Dr Cherdsak Virapat, Director-General of CIRDAP,
Ms Narumol Sanguanvong, Assistant Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
and Cooperatives, Thailand.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

1. It is a great honour to accept the Aziz-Ul Haq Rural Development Medal on
   behalf of FAO Director General Dr QU Dongyu, and thank you for the recognition of
   FAO’s efforts towards global rural development and poverty alleviation, and for
   supporting CIRDAP to promote integrated rural development for small-scale
   aquaculture and agriculture farmers.
   Ladies and Gentlemen,
2.  The COVID-19 pandemic which unfortunately is still around us has widely
   exposed the weaknesses of our agrifood systems, and this situation is compounded by
   conflicts and humanitarian emergencies across the world.
3. World hunger rose again in 2022, reflecting growing inequalities across and
   within countries. Some 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021. This is an
   increase of 46 million from 2020, and 150 million more from 2019, before the COVID
   19 pandemic. Food insecurity also increased in 2021, reminding us that more people
   did not have access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food. If we project these
   numbers to 2030, we can clearly see that we are off-track to meet SDG2. This must
   be our wake-up call!
4. We must not only be worried about the recent setbacks in progress towards
   SDG2, but about the current and future context as well. The ongoing war in Europe,
   together with other extended conflicts around the world, is pushing up the price of
   food, grain, fertilizer and energy, leading to shortages and high food price inflation.
   Furthermore, more frequent and extreme climate events are disrupting supply chains,
   especially in low-income countries. We are fully aware that adversities will continue
   to occur. This is why we need to take bolder action to build resilience, and transform
   our agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more
   sustainable.
5. Ladies and Gentlemen, To do this, FAO has launched the Hand-in-Hand Initiative through which we are
   supporting 53 countries, in an holistic manner. And we need to work with more
   partners at global and national levels, to explore opportunities for increasing the
   provision of public services that support all actors across agrifood systems –
   implanting policy measures that incentivize the production and consumption of
   nutritious foods, and make healthy diets more affordable.
6. This spirit of partnership and collaboration is exemplified by the long and
   successful relationship between CIRDAP and FAO, both firmly committed to working
   with governments, to ensure ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition, and to
   accelerate sustainable rural development.
7. From collaborating with governments on national agriculture policies to
   studying the transformation of agrifood systems; from in-country training and capacity
   development to support to regional strategies, and collaboration on major events such
   as the Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium+20, FAO and CIRDAP continue to
   build upon the close relationship dating back to the founding of CIRDAP in 1979.
8. Now more than ever our organizations need to continue working jointly, with
   all key players, to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment
   and a better life for all, leaving no one behind.

Thank you