Rome: An Azerbaijani delegation led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sarvan Jafarov participated at the 2025 edition of the World Food Forum (WFF) flagship event, kicked off today at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome.
According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, this year’s Forum takes on special significance as it coincides with the 80th anniversary of FAO. The week-long Forum features the participation of high-level leaders from various countries, as well as numerous representatives from governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, research institutions, youth, Indigenous Peoples and other stakeholders in agrifood systems.
The forum featured a high-level event themed “Scaling Up Climate Response through Agrifood Systems: Sustainable and resilient agrifood systems to deliver better production, better nutrition, better environment and better life.”
Addressing the event, Deputy Minister Sarvan Jafarov provided an overview of the ongoing agrarian reforms in Azerbaijan, which mainly focus on modernizing the sector through creating agro-parks, developing value-added processing, improving financing and insurance mechanisms, and increasing the use of innovative technologies. S. Jafarov emphasized that Azerbaijan is modernizing its agriculture through consistent and systematic measures to promote digital transformation and rural development, supported by expanded state programs.
Furthermore, the forum continued with a Ministerial Dialogue, which was addressed by FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister Sarvan Jafarov noted that since its inception, FAO has made significant contributions to the transformation of global food security, nutrition, and agrifood systems, and that Azerbaijan supports all initiatives aimed at creating sustainable and inclusive agrifood systems. He stressed that Azerbaijan is interested in expanding cooperation within the FAO’s “South-South and Triangular Cooperation” platforms, the “Four Better” initiative based on the principles of better production, better nutrition, better environment and better life, as well as other multilateral platforms.
The ministry official also addressed a high-level meeting dedicated to the topic “Water for Resilient Agriculture and Food Security: Past, Present and Future” held as part of the forum. He emphasized that the government’s policy prioritizes modernizing agriculture using digital and smart technologies to improve land and water efficiency, environmental protection, and biodiversity, with state support to achieve these goals.
The Deputy Minister highlighted the importance of Azerbaijan’s hosting of COP29, emphasizing that the conference was a prestigious event where crucial decisions were made to reshape global climate action, especially regarding support for vulnerable countries.