Making Asia and the Pacific more dynamic, healthier, wealthier, and better

February 15, 2024

JAKARTA – We all know that we live in a changing world. In the vast area of Asia and the Pacific that change is most evident. Over the past 20 years, the economies of many nations in the region have been moving out of the category of “least developed” and graduating into a “middle income” status.

However, the positive changes that help to make our lives better, healthier, and more prosperous, are not happening at the same time equally across all countries, or even equitably within them.

On the one hand, Asia and the Pacific is now home to three of the world’s five largest economies. These and other countries in the region help to feed much of the rest of the world – the majority of aquaculture, rice production and the rapidly growing protein sector is found here.

On the other hand, hunger is still widespread in some parts of the region – indeed more than 371 million are undernourished in Asia and the Pacific – or half the world’s total. Nearly two billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.

Despite considerable progress, poverty remains a problem for many families. Meantime, inequalities persist among and within countries, between men and women and for youth, and indigenous peoples, and between cities and rural areas.

To address these challenges, FAO is increasingly striving to leverage science and innovation, including new technologies – especially digital solutions – developed in both the public and private sectors, particularly through four regional priorities designed to deliver the Four Betters (Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life, leaving no one behind).

The first FAO Asia-Pacific regional priority is to transform the region’s agrifood systems to be more