New York, 16 February 2026
Thank you, Chair,
Italy’s commitment in Agrifood Systems Transformation is long standing, as it is the cooperation with the UN food agencies that we are proud to host in Rome.
Last July, we chaired the UNFSS+4 summit in Addis Ababa, to give to the world a clear message: “we cannot wait any longer to face the issue of global food insecurity”, with all its political and economic impact.
This entails action on the whole production and distribution chains, as an instrument to reduce poverty, suffering, and hunger, but also as an engine of growth and development.
We are playing out part, especially in Africa, with Mattei Plan, which is our innovative strategy to promote the continent’s sustainable development through the involvement of partner governments, local communities and the private sector.
Private sector is a fundamental component of this strategy, enabling further investment and scaling up projects through its expertise and technology.
We also believe that local ownership as well as agricultural and culinary traditions are key allies in address the problem of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.
We aim at realizing for everyone what we call “food sovereignty”, which is the right of people to shape their own production model based on their identity.
Our initiatives do not follow the standardization of food production but instead invest in promoting local, high-quality products. We reaffirmed this commitment last Friday in Addis Ababa, at the second Italia-Africa summit, held at the presence of the Secretary General Guterres.
We stand ready to work closely with Member States and all the relevant stakeholders to further expand this collaboration and leave a clear footprint in the direction of a swift food system transformation.
I thank you.
