C44 ROUND TABLE Four Betters for the Future “Delivering Good Food for All – Today and Tomorrow” Opening Statement

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning!

We are living through a moment of profound uncertainty and challenges but also of great potential. We have to see both sides. Last Friday we had the AU-EU meeting, and on Sunday the SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs Ministerial Meeting, and this week the Governing Body meeting – the FAO Ministerial Conference. Why do we focus on that? Because it is the future, the future for us and for the generations to come.

Agrifood systems will be there, even though perhaps cutting-edge technologies and facilities will have disappeared. Do you remember 40 years ago, watching colour TV was fashionable, and now very few people watch TV. We are more dependent on the internet, online and AI. So, technology and innovation are always driving changes. Agrifood systems are the foundation of our societies, economies and the environment, and in developing countries we need more functional and efficient agrifood systems.

I won’t repeat all the numbers here because we all work in the agricultural sector and know what they are, but as we learn from our Chief Economist, we should use the economic paradigm or model to see what the future demand is.

The demand in the next five, 10 or 20 years will be very different from now, and is even more different than 10 years ago - in the developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia or even here in Europe. Fo example, 30 or 35 years ago when I came to Italy, the food, the pizza was much more primitive than now. Now, when I try to find a primitive pizza, it’s difficult and that’s only in 30 years! So, even here in Italy, they put a lot of effort into protecting their food and food culture.

The politicians realized that agrifood systems needed a transformation from the basic and traditional. So, with demand you have to change. Not only in quantity, quality and diversity, but also cultural and in the way the food is delivered. Ten years ago, we didn’t have e-commerce.

All this is related to FAO’s mandate, and to all of you of course.

That’s why today’s topic is so timely. We say Four Betters, not only one better for the future, for the young generation. We have to think ahead – we need forward-looking thinking.

These Four Betters are not slogans. We need to start with the value chain. What does it mean at the value chain level. Specific value chains have specific commodities for better production; better nutrition for their food culture and different value chains have a different preference and culture, with some related to religion.

Better nutrition, I know in Hindu, my dear Ambassador from India, she understood the cow is a holy animal in quite a number of places in India. So, the Four Betters, even better nutrition has a different explanation, different preferences, different formulas.

Better environment is the same – in the North with extremely cold weather, to the tropical regions and even within tropical regions we have different requirements on better environment for life, for farmers, and for the city. So that’s why we don’t

only talk theoretically about big environmental pollution, gas emissions and so on. I encourage all of you to think low down, zoom in on the ground in detail.

Otherwise, it becomes a slogan. Also, for a better life, from the zygote to the infant baby, to the kids in primary school, school meals all have a different interpretation. And also, for middle age, or like us all here middle to senior age – although we are young at heart – we have different requirements on food and nutrition.

For a better life you must also think about sick people. When developing a new market, you should also develop special food for those people – that is the huge, deep blue market. Even in developed countries they do not have specific food for sick people.

If you had a heart attack, surgery, or cancer - sick people have different requirements. Hospitals offer universal processed food for sick people. Better Life covers the whole life cycle.

I wanted to use this opportunity to give you a relevant explanation and not only a slogan. That is the Four Betters for the Future.

That is why we started the World Food Forum, with the Youth Forum. They come to think and learn together, to define and design together on what the future of FAO should be addressing in five- or 10-years’ time, so that they can start working on this in their own countries, their own organizations, companies, private sector, or even farmers or researchers, to build consensus during their life. Not only for one meeting in 24 hours – it’s too late in my opinion. They can understand from the FAO Youth Forum and ten years later they can understand each other. That is the FAO generation public good for the future.

So, the Four Betters is just one theme to unite them – inclusive participation. That is why you cannot focus only on one better.

During a lot of the COPs there is huge participation, but the real discussion is always in a very small group of 10 or 20 or maybe 1000 people in the very big COP conference. We need more people to come together under one theme and discuss and build consensus and try to learn from one another.

FAO is a platform for its Members, especially for younger generations to come to learn together, share together, and contribute together.

Thank you for coming and supporting this session and also, we can learn amongst ourselves.

Thank you so much.