Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Luigi Di Maio

Rome - Today the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met virtually with H.E. Luigi Di Maio, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

The Director-General and Minister Di Maio discussed the current crisis in Ukraine and the significant rise in world food commodity prices in March reaching their highest levels ever, confirmed by the FAO Food Price Index issued this Friday (8 April).

In particular, the pair discussed how FAO and Italy could collaborate in support of countries in the Mediterranean area.

The Director-General briefed the Minister on FAO’s responses to the crisis in Ukraine and its impacts on global food security, and highlighted FAO’s data analyses, policy recommendations, and actions on the ground.

The Director-General further mentioned FAO’s proposal for a Global Food Import Financing Facility (FIFF), responding to soaring food import costs and addressing the needs of the most exposed.

The FIFF seeks to equip the world with preparedness, advocating a set of blueprints to safeguard food security for those most at risk of crisis – economically vulnerable net food-importing countries.

During the meeting, Minister Di Maio recalled the ongoing close collaboration between FAO and Italy, including through the work of the G20 and G7, and specifically mentioned the Food Coalition, a global alliance for food security and nutrition and to promote the transformation of agrifood systems to make them more resilient sustainable.

He recalled the Matera declaration, where the G20 Countries acknowledged the Food Coalition as a flexible coordination mechanism to accelerate political, financial, and technical support to countries most in need.

The pair agreed to work closely together in addressing the challenges of the current crisis and its impact on global food security.