On the occasion of the fourth observance of World Bee Day, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is organising an online event on May 20, 2021 under the theme Bee engaged – Build Back Better for Bees.
The high-level gathering will be formally opened by the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and will focus on the important role that bees and other pollinators play in delivering ecosystems services, food security, nutrition and livelihoods.
Speakers will call for global cooperation and solidarity to counter the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to food security and agricultural livelihoods alongside prioritising environmental regeneration and pollinator protection. It will be an occasion to raise awareness of how everyone can make a difference to support, restore and enhance the role of pollinators – and consequently, the millions of livelihoods they, in turn, support.
Three out of four food crop types across the globe depend on pollinators to some degree. However, today bees, pollinators and many other insects are declining in abundance. At the same time, the global food economy is showing striking increases in demand for pollination services, especially in developing countries.
| What | World Bee Day – virtual celebration |
| When | Thursday, 20 May 2020, 13:00-14:45 (Rome time) |
| Who | QU Dongyu, Director-General, FAO Jože Podgoršek, Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia Julia Klöckner, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany Zagdjav Mendsaikhan, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia Dr Taïga, Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries of the Republic of Cameroon David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity |
The interventions will be followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and Apimondia (the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations).
A wide-ranging technical discussion will follow involving addresses given by Olivier Badibanga, Managing Director of API-CONGO of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Jane Stout, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin; Meriem Hammal, a beekeeper from Algeria; Lucas Garibaldi, Director, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Argentina; and Phrang Roy, Coordinator, Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty, and Founding Chairman, North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society, India.
There will be a special update on the World Bee Count and AI-Driven Climate-Smart Beekeeping by Max Rünzel, HiveTracks CEO and World Bee Count Project Coordinator, USA.
A question-and-answer session will follow and Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General, will close the formal observance.
Disclaimer: All information are provided by FAO. www.AgriculturePost.com will not be responsible for any change in the programme, schedule or speakers.
