BERGAMO, OCTOBER 26 – The FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today addressed virtually the conference The strategic role of international coalitions for food security and highlighted the importance of promoting sustainable urban and peri-urban food systems to transform national and global agrifood systems.
“The urban population is more than 50% of the world’s total, and 68% of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050”, Qu said. “Lack of food safety and high levels of food waste are serious problems across urban food systems,” he added, noting that a comprehensive engagement and cooperation with all stakeholders are key to succeed.
The conference organized by the City of Bergamo and the University of Bergamo, together with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, had the objective of reflecting on the importance and experience of international coalitions in addressing food security challenges.
“The newly established Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Food Systems Coalition, following the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021, provides an opportunity to join forces towards building an effective multilevel food governance, and promoting exchanges between cities”, Qu said in his remarks.
The coalition comprises cities and national governments and a large number of key stakeholders including the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, academic institutions, and UN-HABITAT, among many others.
The Director-General also mentioned the Food Coalition, launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Italian Government to support the implementation of the G20 Matera Declaration on Food Security. “FAO is also collaborating with Italy in the Mediterranean region to address the consequences of the current food crisis, in the framework of the G7, which includes a series of Ministerial Dialogues among Mediterranean Countries”, he said.
In addition, Qu cited FAO’s work with the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), and the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) to support the transition towards more sustainable agrifood systems in the Mediterranean – the SFS-MED Platform.
“FAO is hosting the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub on behalf of the UN system, to support implementation of national pathways in follow up to the UN Food Systems Summit,” he added. (@OnuItalia)
 calls for focus on urban food systems at a Bergamo conference on the strategic role of international coalitions for food security){kind=link}