Mexico trip Features Visit to a GIAHS site, to CIMMYT, And Bilateral Meetings With High Level Government Representatives
30 October 2025, Mexico: QU Dongyu visited Mexico on a two-day trip during which he met senior government ministers and made field visits to local institutions.
A highlight was the Director-General’s visit to Metepantle in Españita, Tlaxcala state, where he visited the Metepantle, a recently-designated FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) site. Accompanied by Julio Berdegué Sacristán, Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, and local authorities, Qu praised Metapantle as a powerful example of long-term agricultural resilience in fragile mountain environments.
The site is recognized for being home to a terraced mosaic of maize, agave, beans, squash and wild plants cultivated over the past 3,000 years in ways rooted in traditional Nahua knowledge and in ways that supports dryland biodiversity. The system, described by the Minister as a “living museum” maintains more than 140 native species, including 40 maize land races, through a sophisticated system of seed conservation, trading and exchange networks.
The Director-General used the visit as an opportunity to meet with around 500 local farming families and community leaders. “More than an agricultural system, Metepantle is a philosophy that teachers us to produce with respect, to live in harmony with the Earth, and to build the future on the foundation of the wisdom of the past,” Qu said.
Later the same day, Qu and the FAO delegation visited the global headquarters of CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), a non-profit research center that works on improving the yields, quality and dependability of food production systems and essential crops such as maize, wheat, sorghum and millets around the world.
“FAO and CIMMYT share the same goal: to ensure nutrition for all through science, innovation and cooperation,” the Director-General said. “In these challenging times, we must work together to transform our agrifood systems, preserve traditional knowledge and promote new technologies that improve farmers’ lives.”
FAO works with CIMMYT on a number of strategic projects including the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils initiative (VACS), Recarbonization of Global Agricultural Soils (RECSOIL) and FAO’s flagship One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative.
“FAO and CIMMYT share a long-standing commitment to transforming agriculture through science and innovation,” said Berdegué.
The FAO delegation visited CIMMYT’s biodiversity collections, field research platforms and laboratories, discussed joint priorities to advance low-emission forage systems and sustainable soil and water management, and reviewed ongoing research in precision genetics, smart mechanization and conservation agriculture practices.
“For many decades, CIMMYT has been proud to be an implementing and innovation partner for FAO. Looking forward, we will deepen our relationship on stress-resilient agrifood systems for smallholder farmers, harnessing the power of agriculture as a foundation for peace and security,” said Bram Govaerts, Director-General of CIMMYT.
Bilateral meetings
On Monday, the Director-General held a series of high-level meetings.
Meeting again with Berdegué, he said it was a great honor for FAO to see a former staff member (Berdegué previously held the position of FAO Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean in the FAO Regional Office based in Santiago, Chile) serve in a ministerial role for a country and urged Mexico to strengthen its leading role in the region with regard to both agrifood systems transformation, and the provision of global public goods, counting on FAO as a strategic technical partner.
Meeting with Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Qu praised Mexico’s ability to forge links and virtuous cycles among traditional knowledge, biodiversity, modern technology, innovation and policy, and urged the country to play a leading role in the Global South and beyond, with FAO’s support.
Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez, Secretary for Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation, briefed the Director-General on her Ministry’s food sovereignty agenda, which includes an expansive network of partnership with Mexican states, universities, research institutions and private companies aimed at improving maize and bean production. Qu appreciated the presentation and elaborated on ways in which FAO can collaborate, particularly with regard to improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, and helping make Mexico’s agricultural sector even more market oriented.
All parties pledged to further strengthen the robust partnership between FAO and Mexico that has developed over the past 80 years.
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