Rome/Florence – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and University of Florence (UNIFI) have agreed to partner in order to strengthen knowledge and expertise exchanges, capacity development and joint research in the areas of food security and nutrition, rural poverty reduction and sustainable agri-food systems.

UNIFI is one of the largest public higher education and research institutions in Italy. The university conducts research and offers degrees in a number of areas that are closely aligned to FAO’s mandate, such as management of natural resources, tropical rural development, development economics and local systems, traditional landscapes and agricultural heritage.

The two organizations have a history of close collaboration through knowledge and technical expertise exchange, capacity development and awareness raising around these themes; the formal partnership agreement will provide a basis to strengthen and advance collaboration going forward.

The partnership between FAO and UNIFI envisions enhanced access to and exchange of information and expertise, joint research initiatives and publications, adaptation and development of approaches and methods and documentation of best practices. The work undertaken in the context of the partnership will focus on the areas of food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture and food systems in the context of climate change, rural poverty reduction, and resilience of rural livelihoods, rural development and agri-food policies, and agricultural heritage. FAO and UNIFI also plan to jointly develop statistical tools and conduct data analysis on food security and nutrition, and to engage in education and advocacy initiatives to raise awareness on food sustainability issues.

The partnership with UNIFI represents an excellent opportunity for FAO," said Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of FAO. "It will allow us to strengthen the exchange of knowledge with the academic community across several key priority areas benefiting both FAO and UNIFI. Drawing on UNIFI's expertise in rural development and agricultural heritage, we will be able to enhance existing food security analysis tools and methodologies and more widely disseminate knowledge on topics such as traditional agricultural practices, production and sustainable food systems.”

Prof Luigi Dei, Rector of UNIFI welcomed the agreement as “an important step to further develop an already excellent partnership with FAO. This agreement provides a unique opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge as well as to enhance joint research between FAO and the UNIFI community – primarily PhD students and researchers. This will strengthen the role of UNIFI as a leading higher education institution in the development field and will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with our “sustainable university” target.”