Shaping the Future of Agriculture: FAO at AI for Good Summit 2025

In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly redefining the boundaries of what's possible, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is actively ensuring that AI innovation serves one of the most essential of all human needs: food security and sustainable agriculture.

That’s why FAO is proud to participate in the AI for Good Summit 2025, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in collaboration with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

Held in Geneva (8-11 July 2025), this global summit brings together leading minds in AI, robotics, policy, development and ethics to explore how emerging technologies can drive progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

Explore the full summit programme here: AI for Good Summit 2025 Programme

FAO’s Message: AI with Purpose, AI with Equity

At the heart of FAO’s participation lies a powerful message: AI must be inclusive, responsible and centered on human development. Agriculture, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, is one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate variability, pests, and resource constraints, but also one of the sectors with the highest potential for transformation through AI-powered tools.

Whether it’s through machine learning models predicting locust outbreaks, intelligent irrigation systems optimizing water use or satellite-based analytics informing real-time policy decisions, AI is becoming an enabler of resilience across agri-food systems.

But with opportunity comes responsibility. FAO is working to ensure ethical governance of AI, avoiding bias, promoting data sovereignty and ensuring that farmers, especially smallholders, are not left behind. 

A Crossroads of Innovation, Policy and Global Impact

The AI for Good Summit is more than just a tech event, It’s a convening space for impact. It aligns closely with the WSIS Action Lines, in particular those linked to e-agriculture, capacity building, and knowledge societies.

FAO’s engagement here reflects a growing commitment to bridging the gap between innovation and implementation, ensuring that technologies born in research labs are translated into real-world tools that serve people and protect ecosystems.

In panels, networking sessions and demonstrations, FAO representatives are highlighting concrete use cases where AI has been successfully integrated into agricultural practices, from early warning systems to smart extension services.

The message is clear: agriculture is not a passive recipient of AI, it is a frontier of innovation.

Key Sessions at AI for Good 2025

• Tuesday, 8 July, AI for Good – Food and Agriculture. 

Dongyu Qu, Director-General of FAO The FAO Director-General will address the role of AI in transforming food systems and agricultural development, placing smallholder farmers, sustainability and innovation at the center of the global digital agenda.

Dr. Qu will also join senior UN leadership in a high-level roundtable exploring how AI can strengthen collaboration and efficiency across the UN system.

• Wednesday, 9 July (14:00 – 17:15) Workshop: The Role of GeoAI and Foundational Models in Shaping an AI-Driven Future for All. 

This session explores the transformative role of geospatial AI (GeoAI) and foundational models in solving complex, data-intensive agricultural challenges, from mapping soil degradation to tracking seasonal crop patterns in near real time.

FAO will showcase how it is integrating advanced geospatial intelligence and AI models into tools that support early warning, climate resilience, and sustainable resource management, particularly for communities at the frontlines of food insecurity.

• Friday, 11 July (09:00 – 12:15) — Room R (In-person) Workshop: AI for Agriculture – Shaping Standards for Smart Food Systems. 

As AI rapidly transforms agriculture, the need for shared standards and ethical guidance becomes increasingly urgent. This FAO-led workshop explores how to make AI not only smarter but safer, fairer and more accessible across food systems.

Participants will dive into the work of the ITU/FAO Focus Group on AI and IoT for Digital Agriculture (FG-AI4A), which is developing global guidelines to support the responsible and inclusive adoption of AI in agriculture.Key discussion points include:

• Smart farming: standardizing AI for precision agriculture, soil monitoring, and yield prediction
• Interoperability: creating frameworks for data sharing and modeling across tools and regions
• Scalability: making sure AI works for both smallholders and agribusinesses

This session offers a hands-on opportunity to shape the future of AI in agriculture—bridging innovation with governance.

Join the Movements

FAO’s participation at AI for Good is a call to governments, private sector actors and research institutions to collaborate on building AI solutions that are transparent, fair, and scalable.

Stay tuned on e-agriculture.org for more updates and follow FAO’s journey in championing responsible digital innovation for a food-secure future.