The preparation of The State of Food and Agriculture 2023 began with the formation of an advisory group representing all relevant FAO technical units which, together with a panel of external experts, assisted the research and writing team. A virtual inception workshop took place from 3 to 7 October 2022 to discuss the outline of the report. The preparation of the report was further informed by four background papers and original empirical analysis prepared by FAO and external experts. Drafts of the first three chapters were presented to the advisory group and panel of external experts in advance of a workshop held both virtually and in Rome from 22 to 24 March 2023 and chaired by the Director of FAO’s Agrifood Economics Division. With guidance from the workshop, the report was revised, and the final chapter completed. The revised draft was sent for comments to the advisory group, to the management team of FAO’s Economic and Social Development stream, and to other FAO streams and the FAO Regional Offices for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Near East and North Africa. Comments were incorporated in the final draft, which was reviewed by the Director of FAO’s Agrifood Economics Division, the FAO Chief Economist and the Office of the Director-General.
