ROME, 17th October, 2026 (WAM) -- The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) commemorated World Food Day 2026, emphasising the importance of effective and broad-spectrum innovation for the achievement of its enduring mission to end hunger and build resilient agrifood systems across the globe.
World Food Day, celebrated annually on 16 October, this year was held under the banner of “Innovate Today. Nourish Tomorrow.” with events marking the occasion held in more than 50 languages in more than 150 countries around the world.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu opened the event at FAO’s Rome headquarters which brought together prominent global figures alongside international leaders and dignitaries.
“Innovation must serve people and improve lives,” the FAO Director-General said in his opening address. “It is about enabling people to turn knowledge into opportunity, science into solutions, and hope into action. Its true value lies in reaching the people who need it most, and when it is shared and scaled.”
Qu warned that the gap between what science can do and what reaches the world’s farmers remains too wide and emphasised that the most effective solutions are developed with the people who use them – by farmers, fishers, pastoralists and rural communities – and are adapted to local realities, supported by investment and partnerships.
Pope Leo XIV in a statement read on his behalf called for a “new global food order” based on an intergenerational sense of responsibility and in which technology is reconciled with wisdom. “In an era of greater technological advancement than ever before, it is intolerable that bread should be considered a privilege and water a contested commodity,” the pontiff said.
“Innovation is the key to reconciling productivity, sustainability, and resilience,” said Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister for Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests of Italy, speaking on behalf of the government of FAO’s host country.
For FAO, World Food Day 2026 is an important opportunity to reflect on our common duty to strengthen the agrifood systems that make food available, accessible and affordable to all, while rising to meet the challenges of doing and simultaneously supporting farmers and all who work across agrifood value chains, and taking care of the environment.
Innovation is transforming how food is produced, stored, transported and marketed. What is crucial is translating innovation into impact and making it available at scale, which demands sustained investment and partnerships. The world has the knowledge and the resources to do so – innovation is the link to ensure delivery.