Urgent action and innovative strategies in agri-food systems are needed to eliminate hunger by the end of the decade. This is according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General, QU Dongyu, during the Sustainable Innovation Forum at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) running from October 31 to November 12, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland.

The number of undernourished people reached 811 million in 2020, and with the climate crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, attaining the UN's Sustainable Development Goals has become even more challenging.

"If we want to meet our global commitments to end world hunger by 2030, we need to accelerate the transformation to greener, more inclusive, resilient, efficient and sustainable agri-food systems," Qu said in a video message. "We need innovations that span across agri-food systems, from food production to consumption and waste management, as well as policy and financing," he stressed.

FAO has implemented various initiatives to help improve the agri-food systems such as the Green Cities Initiative, 1000 Digital Villagers Initiative, Earth Map, and the International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture. He also mentioned the role of leveraging finance to tackle agri-food systems and environmental challenges.

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