Strengthening the FAO-CIHEAM cooperation in the Mediterranean
FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy
October 19, 2023
The signing ceremony for the new Memorandum of Understanding between CIHEAM and the FAO took place at the FAO 2023 Science and Innovation Forum. The objective of this agreement is to provide a framework for collaboration between the Parties to advance their common goals and objectives for an effective transition towards more sustainable Mediterranean food systems in the region.
The Secretary General of CIHEAM, Mr. Teodoro Miano thanked the Director General of FAO, Mr Qu Dongyu, as well as Mrs Ismahane Elouafi, first Chief Scientist of the FAO and Mrs Marcela Villarreal, Director of FAO’s Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division for their constant support to the CIHEAM and for the significant efforts made in drafting the protocol. As he recalled, there is more than 45 years of history of collaboration between the two organisations serving the Mediterranean populations.
A critical period in the Mediterranean
As provided for in the protocol, the strengthening of their partnership comes at a critical time in the Mediterranean region and calls for converging efforts to meet the emerging food challenges. In addition to historic droughts and severe heat waves, several countries in the region have been hit by large-scale natural disasters, while populations have to face high inflation in food prices.
“The Mediterranean region is the scene of multiple climatic, socio-economic and political crises which will worsen if agricultural cooperation and sustainable food security do not become a regional priority. Today, the FAO and the CIHEAM are joining forces and betting on their complementarities to support countries accelerate the urgent necessary transitions”, stated Mr Teodoro Miano.
The scope of this new Memorandum of Understanding will enable actions to be carried out in several related areas, including food security, trade, the prevention of distress migration, training and empowerment of women and young people, the sharing of expertise and knowledge to establish sustainable food systems that are greener and more resilient to climate change, sustainable production and consumption, and responsible management of coastal areas and the promotion of small-scale fishing.
Driven by common objectives and strengthened by the multi-stakeholder approach they advocate, the FAO and the CIHEAM are helping to make their complementarities an effective lever for raising awareness and mobilising Mediterranean stakeholders, for political dialogue and for the implementation of projects rooted in the territories.
One of the results of this long-term collaboration is the establishment in 2021 of a tripartite agreement, involving the CIHEAM, the FAO and the UfM, successively extended to the PRIMA Foundation, leading to the promotion of an Multi-Stakeholder Initiative for Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean (SFS-MED platform), a project affiliated to the Sustainable Food Systems programme of the UN One Planet network, within the One Health framework.
The CIHEAM organised several independent SFS-MED dialogues with the FAO in preparation for the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UN-FSS).
Together they co-published in 2021 the report entitled "Transformation of food systems: Processes and pathways in the Mediterranean", co-developed training activities for staff and institutional figures, and co-organised international conferences on various topics of importance to the Mediterranean region, such as empowering rural women; strengthening cooperatives and producer organisations; Mediterranean food consumption patterns and the Mediterranean diet; emerging threats to plant health (Xylella Fastidiosa and the red palm weevil); or even sustainable management of natural resources: land, soil and water.
Further information on the inter-institutional collaboration between the FAO and the CIHEAM
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