Sri Lanka’s President
21. Med shot, dancers
19 FEBRUARY 2024, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
22. Tracking shot, FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, walking towards the stage at a special event forming part of the APRC37.
23. Pan left, FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, welcomed by participants at the APRC37.
18 FEBRUARY 2024, PITIGALA, SRI LANKA
24. Wide shot, FAO Director-General talking with local tea plantation worker
25. Various shots, plantation worker, tea leaf.
26. Wide shot, FAO Director-General carrying a tea basket on his back and picking tea leaf
27. Med shot, Organic tea field board.
28. Various shots, FAO Director-General planting and watering tea tree
18 FEBRUARY 2024, AGALAWATTA, SRI LANKA
29. Aerial shot, FAO Director-General in rubber plantation with local staff
30. Various shots, rubber tree
31. Wide shot, FAO Director-General in rubber factory
32. Close up, machine processing rubber
33. Wide shot, FAO Director-General in factory processing rubber
In a four-day meeting organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, ministers from across Asia and the Pacific are discussing challenges such as how to harness the potential of a dynamic region in transforming the ways in which food is produced and distributed globally, while also tackling persistent problems like hunger and poverty.
The perils of the climate crisis and the complexities of leveraging finance are also topics discussed at the 37th Ministerial Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC37), hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Government Ministers and Heads of Delegation from as many as 46 FAO Member Nations have gathered here for the event.
In his opening statement, FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, called for an innovative approach to tackle the region’s challenges.
SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “We need to more, with less. We need to think innovatively, be action-oriented, and results-targeted to make the changes needed to accelerate national and global pathways towards achieving more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable agrifood systems.”
At the gathering, FAO Director-General highlighted that FAO could play a central role in the transformation of agrifood systems in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “The new, reformed, more fit-for-purpose FAO is ready to respond to the needs of the Members. We are ready to do more and better, together. I said that we must be smart about mobilizing resources efficiently and adapting to the changing situations on the ground across this vast region."
At an inauguration ceremony for the conference featuring colorful ethnic Sri Lankan song and dance, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe outlined the three principles guiding the ongoing transformation of the economy of his country: competitivity, digitalization, and sustainability.
Underscoring the country is emerging from its economic crisis, President Wickremesinghe explained that the agricultural sector plays a central role in the sustainable economic transformation of the country.
SOUNDBITE (English), Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe: “How do your green economy develops? Through agriculture. So you go into agriculture, you modernize it, you make it competitive, and you go ahead.”
FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, called to reform agrifood systems in Asia-Pacific to unleash the region’s full development potential.
SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “The Asia-Pacific region holds great potential to lead the world in many areas, notwithstanding the many challenges. The region is now home to three of the world’s five largest economies, and over the past 20 years the economies of many nations in this region have been moving out of the category of ‘least developed’ [LDC] and became ‘middle income’ [economies].”
The global pandemic and years of environmental crises have hit this region disproportionately hard, impacting economic progress and individual livelihoods. Some of the least resilient areas have seen agricultural production badly affected by floods, droughts, and tropical storms.
Hunger and other forms of malnutrition persist. Nearly 371 million people in Asia-Pacific are undernourished, as the cost of a healthy diet rises out of many families’ reaches.
Even before the pandemic, progress in the fight against hunger was slowing, underlining the importance of transforming the region’s agrifood systems to become more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.
Ministers and Heads of Delegation gathered for the APRC37 are participating in several roundtable discussions.
One is focusing on lessons learned from the pandemic and its impact on food security and nutrition, another on modernization and digitization for smallholders in aquaculture and livestock, building resilience through agrifood systems transformation.
A further gathering is on saving food and water and reducing food loss and waste.
A special event was also organized on the specific challenges faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCS).
This week’s gathering presents a new broader format, spread over four days (19-22 February), allowing for more interaction among the more than 40 FAO Member Nations in the region. It was preceded by a Senior Officers Meeting (SOM) held virtually from 31 January to 2 February 2024.
On the eve of the APRC37, FAO Director-General visited one of Sri Lanka’s major local tea factories and the country’s Rubber Research Institute.
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