On 16 May 2023, Bangkok, Thailand, hosted the 79th Session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). [Photo/sectsco.org]

On 16 May 2023, Bangkok, Thailand, hosted the 79th Session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which included as a side event a joint SCO-ESCAP meeting titled Enabling Food Systems Transformation through Climate Smart Agri-Innovation. 

The expert meeting was sponsored by the ESCAP Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanisationwith support from the SCO Training and Demonstration Base for Agricultural Technology Exchange.

The discussion platform was inaugurated by SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming jointly with UN Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana. Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand and Permanent Representative to ESCAP Nagesh Singh addressed the participants on behalf of the current SCO chair.

In his welcoming remarks, Zhang Ming pointed to progress achieved in the course of interaction between the SCO and ESCAP, something that was confirmed by the holding of the joint event on a subject of current importance for the region and the world as a whole. He stated that the SCO member states attached special importance to fighting climate change and ensuring food security, emphasising the significance of multilateral cooperation for reaching the SDG.

During the panel session, experts from the SCO member states and ESCAP, as well as a representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) presented innovative approaches and specific technological solutions to promoting climate-smart agriculture.  The focus was on discussing advanced technologies of dry farming, weather-resistant food transportation and storage methods, animal husbandry and fodder production, and resource-efficient agriculture.

Following the thematic session, the moderator summed up a number of practical recommendations on introducing inclusive and multilateral approaches to agricultural innovations in the SCO and ESCAP responsibility zones.

Held in a hybrid format with a large number of professional invitees, the event was a component part of efforts to implement the Memorandum of Understanding between the Secretariat of the SCO and the Secretariat of the ESCAP, signed at the SCO Summit in Samarkand in September 2022.