Participants in the Vision for the Future conference in Baku.
FAO Director-General participates in high-level international
conference in Azerbaijan – Vision for the future: transition to digital
agriculture
Baku-06/05/2022: Digital agriculture has
great potential to foster the transformation of agrifood systems and
promote rural development, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), emphasized today at the
high-level international
conference Vision for the future: transition to digital
agriculture, held in Azerbaijan.
“Data, digitalization and
innovation are key accelerators to achieve this transformation and are the core
of FAO’s actions across all our areas of work, in line with our mandate,” the
Director-General said in the opening of the event.
FAO is supporting several countries to develop national digital
agriculture strategies, which Qu described as “the first step to ensure
delivery of meaningful services and data to people in rural areas, and to
promote bottom-up technology-driven innovations.”
The Conference was convened by the Government of Azerbaijan with
FAO’s support. Azerbaijan has been a leader in this field, having introduced
ambitious Electronic Agricultural Information System (EKTIS),
which allows the government to support the agricultural sector in a more
transparent, targeted and swift manner.
“Azerbaijan is in the process of transforming the country’s
agriculture to modern and digital agriculture,” said Inam Karimov, Minister of
Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in his opening remarks.
A host of ministers are participating in the forum designed to
share global experiences, visions and developments in the area of agricultural
and digital transformation, present the Azerbaijani e-agriculture model and
seek to identify sustainable and inclusive pathways to accelerate the digital
transformation of agrifood systems.
“Developing human capital is essential to unleash the potential
of digital agriculture,” Qu said, pointing to FAO virtual learning centres and
targeted digital literacy initiatives to strengthen the capacity of farmers and
other actors to respond to the challenges. FAO has also helped Members develop
e-governance tools such as identification systems for animal health and farm
accountancy data networks, he added. FAO’s International
Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture will soon be fully
operational, he noted. Other FAO initiatives include provision of digital
public goods such as the Hand-in-Hand
Geospatial Platform, the ongoing 1000
Digital Villages Initiative, the e-Agriculture
Strategy Guide and other contributions to the UN
Secretary-General’s Roadmap
for Digital Cooperation.
“The challenges our agrifood systems face require our
collective, efficient, effective and coherent action and response – we must do
more, together,” said the Director-General, who will also make field visits in
Azerbaijan during his official visit.
Ministerial Roundtable
“In rural areas, digital technologies can be leveraged to
address multiple market failures and facilitate smallholder farmers’
integration into markets,” Qu said in remarks at the Ministerial Roundtable
that took place after the opening session.
FAO’s aim, he added, is to “massify” digital benefits to ensure
no one is left behind, doing so through promoting the use and adoption of
digital technologies and promoting a policy agenda and public investments. “The
acceleration of digitalization in agriculture must also safeguard basic human
rights by ensuring affordable access to digital technologies, digital literacy
and digital public goods for everyone.”
Convened by Minister Karimov, participants included the Deputy
Prime Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Poland, Ministers from Georgia, Moldova and
Tajikistan, as well as the heads of the World Organisation for Animal Health
(OIE), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the FAO/IAEA Center on
Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.
“Digital innovation can unlock employment opportunities, bridge
the rural divide and empower youth and women” and can support evidence-based
policy, planning and implementation to improve efficiency and reduce negative
environmental impacts, FAO’s Director-General told them.
“FAO is committed to leveraging the potential of digital
technologies to achieve the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition,
a better environment and a better life for all, leaving no one behind,” he
added.
|Source: FAO
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