President of the Republic of Honduras, H.E. Xiomara Castro
19 September 2024, Honduras: FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with the President of the Republic of Honduras, Her Excellency Xiomara Castro, during his visit to the country.
President Castro welcomed the Director-General and expressed appreciation for the positive impact of FAO’s support in the country especially in matters of food and nutrition security, poverty reduction and Productive Technology Bonus aimed at small and medium-sized producers, such as agricultural, livestock and coffee growers.
The President further referred to FAO’s valuable assistance in the School Gardens Program and in strengthening the National School Feeding Program, as well as technical assistance in the National Agricultural Census. The latter constituted an historic milestone for the country, given that the data from the last National Agricultural Census was more than 30 years old.
The Director-General stressed that for any country, solidarity and stability are necessary preconditions to move the country forward on its path to development.
The Director-General referred to the 1st CELAC Coffee Summit, an initiative under the Honduras Pro-tempore Presidency and stated that FAO was working towards a UNGA Resolution to declare 1 October annually as the International Coffee Day. If this was successful, 2025 would mark the first celebration the International Day and for the first time in history coffee would be celebrated vis-a-vis its promotion and visibility in the international sphere as a high-value product.
President Castro also highlighted the critical situation on deforestation around the Rio Platano’s Biosphere, as well as the high rates of deforestation and illegal logging in the area, for different uses including the expansion of the cattle frontier.
The Director-General highlighted that FAO offers technical guidance to Members for the development of enabling policy environments that safeguard the balance between forest preservation and production
Finally, the Director-General invited Honduras to join the FAO flagship One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative to promote a special agricultural product by availing itself of FAO’s technical assistance through this platform to advance its marketing on the global stage.
The President and the Director-General reiterated their collective will to further strengthen collaboration.
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