Rome-Based UN Agencies Convene High-Level Panel on Scaling AI for Development at India AI Impact Summit 2026

New Delhi, 18 February 2026. Leading experts from three Rome-based United Nations agencies joined India's Chief Economic Advisor for a panel discussion on transforming artificial intelligence from pilot projects into sustainable, large-scale solutions that address food security, climate resilience, and humanitarian challenges affecting the world's most vulnerable populations. 

The panel discussion, "From Evidence to Scale: Testing, Financing and Operationalizing AI for Development and Humanitarian Action," was held as part of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 and jointly organized by the Rome-Based Agencies – the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Food Programme (WFP). 

The 55-minute session brought together experts to explore scaling proven AI solutions, with a focus on practical examples, evidence, governance, policy, financing, and digital infrastructure. 

"The Government of India recognizes the critical importance of shaping effective policy to both regulate artificial intelligence and enable its adoption across the public sector. Robust frameworks are essential to harness AI's transformative potential for public good while ensuring responsible governance," said Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor.  

Brenda Gunde, Global Lead for ICT4D at IFAD, emphasized: “As AI moves from pilot projects to a central driver of agricultural transformation, deliberate investment is essential. Countries must finance not only technology, but the digital public infrastructure, governance, and institutional capacity needed to scale it sustainably. Investment must be inclusive and designed to reach smallholder farmers and rural communities. By aligning financing with national digital ecosystems and local realities, we can shift from fragmented innovation to systemic change and unlock AI’s full potential for food systems and livelihoods.” 

Magan Naidoo, Chief Data Officer at WFP, said, "At the World Food Programme, we are harnessing the power of agentic AI and our DEEP platform to operationalize artificial intelligence for humanitarian response at scale. By deploying agentic AI, we empower our teams to automate complex decision-making across food assistance, logistics, and emergency operations, enabling faster, more accurate support for vulnerable populations. Our DEEP platform integrates real-time field data, streamlining evidence-driven action and improving coordination among partners and agencies. These innovations are transforming how WFP delivers aid, ensuring we reach those in need with greater efficiency, accountability, and impact." 

"Artificial intelligence is transforming how we collect and evaluate evidence - enhancing our evaluation processes and enabling us to rigorously assess the impact of AI-driven projects themselves. It is reshaping how evaluators frame questions, structure and interrogate data and document uncertainty," said Indran Naidoo, Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation at IFAD. 

Vincent Martin, Director of the Office of Innovation at FAO, said, " AI has enormous potential, but only when it is rigorously tested, responsibly governed, and supported with the right financing to scale what actually works. At FAO, we never begin with technology; we begin with the problem. Only when AI demonstrably improves outcomes for farmers, communities or institutions does it earn its place. Take LUMINA, one of the projects we incubated through ELEVATE. In South Sudan, LUMINA applies AI to better understand and respond to acute child malnutrition. It was prototyped, validated with local data, strengthened through the ELEVATE bootcamp, and is now moving toward scalable deployment. This is responsible AI in practice—evidence-driven, user-centered, and backed by a pathway to scale. Responsible and ethical AI is not about hype. It is about proof, governance, and sustainable financing, so innovations that work can reach the people who need them most.” 

With experience spanning rural operations, innovation ecosystems, evaluation, digital public goods, and longstanding partnerships in emerging economies, the Rome-Based Agencies offer a grounded, credible perspective on the responsible adoption of AI for agriculture, climate action, and rural development. 

About the Organizers: 

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is the only international financial institution exclusively focused on rural transformation. IFAD invests in rural people and their communities, creating jobs, resilient economies and shared prosperity and stability. IFAD's ICT for Development (ICT4D) initiative leads the organization’s work on digital agriculture, climate intelligence, geospatial analytics, natural language processing, financial inclusion, and other AI-enabled innovations. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads global efforts to eliminate hunger and shape sustainable agrifood systems. FAO is deeply engaged in leveraging Artificial Intelligence to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems, focusing on efficiency, inclusivity, resilience and sustainability. Through its Responsible AI vision and governance framework, FAO develops and applies AI-driven solutions—including precision agriculture tools, early warning systems, satellite based monitoring platforms, pest and disease detection apps —to support evidence based decision-making and improve outcomes for farmers, governments, and development partners. 

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian agency, delivers life-saving food assistance and supports families and communities to build resilient, food-secure futures. WFP is pioneering the operational use of AI in humanitarian response and leads the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, providing critical communications infrastructure in crises. 

About India AI Impact Summit 2026 

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Digital India Corporation, and IndiaAI, brings together global leaders, policymakers, industry experts, and civil society to advance the responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence for social impact.