Astronaut Thomas Pesquet and FAO Director-General make a call to transform agri-food systems

On World Food Day 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the FAO Goodwill Ambassador, European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Thomas Pesquet, made a joint call to support the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems to ensure enough affordable, nutritious, safe and sustainably produced food for all on the planet.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the FAO Goodwill Ambassador, European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Thomas Pesquet, made a joint call to support the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems to ensure enough affordable, nutritious, safe and sustainably produced food for all on the planet.

Joined in a virtual meeting between the International Space Station (ISS) where Thomas Pesquet has spent the last five months, and FAO headquarters in Rome, the Director-General Qu Dongyu and the ESA Astronaut talked about food system transformation and the scientific activities carried out on the ISS.

During his second mission onboard the ISS, Thomas Pesquet has been upgrading mechanical equipment and conducting experiments in the Columbus laboratory led by ESA. From there the French astronaut has been very active to raise global awareness on food security and climate change supporting FAO’s advocacy to end hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The meeting preceded the 2021 World Food Day celebrations that are taking place on October 15 at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General: "We are really pushing the one health, one approach to look at all the aspects of the human being from the environment, to the life, from the social, economic and culture. And let's share the one vision for one health, one planet."

Along the virtual meeting the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu applauded Thomas Pesquet’s support to FAO’s mission to transform agri-food systems with greater resilience to the major drivers of food insecurity, like conflict, climate variability and extremes and economic adversities.

SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Pesquet French ESA astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: "From here I try to advocate for the topics that we have in common, in short food security, the fight against hunger and climate change, resilience of the agri-food systems and all those things. It is a privileged vantage point here, you can see a lot of phenomenon happening on a global scale."

The FAO Director-General and Thomas Pesquet talked about the daily life on the ISS and the scientific work that the international crew of astronauts is doing to improve the life on Earth and preserve our planet.

SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General: "I hope you keep your fitness in the space. And with the healthy food. That's what we have promised to offer the more healthy food to the consumers and of course you are one of our billions consumers. And second also I hope that you enjoy your life with chili pepper you grow."

On board the International Space Station, Thomas Pesquet, has been working on experiments related to the cultivation of food in extreme conditions, such as red peppers, using hydroponics, a type of horticulture in which plants are grown in an aqueous solvent without soil. This technique decreases water usage in agriculture and in the future could permit to grow food in harsh environments. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Pesquet, French ESA astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: "Our chili peppers are important for us, for food, for nutrition, but also for our link to nature which is important for human beings. Even in this technological environment, very hostile, we are trying to still grow our food, how plants grow, see what it takes for them to be more resilient to a harsh environment to be applied on the ground. And it's also a very emotional connection to the Earth."

Fatouma Seid, FAO representative in Ethiopia, joined the meeting to discuss with Pesquet the FAO’s use of satellites and other technologies in the fight against desert locust invasion in the Horn of Africa. FAO has been helping the affected countries with forecasting information to avoid desert locusts’ outbreaks, and has supported the control operations with aerial and ground equipment.

SOUNDBITE (English) Fatouma Seid, FAO representative in Ethiopia: "When it comes to technology, actually you know that FAO is teaming up with the European Space Technology in monitoring the vegetation, and all the conditions that can that can lead to a locust outbreak. So that's in term of prevention. But in terms of control. We are also using very simple application on a daily basis, such as what we call the eLocust application, which are simple mobile device, that is, through smartphone, and tablet. The field team in very remote area can collect precise information on the locust, its location its development, growth, and the size of the swarm."

Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation programme that aims to provide accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change, and ensure civil security. The data provided by the ESA Copernicus satellites is used by many countries to manage their agriculture and fisheries. 

eLocust3g is a FAO’s handheld GPS-based data recording and transmission device designed for use in difficult and remote locations where monitoring is a challenge and there is no network. The device consists of a robust GPS and custom designed software, which enables those on the ground to gather standard data and transfer it via satellite from the field to the regional locust command centres. The coordinates of sighted locusts are mapped and shared in real-time with air and ground-based locust control teams for targeting.

SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Pesquet, French ESA astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: "It's great that our Copernicus program with ESA, with the European Union, its data are at your service for those fights and that's what we're looking for. We go to space to explore, but we go to space also because it's good for the people on Earth and you can watch really. You take a step back and you can watch the planet and you can help agriculture be more precise, be more resilient. You can monitor all those catastrophes that happen, natural disasters across the world. And I think that it's really important that we do this. I am proud that ESA is teaming now with FAO in that fight."

World Food Day (WFD) 2021 is being marked a second time during the COVID-19 pandemic. From the disruption of agri-food systems and a global economic recession to an increase in food insecurity and inequality, the pandemic has exposed the fragility of our societies. This year the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is raising awareness on the need to support the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. Hundreds of events and activities taking place worldwide in October will explore key outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit held in New York on September 23 and discuss the way forward. The World Food Day global ceremony will take place on Friday, 15 October 2021 at FAO headquarters.

