Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol visits Egypt on her first official visit to the Near East and North Africa region

05 October 2022, Cairo –The FAO Deputy Director-General recently completed a four-day visit to Egypt aimed at boosting collaboration between the Organization and the most populous Arab country; and attending a regional workshop on Fall Armyworm control that gathered representatives from all countries in the region, research organizations, universities, and the private sector.

During the workshop, Bechdol highlighted that Fall Armyworm control is a priority, as it is one of the world’s most invasive plant pests that is still destroying billions of dollars’ worth of crops despite progress and a raft of measures to tackle it.

"FAO has convened this workshop to gather representatives from across the region to scale-up good management practices, coordinate action, and strengthen cooperation among all stakeholders to exchange information on innovative solutions and digital techniques to mitigate the impact of the rapid spread of fall armyworm," she added.

On the sidelines of the regional workshop on Fall Armyworm, held in Cairo, FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol visited Fall Armyworm demonstration plots in Luxor, where she assessed Egypt’s innovative solutions and technologies aims at managing the rapid spread of the Fall Armyworm.

“I have seen positive results from the demonstration plots in Luxor that included the use of local hybrid varieties, changes in planting dates and spacing, and intercropping.” Bechdol said. “With this knowledge, we can scale-up action and train more Egyptian farmers and promote these best practices to other countries in the region,” she added.

Her visit to Egypt also included meetings with Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation H.E. Al-Sayed el-Quseir, and Egypt's Minister for Water Resources and Irrigation H.E. Atef Swailem, as well as representatives from civil society and the private sector.

During her meetings with the Egyptian officials, Bechdol discussed several important issues, including water scarcity, climate change adaptation, in addition to ways and means to boost agrifood systems transformation.

The high-level officials hailed the FAO cooperation with Egypt and renewed their commitment to take this cooperation to a new level. The Deputy Director-General expressed her strong support for the Egyptian authorities and committed to supporting programmes aimed at addressing water scarcity and promoting climate-resilient agriculture.

On her last day of the visit, the Deputy Director-General met the staff of FAO’s Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa. During the meeting, Bechdol Qu shared her appreciation for the staff's dedication towards achieving FAO’s strategic framework: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life.