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Global Forum for Food & Agriculture in Berlin marks milestone for advancing sustainable bioeconomy
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Monday, 27 January, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Berlin
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Bioeconomy as a driving force of the agrifood transformation promises a future where agriculture feeds the world while nurturing planet and people. In the final communique of the 2025 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin, agricultural ministers emphasised prioritising food security, nutrition and agrifood systems transformation within sustainable bioeconomy initiatives. At the Forum, FAO highlighted its groundbreaking work on bioeconomy over the past decade ranging from supporting country strategies, developing metrics and strengthening international cooperation and coordination.
Ministers unanimously supported the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture to support FAO to develop a global multi-stakeholder bioeconomy partnership for sustainable agrifood systems.
Held annually by the German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture, the GFFA is an international conference that addresses key issues for the future of sustainable agriculture and food policies. The seventeenth GFFA took place on January 15 to 18, 2025, with the participation of over 80 countries and international organisations, focusing on the overarching theme ‘Farming a sustainable bioeconomy’.
The bioeconomy encompasses the sustainable production, utilisation, conservation, and regeneration of biological resources. This concept integrates related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation to provide sustainable solutions for a more efficient, fair, and environment-friendly economy. FAO has incorporated bioeconomy as a dedicated work area within its Strategic Framework 2022–31. Through its initiative, FAO offers guidance and technical support to assist policymakers to develop a sustainable bioeconomy that aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At the GFFA, the FAO delegation, led by Kaveh Zahedi, director of FAO's office of climate change, Biodiversity and Environment, underlined the central role that agriculture and agrifood systems play in the bioeconomy, highlighting the call from FAO governing bodies to bring together a global partnership to serve as a catalyst for the development of policies, strategies, and plans, building capacities, knowledge systems, and incentives.
In the closing statement of the Berlin Agricultural Minister’s Conference, Zahedi emphasised that a sustainable bioeconomy offers one of the most promising pathways to address the cascading crises of conflicts, economic slowdowns, and climate change that are stalling poverty eradication and progress on food security and reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to supporting a global partnership to promote exchange of experiences, metrics, innovations, technologies and action that can transform agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.
The FAO-moderated breakout session at the seventeenth Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Conference underlined the importance of addressing both inequalities within countries and between countries in the move towards bioeconomies. Concerning the social aspects of bioeconomy, participating ministers made several commitments, including to support just transition and strengthen the implementation of the Right to Adequate Food, empower women, youth, and vulnerable groups, support rural development, improve land access, and ensure fair benefit-sharing. Key challenges included higher production costs for bio-based products, higher tariffs on processed bio-based products, and a lack of infrastructure in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. To address these issues, the ministers proposed advocating for policy changes, supporting research on consumer behaviour, and accelerating rural area development worldwide. These proposed solutions underscore the need for increased multilateral cooperation across trade and sustainable development sectors.
Highlighting the potential of bioeconomy innovations for food loss and waste reduction was at the centre of the FAO-organised high-level ministerial event on food loss and waste on January17, discussing tools, solutions and approaches with representatives of countries, international financial institutions and development partners to spur agrifood systems transformation.
Leonard Mizzi, head of the European Commission’s directorate-general on Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Fisheries, Gunther Beger, managing director at UNIDO, Anila Denaj, Albania’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julie Collins, Australia’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Shobha Shetty, global director at the World Bank, and Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, who have shared their vision for advancing sustainable bioeconomy development through food loss and waste reduction. Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval talked about the need for decentralised food storage facilities to ensure food security in the conflict-affected country. Looking ahead, panellists identified several critical areas requiring focus: insufficient infrastructure, inadequate investments, and lack of reliable data. They emphasised the need to strengthen and expand international cooperation, partnerships, and coordination.
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