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10 March 2019, Abu Dhabi – Investing in innovation and research is key to ensuring the sustainability of date palm production, a valuable food and livelihood resource for millions of people in the Near East and North Africa FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva said today. 

 

“The impacts of climate change are making water increasingly scarce, provoking droughts that are more severe and prolonged, and also contributing to the outbreak and spread of pests and diseases, such as the Red Palm Weevil,” José Graziano da Silva said at the 11th Session of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation (KIADPAI). 

 

“We urgently need to build resilience and promote the adaptation of agricultural sectors through climate-smart practices that can also preserve natural resources and biodiversity,” he stressed, noting the importance of the date palm, which is deeply rooted in the economies, cultures and diets of the people of the Near East and North Africa region.

He referred to the diverse range of tools and knowledge that science and innovation have made available to produce “more and better with less resources”. 

 

These include, for example, hydroponic systems that produce high-quality food with no soil and only 10 percent of the water normally used in traditional systems, and the use of drones to help track pests and diseases, as well as the use of nanotechnology for water desalinization. 

 

“The challenge is to seize all the opportunities to apply and develop innovative solutions,” Graziano da Silva said. “For that, we need to put in place innovative policies, investments and partnerships bringing together the public and private sectors, and look to pursuing long-term commitment.”

 

 

 

The FAO Director-General highlighted the need to foster innovation “across the whole food system,” and not just in the agricultural sectors.  “We need to reposition our food systems away from simply ‘feeding’ to ‘nourishing’ people with healthy and nutritious food,” he said. “This change is fundamental to tackle not only hunger but also all forms of malnutrition, particularly obesity.” 

 

Globally, more than 2 billion people are overweight, including 670 million who are obese (accounting for about 13 percent of the world’s adult population). 

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of obese adults in the Near East and North of Africa is of around 30 percent, reaching almost 40 percent in specific countries. 

 

“The growing rate of obesity is happening at a huge socio-economic cost,” Graziano da Silva stressed. “Obesity is a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases such as stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer,” he added. 

Estimates indicate that the global economic impact of obesity is about$2 trillion per year (2.8 percent of the global GDP). “This is equivalent to the global impacts of smoking or armed conflicts globally,” he warned. 

 

The main reason behind the rise of obesity, he noted, is that current food systems have increased the availability and accessibility of highly processed food that is very caloric and energy-dense, high in fat, sugar and salt. 

 

“This is particularly worrisome when countries have an excessive dependency on food imports, as is the case in the Near East and North Africa region,” Graziano da Silva said. He called for food trade regulations that address the imports of unhealthy food, and contribute to avoiding what he defined as the “globalization of obesity”. 

 

The FAO Director-General said the upcoming Expo 2020 in Dubai, will provide a great opportunity for the international community to discuss innovative ideas and partnerships to tackle future challenges, including food insecurity and malnutrition.