Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen, 

I am glad to welcome all of you in Rome at the second UN Food Systems Summit. I’m very pleased to see such a large participation at the highest level. 

I am particularly proud that this Summit takes place in Rome, where we host the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

I would like to thank Secretary-General Guterres for deciding to celebrate this appointment here in the Eternal City, and also the General Director for hosting us. 

For three days, Rome will become the Food Security Capital of the World: a choice that pays tribute to Italy's traditional commitment to this crucial issue. 

Food security has always been indeed one of the strategic guidelines of our foreign policy and a priority area of Italian development cooperation. And it has become one of the major challenges of our time, in this completely interconnected world. 

The pandemic has shaken the foundations of international trade and mobility and exposed the deep weaknesses of global supply chains and globalization. 

As we worked to overcome the impact of the pandemic and rebuild global trade flows, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine disrupted global energy prices and helped unleash waves of inflation around the world, at the expense of the most vulnerable nations, especially in the Global South.

The war has aggravated old and new problems. Among them, food insecurity in many African nations, already tested by long periods of drought and difficult climatic conditions, which are now weaker and easier prey of terrorism and fundamentalism. The war has impacted heavily on grain distribution across the globe and Russia's pullout from the Black Sea Grain Initiative is further worsening the global food security crisis. We will continue to support all efforts towards the resumption of this key initiative and are urging Russia to reconsider its decision. 

As a result, the plight of malnutrition is spreading. Nearly 120 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty, bringing the total figure to 730 million. Almost 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030. This situation has an impact on our lives, on each and every one. 

That’s why, yesterday, Italy hosted also a conference about migration and development and launched a new international initiative to support political stability and foster social and economic development, while addressing the root causes of migration and fighting human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants. 

Our goal is to ”ensure that each and every one enjoys the right not to be forced to emigrate, the chance to live in peace and with dignity in one's own Nation”.  These are not my words, but those of Pope Francis, who called on the international community to "codify" this right. 

Food security is key in this journey, to ensure development and economic growth and give people the opportunity to live in their own land. This is also the true meaning of “food sovereignty”: the right of a people to choose their own production model and food system. Moreover, a stronger relationship between land, people and labor delivers more quality food and sustainable production chains. 

I often refer to the issues of the Global South, and of Africa in particular, not only because Italy is one of the continent's closest neighbors, but above all because Africa is not a poor continent. On the contrary, it is full of resources. It holds half of the world’s mineral resources, among them rare earths. Almost 50% of its land is arable, giving it the potential to feed all its population. The spirit of the “Mattei Plan for Africa” stems from these facts. We need to establish a non-predatory cooperation model, aiming to shorten value chains and to partner with the African nations, to enable them to live well off their own resources. With the same approach, we need to cooperate with all Nations around the globe to support them in creating their own prosperity. The prosperity of our neighbours is our prosperity. That is why we are here today. And I expect that we all agree on concrete actions. 

For this reason, I believe it is important to invest in research and technology to innovate our food systems, to enhance sustainability, to improve the quality and quantity of the productions. Italy will invest in Agritech, a strategic research center in Naples to develop new technologies, starting from the aerospace sector, and their application in agriculture. 

I believe that innovation must walk together with our identity and tradition. Our Nation can share its extraordinary heritage to address the “double burden” of malnutrition: the coexistence of undernutrition and overweight, which have a huge impact on our national health systems. While millions of people live in food insecurity, more than 3 billion people in the world are unable to afford a healthy diet. The principles of the Mediterranean diet may offer a solution because it is not expensive, is based on seasonal local raw materials, respecting the territory and its biodiversity. The principles of the Mediterranean diet do not belong to the Mediterranean basin, they belong to the world. 

I believe that only financing at scale can bring about the transformative changes of our food systems. Cooperation with all the international financial institutions is a key element for the implementation of more agri-feedstock projects. The Italian Climate Fund, with an annual budget of 840 million euros, can foster sustainable transformation of food systems in developing nations. 

I believe in international cooperation. At the G20 Ministerial Meeting in 2021, under Italian Presidency, we signed the “Matera Declaration”, calling upon the international community to ensure adequate nutrition for all and set up resilient food chains. Food security will also be high on the agenda of our G7 Presidency in the next year.

Dear Secretary-General, dear colleagues, we are in Rome, in the UN hub that we are honored to host, and here in Rome we have the chance to start a new journey towards global food security. A journey inspired to the future, to innovation and to new technologies, with our roots firmly planted in our history and identity. Cicero, one of the most important philosophers of Ancient Rome, gave us a great lesson. He said: “Of all the arts from which we derive some profit, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none sweeter, none more worthy of a man, and of a free man”. 

You can count on the commitment of Italy! Thank you and I wish you a productive Summit!