Minister Majnun Mammadov met with FAO Director General Gu Dongyu

Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov met with a delegation led by Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Gu Dongyu, who participated in the 29th Session of the Conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). At the meeting, which took place in the pavilion of the Ministry of Agriculture of COP29, the importance of projects implemented within the framework of joint cooperation with FAO was emphasized and the prospects for cooperation were discussed.

Welcoming the guests, Minister Majnun Mammadov touched upon the importance of holding COP29 in Azerbaijan and spoke about the measures taken to minimize the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector. It was noted that the government of Azerbaijan closely cooperates with international organizations to achieve sustainable development goals. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is one of Azerbaijan's most important international partners. Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with FAO in the field of Agriculture and is interested in continuing this cooperation.

FAO director-general Gu Dongyu, in his turn, expressed his satisfaction with the establishment of high-level relations between Azerbaijan and the organization. He noted that in light of the impact of global challenges, it is very important to build more sustainable agro-agriculture systems and expand global cooperation in these areas in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Measures such as COP29 make a significant contribution to the work of setting priorities for the development of the agrarian sector. Gu Dongyu stressed that projects aimed at sustainable development of the agricultural sector, formation of an efficient and professional specialist base will be supported in the future.

The parties touched upon the importance of continuing cooperation within the framework of the FAO-Azerbaijan Partnership Program and discussed issues related to further increasing productivity in the agrarian sector, rational use of land and water resources, digitalization of agriculture, improvement of education, training and research in the agrarian sector.

At the end, a broad exchange of views was held on the topics of mutual interest.

At the end of the meeting, a declaration of intent was signed on strengthening cooperation on the “Baku Harmony Climate Initiative for Farmers", which was included in the “Sustainable Transformation for Food and Agriculture” (FAST) initiative within the framework of COP29.