LOCATIONS: Various, please check shotlist

DATELINE: Various, please check shotlist

LANGUAGE: Natural / English

LENGTH: 05’00”

SOURCE: Various, please check shotlist 

RESTRICTIONS: Please give on screen credit to sources

SHOTLIST

International Space Station, June 2021 – SOURCE: ESA/Nasa - mandatory on-screen credit to ESA/NASA

1. Wide shot of Thomas Pesquet unpacking science experiments 

2. Medium shot of Thomas Pesquet working on molecular muscle experiment

International Space Station, July 2021 – SOURCE: ESA/Nasa - mandatory on-screen credit to ESA/NASA

3. Wide shot of Thomas Pesquet working on time experiment

FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

4. FAO Director-General QU Dongyu greeting Thomas Pesquet on screen

International Space Station, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

5. Thomas Pesquet greeting FAO Director-General QU Dongyu

FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

6. SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General: "We are really pushing the one health, one approach to look at all the aspects of the human being from the environment, to the life, from the social, economic and culture. And let's share the one vision for one health, one planet."

7. Gallery view of Thomas Pesquet (left) and FAO Director-General (right) talking

8. Medium shot of FAO Director-General speaking

International Space Station, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Pesquet, French ESA astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: "From here I try to advocate for the topics that we have in common, in short food security, the fight against hunger and climate change, resilience of the agri-food systems and all the things. It is a privileged vantage point here, you can see a lot of phenomenon happening on a global scale."

International Space Station, May 2021 – SOURCE: ESA/Nasa - mandatory on-screen credit to ESA/NASA

10. Thomas Pesquet moving inside the International Space Station

International Space Station, July 2021 – SOURCE: ESA/Nasa - mandatory on-screen credit to ESA/NASA

11. Wide shot of Thomas Pesquet working on ultrasonic tweezers

12. Close up of Thomas Pesquet’s hands while working on ultrasonic tweezers

FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

13. SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General: "I hope you keep your fitness in the space. And with the healthy food. That's what we have promised to offer the more healthy food to the consumers and of course you are one of our billions consumers. And second also I hope that you enjoy your life with chili pepper you grow."

International Space Station, 20 September 2021 – SOURCE: ESA/Nasa - mandatory on-screen credit to ESA/NASA – Thomas Pesquet

14. Still shot of Thomas Pesquet working on the red peppers experiment

15. Close up still of a plant with green peppers and flowers

16. Medium still of peppers cultivation

International Space Station, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

17. SOUNDBITE (English) French ESA astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: "Our chili peppers are important for us, for food, for nutrition, but also for our link to nature which is important for human beings. Even in the technological environment, very hostile, we are trying to see how grow our food, how grow plants, see what it takes for them to be more resilient to a harsh environment to be applied on the ground. And it's also a very emotional connection to the Earth."

International Space Station, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: ESA/Nasa - mandatory on-screen credit to ESA/NASA

18. Wide still of Thomas Pesquet talking with FAO Director-General

19. Close up still of Thomas Pesquet talking with FAO Director-General

20. Medium still of Thomas Pesquet talking with FAO Director-General

Somali Region, Ethiopia, 12-17 November 2020 – SOURCE: FAO

21. Desert locusts flying over a field

Garowe, Somalia, 5 February 2020 – SOURCE: FAO

22. Hopper bands jumping through the stones 

23. Close-up of a hopper on a stone

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

24. Gallery view of Fatouma Seid, FAO representative in Ethiopia and Thomas Pesquet talking

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Fatouma Seid, FAO representative in Ethiopia: "When it comes to technology, actually you know that FAO is teaming up with the European Space Technology in monitoring the vegetation, and all the conditions that can that can lead to a locust outbreak. So that's in term of prevention. But in terms of control. We are also using very simple application on a daily basis, such as what we call the eLocust application, which are simple mobile device, that is, through smartphone, and tablet. The field team in very remote area can collect precise information on the locust, its location its development, growth, and the size of the swarm."

Somali Region, Ethiopia, 12-17 November 2020 – SOURCE: FAO

26. FAO expert monitoring fields infestation 

27. Close up on a eLocust tool

International Space Station, 16 September 2021 – SOURCE: FAO

28. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Pesquet, French ESA astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: "It's great that our Copernicus program with ESA, with the European Union, its data are at your service for those fights and that's what we're looking for. We go to space to explore, but we go to space also because it's good for the people on Earth and you can watch really. You take a step back and you can watch the planet and you can help agriculture be more precise, be more resilient. You can monitor all those catastrophes that happen, natural disasters across the world. And I think that it's really important that we do this. I am proud that ESA is teaming now with FAO in that fight."

29. Gallery view of Fatouma Seid, FAO representative in Ethiopia and Thomas Pesquet talking

30. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Pesquet, French ESA astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: "I am very proud to be an ambassador of FAO, you see I have my flag with me, I'm trying to share the topics and I am very much looking into continuing that fight and hopefully meeting both of you on the ground when I am back."

FILE – Rome, Italy – SOURCE: FAO

31. Wide shot of FAO headquarters

32. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) logo

ENDS

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