The panel, moderated by Jean‑Marc, brings together regional experts to discuss how agrifood systems in the MENA and broader African context can meet rising food demand while addressing climate change, affordability, and youth empowerment. Speakers highlight concrete successes such as the Al‑Mutmir caravan in Morocco—a public‑private partnership that brings scientific innovations directly to farmers and has achieved rapid adoption. They argue that the Green Revolution’s yield gains must be preserved while diversifying crops and involving youth. The discussion stresses that agriculture can be flipped from a net emitter to a carbon‑sequestering system through integrated farming, forestry, and fisheries. Technological optimism is expressed, citing the M‑Pay mobile‑banking model as evidence that even low‑literacy farmers can adopt sophisticated tools like remote‑sensing‑derived precision farming delivered via smartphones. Demonstration plots and strong extension services are presented as proven, low‑cost mechanisms for technology diffusion. FAO’s new Science & Innovation strategy is outlined, comprising a foresight exercise on emerging technologies, a collaborative platform for national programs and academies, and the Agri‑Food System Technology & Innovation Outlook (ATO) to index country‑level uptake. Affordability is tackled by advocating local manufacturing of agri‑tech (e.g., irrigation equipment). South‑South Triangular Cooperation and farmer‑to‑farmer “farmer schools” are promoted as peer‑learning pathways. The overarching goal is to accelerate progress toward SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) by 2030.
Chapters
Continue improving those crops. So I think we need to educate farmers. Thank
you. Thank you very much. Merci.
There's obviously a lot to say in one minute.
Doesn't do it. Take the other one.
Yeah, so a lot to say. I just want to bring it back to where we started. We're running out of time basically, and this is a strong observation, especially when we start looking at some of these targets like our yesterday discussion. When I end up saying, are we really serious? 7 seasons left, can we double productivity? But at the same time, I want to end this with the sign of hope. Last year, for instance, I went back home to Morocco and I could see something, witness on the ground, I'm sure Ismaël also saw that, to show that the ways are possible to happen. This caravan of Al-Mutmir, for instance, I invite you to check it out, for instance, that started as a public-private partnership, bringing OCP Foundation farmers, and basically what it is doing, it's bringing innovation and science to farmers' feet. And it's just outstanding, as you can see the adoption rate soaring in one year. So that's for me a sign of hope, say that it is possible if we put it all together in partnership, bringing the private sector and making it happen on the ground. That's one. Second, I would say Please don't throw the baby with the water bath, because when we're talking about the future, let's not forget where we come from. This green revolution that now we trust has been made possible to cut hunger in this existence, and that was done basically by bringing the yields of staple crops. So let's not forget that. I don't think we have to reverse all that and say, well, let's forget, flip the pyramid. I wouldn't push that much. So here I'm pushing a little bit back and saying, of course we have to look at diversification, we have to look at all these at once. For instance, the Success story and all that others. It is helpful, but we have to keep it in perspective. And the final thing is youth. I think we saw it in this session, and that's the sign of hope. We have to make sure that the technology and the knowledge and innovation is channeled to youth in our region, and I'm sure we can at least get close to those targets.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Well, I'm going to. Add to challenges, because I believe not only we will succeed in meeting the expansions of food and do it more sustainably, but I believe that the entire food agricultural sector can be flipped in the sense that at present it is contributing to global emissions. I believe that it can be flipped in the sense that it will contribute to the capturing of CO2 storage in the soils, and that requires a broader perspective, of course, of agriculture, which most of us have. That includes farming and fisheries and forestry and so on, all together, and I think that the science that is being developed will work and that this food and agricultural sector will not be a burden on the climate change. In fact, it will be part of the solution. Secondly, I believe that the technology is easily acceptable, contrary to what people think. I mean, I would urge, for example, people to look at the M-Pesa system of banking that was released in East Africa using mobile phones. Very poor people with no education actually picked up on it fantastically. They are using these mobile phones, and so there's no difficulty in assuming, as I showed in my slides, that you can actually take the global remote sensing data, do remote sensing analysis on the soil and water and so on in the farms, and precision farming can be brought forward and handed to the farmers on their mobile phones, and they will know how to use it. Because people did not believe that the mobile banking would work. They said, you know, these are very poor, uneducated, illiterate people. Well, it works. It works in extremely well. So we shouldn't underestimate them. Last but not least, when we say how to do it, I believe in a very powerful method that we used to use back in the '80s and '90s, which was demonstration plots in remote villages. You can't expect all the remote villages, especially if you go down sub-Saharan Africa in jungle areas and whatnot, to come all the way to the agricultural station. But we can send an agricultural Extension worker who can actually say, we will have a demonstration plot and you'll compare the new stuff we're telling you with your own stuff. And when you see, they do adopt. The adoption rate was very high when that was done back in the '80s and '90s. And that's one of the reasons why in one of my slides I did say that we needed a powerful extension service. The outreach is important. Thank you. And to constantly bring in the latest stuff. And when they have their mobile phones on, and they will be able to get all that information right where they are.
Last, last but not least, my boss will close this session.
Thank you, Jean-Marc. So just really, I agree with all of you. Just to also end up on a note of hope, we are developing a science and innovation strategy at FAO, and really. Under that umbrella, what we are pushing for— I'm gonna leave you with 3. We are doing a foresight exercise on technology and innovation, and the idea again is that the least income countries cannot keep up going back. They need to know what's coming, and they have to be ready for it in terms of policies, regulation, investment, you name it. So some of the technologies that Dr. Ismail showed us— so we need all to be on the same wavelength. The second one which we are doing, it's a platform called Science, Technology, and Innovation whereby we want to bring everybody, the national programs, the academies. So what we are talking about, that continuum of from innovation to the ground, including extension services and making sure that the farmers has access to it. And between that, I want to just put a between brackets, affordability is very important. Most of the technologies are way too expensive. Expensive, and they are expensive because they are imported. So an irrigation system in any part of country in Africa will be too expensive because it's imported. Let's manufacture it in the country and you will see how the price will be dropping. The third one is what you— ATO, which is the Agri-Food System Technology and Innovation Outlook, that we want to have really an index to classify and assess a little bit how innovation is taken up at the country level. I have been visiting a lot Asia. I saw things that I have never seen in publications. There is so much innovation going on in small villages, in big ones. It's amazing. And that's where FAO's role is really to bring that information. So the South-South Triangular Cooperation is one of the modes that we are using. So we need really the peer learning, and that's where one of the innovations of FAO is the farmer schools. It's getting farmers to teach farmers. We want that at the country level. We want that at the community level. So those 3 are very important. I hope really that they're going to help the 194 member states really to uptake science and innovation so that really we get to the 2030 development agenda, hopefully. By time, or at least some of it. The one that is closest to my heart is SDG 2. We need to get to zero hunger. We can't really keep having a huge number of kids that would never develop to their, to their potential. Thank you very much. Sorry,
thank you so much. A round of applause for all our panelists.
