Agriculture Ministers and High-Level representatives from international organisations called on the FAO, though the GFFA 2019 final communique, to develop a concept for the establishment of an International Council for Food and Agriculture. On 16 January, 2020, the concept note was presented to the high-level meeting and recognised in the 2020 final communique: "In particular, we, the agriculture ministers of 71 nations, hereby thank FAO and the other International Organisations for developing a concept for the establishment of an International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture, as we requested in the 2019 GFFA Final Communiqué. We welcome the FAO’s efforts on the concept and call upon FAO’s governing bodies to support a process for its establishment".

GODAN enthusiastically supports the establishment of the Digital Council, with the Council’s scope aligning fully with GODAN objectives regarding SDGs 1 and 2.

The network continues to support global efforts to make agricultural and nutrition-relevant data available, accessible, and easy to use on a global scale, by building high-level policy, public and private institutional support for open data. GODAN is a pioneer in open data advocacy, through its own policy advisory and capacity development work, but also through its large network of members, committed to the joint aim of advocating for open data principles in the fields of agriculture and nutrition.

Increased data accessibility of, and access to, smart technologies empowers farmers and companies – both large and small – throughout the worldwide food production chain to better plan and sustainably execute food production and farming processes, contributing to tackling global issues such as world hunger and environmental sustainability.

GODAN’s Data Rights Adviser, Foteini Zampati, attended the GFFA briefing at which the plans for the International Digital Council were presented. You can read her report here.