FAO Announced GIES as One of Knowledge Products on the ??Four Betters??

Li, X.¹  Liu, C.²

1. FAO Aisa and Pacific Office, Bangkok 10200, Thailand;

2. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3974/geodp.2025.03.13

From July 14 to 17, 2025, the FAO High-Level Inter-Regional Knowledge Exchange on One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Models was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, co-organized by FAO and Vietnam??s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. The event brought together agriculture ministers, senior policymakers from 14 African countries (Cameroon, Côte d??Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) and 3 Asian countries (Bhutan, Nepal, and Vietnam), and representatives of FAO??s knowldge products on ??Four Betters??, Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment, and Better Life, leaving no one behind.

Mr. H. E. Do Duc Duy, Vietnam??s Minister of Agriculture and Environment and FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol delivered the welcome remarks at the opening ceremony. Mr. H. E. Do Duc Duy highlighted that since Vietnam launched the OCOP program in 2018, the country has certified 16,800 products with three-star ratings or above. Beth Bechdol emphasized that the conference would focus on enhancing the efficiency, inclusivity, resilience, and sustainability of agri-food production to reduce extreme hunger, malnutrition, and poverty in Africa and Asia. This marks the first cross-regional Asia-Africa knowledge exchange on agri-food systems transformation guided by the ??Four Betters?? vision.

FAO Director-General Qu, Dongyu delivered a video address, stating that Asia had achieved successful experiences in the OCOP initiative for Special Agricultural Products (SAPs). He said he was confident that Asia??s expertise in driving innovation, enhancing national product branding, boosting productivity, increasing profitability, exploring new markets, and improving rural livelihoods will inspire and support Africa??s efforts in this regard. Dr. Alue Dohong, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, as well as Chair of the OCOP Regional Organizing Group in Asia and the Pacific, announced the first batch knowledge products in ??Four Betters?? under the OCOP initiative: the knowledge product on Nutrition-focused Food Formula by Mahidol University??s Institute of Nutrition of Thailand; the GIES knowledge product focused on environment by the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR-CAS) of China, and the knowledge product focused on marketing intelligence on better livelihoods by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Dr. Liu, Chuang, Chief Scientist of GIES Program of IGSNRR-CAS and Director of Global Change Research Data Publishing & Repository of World Data System, Vice-Chair of the FAO OCOP Regional Organizing Group in Asia and the Pacific delivered a keynote speech on GIES: Leveraging science and innovation for OCOP development for Better Environment. She highlighted that FAO and IGSNRR-CAS simultaneously launched the OCOP initiative and the Geographical Indications Environment & Sustainability (GIES) 10-year action plan in September 2021. FAO??s OCOP adopts a top-down approach across global, regional, and national levels, driving agri-product transformation under the ??Four Betters?? framework. Meanwhile, GIES employs a bottom-up model based on open science driving, government leading, enterprise implementation, and multi-stakeholder particip­ation?? integrating science, technology, engineering, management, and culture to benefit producers, consumers, and the environment through case-based solutions. The synergistic interaction between OCOP??s top-down structure and GIES bottom-up practices offers a scalable, replicable, and transferable model to accelerate progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Professor Zhu, Yunqiang, chief scientist of the Guangfeng Majia pomelo subtropical low mountains and hills case, Professor Wang, Yongsheng, chief scientist of the Yang County black rice Caoba Village case in Crested Ibis habitat and Ms. Li, Limin, Secretary of the GIES team jointed the event. The following GIES cases and their products were demonstrated at the event: (1) Yanchi Tan Sheep grassland case; (2) Baoshan coffee dry-hot valley case; (3) Lanjia Village rice permanent farmland case; (4) Panshi large corylus low mountain and hills case; (5) Fengxian burdock ancient Yellow River Floodplain case, (6) Pingshun Lu Dangshen southern Taihang Mountains case; (7) Yang County black rice Crested Ibis habitat case, (8) Zezhou millet red clay soil case, (9) Korla fragrant pear Kongque River Oasis case; (10) Guangfeng Majia pomelo subtropical low mountains and hills case, and ongoing cases: (11)Taihe silky fowl and (12) Wuyishan tea origin of the world.