AI for Impact Summit 2026 — Day 1: FAO positions agrifood systems at the centre of responsible AI
18/02/2026
On the opening day of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations contributed to global discussions on artificial intelligence through a dedicated agrifood session, inter-agency collaboration on standards, UN media coverage, and a broadcast interview highlighting AI’s role in food security.
FAO session: AI for Agriculture — from innovation to deployment
In the session AI for Agriculture: Data, Multimodality, and Feeding the Future, FAO leadership emphasised that agrifood systems must be treated as a core domain for AI deployment.
In his keynote, Vincent Martin highlighted the need to move beyond experimentation toward practical impact:
“If AI becomes the engine of the next decade, then agrifood needs to be one of its first-class citizens.”
“The agrifood sector doesn’t suffer from a lack of innovation. It suffers from a lack of deployment.”
“Success is not a demo. Success is a tool that small scale farmers actually use in the season that matters, in the language that matters, at the price that matters, with the trust that matters.”
In the same session, Henry van Burgsteden presented FAO’s operational pathway for responsible AI adoption:
“We launched the digital agriculture and AI innovation roadmap… a federated and decentralized framework to move ideas from problem definition to testing, prototyping, deployment and scale.”
He outlined FAO’s work on governance frameworks, innovation sandboxes, digital public goods, and partnerships with farmer organizations to support scalable implementation.
FAO referenced in Designing Farmer-Centric AI discussion
FAO’s role in advancing interoperable and inclusive digital agriculture was also highlighted in the session Designing Farmer-Centric AI: Standards and Policies for Smart Agrifood Systems.
During the discussion, the International Telecommunication Union referenced ongoing collaboration with FAO through global platforms on AI and IoT in digital agriculture and the development of international standards supporting smart farming systems.
UN coverage highlights FAO perspective
UN India’s official coverage of the summit noted FAO’s call for responsible deployment of AI in agriculture, reporting that AI must be rigorously tested, responsibly governed and sustainably financed to ensure it serves farmers effectively.
Special Broadcast | DD India interview: AI for food security and resilience
In a summit broadcast interview, Vincent Martin emphasised both the opportunity and responsibility associated with AI adoption in agrifood systems:
“Artificial intelligence can really have an impact… it’s a great opportunity for improving food security in the world and also to improve nutrition all over the world.”
“AI help us to be more efficient to save water resources, to improve productivity and to really accelerate research…”
Across sessions and media engagement, FAO underscored the importance of inclusive governance, practical deployment pathways and partnerships to ensure AI contributes to resilient agrifood systems.
Further updates will follow as discussions continue on 18 February.