农业粮食体系

Promoting collaboration on food systems transformation and food security in the Mediterranean

27/09/2022

FAO contribution to the 3rd World Conference on the Revitalization of the Mediterranean Diet in Bari 

Bari, ItalyThe International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) is launching today the 3rd World Conference on the Revitalization of the Mediterranean Diet, with the technical support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This third edition of the Conference revolves around the theme “A change of route towards more sustainable and resilient food systems in Mediterranean countries”, and will take place in Bari, Italy from 28 to 30 September 2022. 

During the high-level opening session, Plácido Plaza, Secretary-General of CIHEAM and Nasser Kamel, Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), reaffirmed the solid partnership with FAO, sealed by the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2021. Within this framework, FAO, CIHEAM and UfM have joined forces with the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) in developing the “SFS-MED Platform”, an initiative for sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean that aims at promoting dialogue and collaboration among Mediterranean countries and stakeholders in their food system transformation efforts at national and regional level.

On 29 September, FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero is attending the Mediterranean Ministerial Dialogue convened and chaired by Stefano Gatti, Special Envoy for Food Security of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. National delegates from several Mediterranean countries will discuss common food security priorities and operational proposals for the region, sharing challenges and opportunities to provide immediate and concrete responses to the ongoing food crisis. The session will be a follow up to the Mediterranean Ministerial Dialogue on the Food Crisis held on 8 June and the results will converge in the next edition of the Dialogue in December 2022. 

Together with the SFS-MED partners, FAO is co-organizing a high-level roundtable on the UN Food Systems Summit follow-up process with National Convenors of Summit dialogues from Mediterranean countries. 

FAO will also take part in a session dedicate to the urban food systems, specifically on “Mediterranean Cities and Local Governments for Food Systems Transformation”, taking place on the 29th as well. This session will discuss the role of Mediterranean cities and local governments in food systems transformation, the implications in terms of multi-level food systems governance, and the importance of cities networks. 

The 3rd World Conference on the Revitalization of the Mediterranean Diet 

The Conference aims at catalysing multi-stakeholder collaboration and game-changing actions for the transformation of food systems in the Mediterranean, ultimately accelerating progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Countries and populations across the Mediterranean are facing interdependent challenges linked to demographic changes, climate emergencies, and flows of food and people. These drivers are influencing food systems across the region through changes in consumption and production patterns, growing vulnerability of ecosystems and biodiversity, and widening gaps in people’s livelihoods and food security. Increasingly interconnected markets and value chains throughout the region are calling for healthier diets delivered through more sustainable food systems. The Mediterranean diet is considered a lever for sustainability at both local and regional level, bridging sustainable food consumption and production

Government representatives, researchers, experts, practitioners, academics from Mediterranean countries and beyond will gather in Bari to discuss on priority topics emerging from the second edition of the Conference in 2019, and from the UN Food Systems Summit Dialogues held in the region in 2021. Thematic sessions range from food security to blue and green economy, nutrition, agroecology, health, sustainable finance, science diplomacy, urban food and many more. Several FAO officers will participate and provide technical inputs to the different sessions. 

The opening session will be Webcast on YouTube at this link.

Further information is available on the official website of the Conference