Dr. Matthias Halwart heads the Aquaculture Branch of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department and oversees the implementation and development of its work programme. He serves as Technical Secretary of the intergovernmental FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) Sub-Committee on Aquaculture and Secretary of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Aquatic Genetic Resources of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Prior to this, Dr. Halwart worked as Senior Programme Coordinator of FAO’s cross-cutting Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Programme and as Delivery Manager of FAO’s corporate Major Area of Work on Efficient Resource Use. During his professional career, Dr. Halwart has covered a broad range of subjects predominantly in the fields of general aquaculture development, farming systems, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, and integrated agriculture-aquaculture where he also obtained his PhD. Over the past decades, Dr. Halwart has supported aquaculture development through many projects, mainly in Asia and Africa, and through his strategic contributions shaping the aquaculture pillar of FAO’s Blue Growth Initiative. His professional achievements include numerous publications as well as coordination of major studies and reviews on topics such as aquaculture in rice-based farming systems, global and regional cage aquaculture, and the State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. He is the aquaculture subject editor of the journal Nature Conservation. For his dedication and commitment to participatory and non-formal education, as in Farmer Field Schools, Dr. Halwart has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Asian Fisheries Society.