FAO and Italy’s Coldiretti join forces to promote healthier diets for all

21 November 2018, Rome - FAO and Italy’s main farmers’ organization, Confederazione Nazionale Coltivatori Diretti (Coldiretti), have joined forces to contribute to the achievement of Zero Hunger and healthier diets for all.

An agreement signed today by FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Coldiretti’s President Ettore Prandini paves the way for joint actions to promote sustainable agriculture, including organic and biodynamic farming, geographical indications, biodiversity.

The partnership also focuses on climate change adaptation and mitigation, and innovation, curbing food waste and losses and  making rural areas more prosperous. “Ensuring equitable access to productive resources, particularly land and water, services, technologies and markets, including the implementation of public policies in support of family farmers are all key to achieve a Zero Hunger world by 2030,” Graziano da Silva said. “Coldiretti and other producers’ organizations are strategic partners for FAO in poverty reduction and inclusive agriculture and food systems that are key components in achieving Zero Hunger.” 

The FAO Director-General referred to the importance of the UN Decade of Family Farming (2019-2028), which aims to refresh political commitment supporting family farmers and crafting pro-family farming policies. The Decade is as an "extraordinary opportunity" to bolster progress towards the eradication of hunger and the other Sustainable Development Goals, he added. 

Under the agreement, FAO and Coldiretti will promote exchanges of knowledge and good practices on sustainable agriculture and use of natural resources, food value chain organization, and innovation for a sustainable agri-food sector, as well as on strengthening the enabling environment for smallholder and family farmers through their inclusion in policy-making processes that affect them.

Joint work will also support the advancement of inclusive and responsible business models in agriculture including through the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (RAI).

Founded in 1944, Coldiretti is Italy’s main farmers’ organization. With over 1.6 million members, it is a member of the World Farmers’ Organisation, with which FAO works closely.

The FAO Director-General and IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo recently visited the Coldiretti Village, a farmers’ market fair located right across from FAO headquarters in Rome, which allowed over 1 million visitors to explore Italian agriculture and food heritage, territorial identities and gastronomic traditions.