PH listed in FAO-led program
THE Philippines is among the 46 countries included in the $2.9-billion initiative of the United Nations-Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to help countries transition to sustainable agriculture.
The global Environment Facility (GEF) has greenlighted 48 FAO-led projects worth about $2.9 billion — $294 million in project financing and $2.6 billion in co-financing — that will play a pivotal role in fostering a sustainable agrifood systems transformation to end hunger and conserve the environment.
The initiatives will benefit 4.2 million people in five different regions globally and aims to restore more than 474,000 hectares (ha) of land; improve practices on over 24 million ha of land and marine habitats; create and improve the management of over 2 million ha of protected areas on land and sea; mitigate 133 million metric tons (MT) of greenhouse gas emissions; and remove 202 MT of hazardous agrochemicals.
“This is the largest work program of FAO projects approved by [the] GEF Council. Working closely on the ground with partners and countries, these projects have the potential to improve millions of lives through agrifood systems transformation while helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” said FAO Deputy Director General Maria Helena Semedo, welcoming the decision taken by the 66th Council Sessions of the GEF, held in Washington, D.C., from February 6-10.
“Together with the GEF, we strive toward ensuring global food security coupled with sustainable, inclusive and resilient agriculture, benefiting people and [the] planet,” she added.
Forty-six countries, including the Philippines, have partnered with FAO to access finance from the GEF in this work program: Angola, Argentina, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eswatini, Grenada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.
The Philippines will be among the 22 countries included in the National Food Systems Transformation Pathways or other governmentled frameworks aimed at meeting environmental commitments, such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement.
The program focuses specifically on eight agri-food value chains and sectors: maize, rice, wheat, cocoa, palm oil, soy, livestock and aquaculture. The initiative is also expected to restore more than 870,000 hectares of degraded croplands, forests, natural grasslands and wetlands, as well as improve management practices of almost 14 million ha of land. These measures will help mitigate more than 174 million MT of greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate 220 MT of highly hazardous pesticides.