7/29/2025–|Last update: 03:17 (Mecca time)
Reception decrees at Polly International Airport in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa were remarkable even on the main street linking the airport to the residence headquarters and the United Nations Economic Committee.
Among the flags of states and organizations, the food summit was present to combat hunger resulting due to wars, conflicts and climate changes.
Guterres condemns hunger as a weapon
During his participation in a virtual speech at the United Nations Food Systems Summit held in Addis Ababa, United Nations Secretary -General Antonio Guterres denounced what he described as “the use of hunger as a weapon”, referring directly to what Israel is doing against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amid daily scenes that reflect great suffering from malnutrition, drought and death under the lenses of photographers.
Guterres pointed out that armed conflicts in Gaza and Sudan have exacerbated hunger on a large scale, calling for strengthening agricultural investments as a basic step to meet the worsening food challenges.
For her part, UN Secretary -General Amina Mohamed demanded that urgent ceasefire measures, ensure the return of the displaced to their homes, and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Gaza and Sudan, confirming, in statements to the island, that the continuation of these violations is a violation of international laws.
FAO: Gaza is the worst
The summit, which comes with a wide international participation of heads of state and international organizations, is the second of its kind since 2021, when the first was held in New York under the slogan “Building flexible and sustainable food systems to eliminate hunger.”
This summit is held at a time when more than a billion people around the world suffer from extreme poverty due to unemployment, wars, conflicts, high cost of living and natural disasters, especially in rural areas where more than 80 percent of the world’s poor live.
While 733 million people suffer from hunger, according to the estimates of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at the rate of one in 11 people around the world.
The Gaza Strip is the worst example in the regulations of the United Nations, which is a challenge at the global level to find sustainable solutions through cooperation between governments and organizations working in the field.
The spread of hunger in Africa
The first summit of its kind in Africa aims to review what has been achieved since the summit of global diets in New York in 2021, and the evaluation of the paths of reform and transformation in food policies.
But these goals may not be achieved unless “Africa is an active party in international food security transformations,” said Georgeta Meloni Prime Minister, Georgeta Meloni, said in front of the summit.
Meloni stressed the importance of ensuring fair food access to the markets, and promoting self -sufficiency and food, stressing that food security is no longer a humanitarian issue, but also a major political and economic axis in light of the successive global crises.
She explained that the global challenges, such as inflation and war in Ukraine, exacerbated the situation sharply, noting that “one out of 5 people in Africa suffers from hunger”, which calls for an urgent international move to achieve sustainable development and contain the repercussions of crises.
Comprehensive dietary repair
In light of the aspirations of the participants that the summit will make a radical shift in the global diet, agriculture has emerged as a major axis in drawing the future of humanity, as part of a road map for a comprehensive reform that focuses on supporting local production, encouraging innovation, developing markets, and addressing the effects of conflicts on the lives of peoples.
During the opening session, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed called for building a future that is free of hunger, especially for children, stressing that this summit must establish an actual start in reforming diets, by training new generations, fighting illiteracy, enhancing supply policies, and enabling the economy based on diversity according to facilitated conditions.
It also highlighted the “Ethiopian Food Basket initiative” that is based on agricultural diversity and fish wealth.
In the same context, the United Nations Secretary -General Antonio Guterres pointed to the major challenges facing the world, especially climate changes and armed conflicts, which have become a major obstacle to achieving food security and fair access to food.
He praised Ethiopia’s ability to achieve concrete results in the local production of wheat, which contributes to creating job opportunities and achieving self -sufficiency.
Farmers of the cornerstone of development
The delegations of countries and organizations participating in the summit have unanimously agreed that climate change, geopolitical conflicts, and economic turmoil have become unprecedented in the diets around the world, which requires an urgent collective response.
In this context, Italian Prime Minister Georgeta Meloni described the farmers as a “cornerstone” in food development, stressing that food is not just a means of survival, but rather represents one of the elements of national identity and sovereignty, and it must be protected and promoted through local communities.
She reviewed her country’s efforts to transfer agricultural knowledge to a number of African countries, including Senegal, Congo, Ghana, Algeria and Tunisia.
For his part, the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture called for a crime of security to accelerate international cooperation to achieve the goals of sustainable development by 2030, calling on the countries that have made progress in this field to continue to work at a faster pace to support the global path towards food justice and sustainability.
Ethiopia is making a shift in agriculture
The summit was a serious platform for renewing the obligations related to financing and policies, with the aim of building more fair and flexible food systems in the face of global crises.
In this context, Ethiopia offered its achievements in the field of “green heritage”, as it managed to grow more than 40 billion seedlings, in addition to the great transformation it made in wheat production, especially since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which reflects the country’s ability to benefit from challenges to improve local food security.
It is expected that this summit will pave the process of practical transformations in light of the escalation of complaints from hunger and poverty, and the prevalence of the global sense of the need to take bold steps to counter the effects of climate change, and to work hard to stop wars and conflicts that threaten the future of peoples and future generations.