Rome, Italy - The Global Agrifood Biotechnologies Conference 2025 opened today at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), bringing together policymakers, scientists, civil society, farmers, youth leaders, private sector and development partners under the theme "Biotechnologies for a Sustainable Future: Driving Agrifood Systems Transformation." The three-day event marks a milestone in FAO's 80th anniversary celebrations, highlighting the Organization's commitment to technologies, innovation and science-based approaches for the transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.
In his opening remarks, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu underscored the urgency of harnessing technologies and innovation in the face of intersecting global challenges. "With rapid scientific advancements and the simultaneous growing global challenges, it is a timely moment to place biotechnologies once again at the center of our collective agenda," he said.
The Director-General noted that biotechnologies already play a critical transformative role through a wide array of tools - including genomics, gene editing, and AI-powered bioinformatics - that are being applied to improve productivity, enhance nutrition, food quality, and reduce environmental impacts.
"Biotechnologies are vital drivers of agrifood systems transformation, helping us to ensure increased efficiency, productivity, inclusiveness, technologies sharing, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and resilience," he added.
He emphasized that beyond the technologies themselves, what matters is their equitable, ethical, and context-specific application, particularly in support of small-scale producers, Indigenous Peoples, and vulnerable communities in low- and middle-income countries.
Biotechnologies are already making a real impact on the ground-whether through gene editing, advanced diagnostics, AI-driven bioinformatics, or precision fermentation. These tools are helping improve yields, lower the environmental footprint of production, enhance the quality and nutritional value of food, and bioeconomy. These technologies are transforming how the world grows, produces, and consumes food-offering new opportunities to build resilience in the face of the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and food insecurity.
The FAO Director-General noted that biotechnology is not a substitute for traditional knowledge, but that instead it is a valuable complement. It must be accessible to those on the front lines of agrifood systems: farmers, rural communities, and stewards of the environment, he said, stressing that responsible governance, appropriate regulatory frameworks, public trust, and cross-sector collaboration are essential to ensure that no one is left behind in this era of rapid transformation.
FAO's role in biotechnology
The Director-General stressed that FAO promotes the responsible use of biotechnologies that are equitable and context-specific, tailored to local needs. "We support Members in developing national strategies, strengthening technical capacities, facilitating science- and evidence-based dialogue on biosafety and policy" and regulatory frameworks, and ensuring technologies benefit all - leaving no one behind, he said.
- Primarily, FAO assists its Members and their institutions by:
- Providing them with technical advice.
- Assisting them to develop their technical and institutional capacities in agricultural biotechnologies and related issues through technical co-operation and training.
- Providing them with access to high-quality, updated, balanced, science-based information.
- Offering them a neutral forum to discuss policy and technical issues related to biotechnologies.
Also, FAO hosts the Secretariats of a number of intergovernmental bodies and treaties that deal with some biotechnology-related issues, including the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission.
