Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) —  Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change Aziz Abdukhakimov met with Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dr. Qu Dongyu.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed priority areas for bilateral cooperation, the implementation of current projects, and the preparation of new initiatives. Key topics included the development of a national program to reduce food waste and its integration into educational curricula, the implementation of the regional program "Water and Land Resource Nexus in Central Asia" (CAWLN) with a total budget of US$26 million in grants, and the launch of a new project to combat pesticides and chemicals.

Aziz Abdukhakimov highlighted FAO’s contribution to environmental education and raising public awareness. He emphasized FAO’s support in preparing the National Environmental Report, which addresses current environmental trends in sectors like agriculture and forestry. FAO also co-published a guide on reducing food waste and organized an exhibition to raise awareness on the topic.

The parties also discussed forming a sub-regional group with Central Asian countries, led by Uzbekistan, to attract additional funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached to expand cooperation in areas such as land degradation monitoring, combating desertification and dust storms, phasing out harmful chemicals and pesticides, promoting environmentally friendly farming methods, and incorporating FAO’s food waste management concept into educational programs.