Serving solutions amidst the World Food Forum and the CFS 53

After an intense week at the World Food Forum and just before the start of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 53), SIANI hosted a regional network meeting in Rome. The event took place in a cosy restaurant in the Ostiense neighbourhood, where guests were welcomed in the morning with freshly brewed Italian coffee, setting a relaxed and friendly tone for the day. 

SIANI Chair Cecilia Nordin Van Gansberghe opened the meeting by underlining the value of networks and dialogue across sectors to drive food systems transformation, a theme that would resonate throughout the day. 

Shifting paradigms for climate-resilient agriculture 

The first speaker, Amy Duchelle, Senior Forestry Officer and Team Leader of Forests and Climate at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), highlighted the need to bridge the perceived divide between forestry and agriculture. For example, forests are vital for climate and rainfall regulation; they regulate the water quantity, quality and timing, and support biodiversity, soils and workers’ health. 

“Forests and trees can be powerful allies for agriculture,” she noted,

emphasising the need for integrated approaches across landscapes, such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), and incentives that operate at national or subnational scales to sustain the forests’ crucial functions for agriculture.  

An upcoming FAO report, ”Climate and biodiversity benefits of forests for agriculture”, in which over 40 authors from 25 institutions, highlights such approaches by providing quantitative evidence on the forest benefits to agriculture and by exploring pathways to achieve a paradigm shift. The report will be launched at COP30 in Belém in November 2025. 

Youth at the forefront of change 

The session highlighted how young professions are not only shaping but also accelerating the global transition toward more sustainable and equitable food systems.  

Celia Burgaz, Project Scientific Officer at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and former member of the World Food Forum’s Young Scientists Group , exemplified how empowering young professionals can drive innovation and impact. She explained her own journey that has taken her from bachelor’s studies to a PhD and now working for the European Commission. Burgaz underlined the multitude of ways to empower young people beyond inclusion, for example, through providing a safe and supportive environment and diversifying  power structures. 

Kuntum Melati, Policy Officer at the United Nations Food Systems Coordination Hub and former SEI Asia colleague, shared updates on ongoing food systems initiatives. Among these is the Convergence Initiative, a joint effort between UN agencies and partners to connect national and global food systems dialogues. Through this initiative,  over 20 pilot countries, there among Indonesia and Jordan, have begun implemented national action plans and policy frameworks.  

Together, they demonstrated that youth are not just beneficiaries of change, but they are makers/ at the origin / pushers / cultivators of transformation. 

Young people’s resilience in times of crisis 

Steven Carr, Co-Founder of the Agripreneurship Alliance, also a previous SIANI expert group, addressed how youth are in the middle of the climate crisis, being among those most affected and as key innovators driving solutions. He shared inspiring examples of agripreneurs creating resilient businesses from a coffee roasting in Uganda to a network for black soldier fly producers, and a local agrifood incubator in Mauritania that supports young entrepreneurs. 

“When we talk about food security, it’s not just nutrition and health, but also stability and peace,” Carr said. 

Maria Taddesse, Head of Business Development at We Effect, discussed their partnerships and work in Moldova, which started in 2023 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the following changing geopolitical situation. She illustrated how to identify actions, solutions, and challenges through a co-creation process with multiple stakeholders. Together with local cooperatives, farmers and government officials in Moldova, workshop participants identified some of the major vulnerabilities in Moldova’s agricultural sector, mainly smallholder dominance and limited capacity, high input dependency, and climate vulnerability. Participants also suggested key   actions to address these challenges, such as strengthening the cooperatives’ business independence and their role in the sector, improving market access, valuing chain development, expanding access to financial services, adopting new technologies and promoting sustainable and climate-smart practices.  

The example from Moldova – together with the other speakers’ ideas on how to include more perspectives, set the scene for the afternoon discussions, which highlighted the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and learning from others. The presentations also sparked ideas in the room to explore potential partnerships, as they throughout the day recognized how closely their work aligned. 

Practice what you preach: sustainability on the plate 

The highlight of the day was an interactive cooking session led by Sofia Cavalleri and Amabile Cortiglia, founders of Ristolab. Using locally produced ingredients from Cilento, they demonstrated how to make cavatelli pasta from scratch. Participants joined in, creating and sharing a meal that embodied the essence of community and collaboration. While the pasta was cooking, the participants enjoyed bread with locally made olive oil, paired with citrus-infused water.  

As discussions and networking moved into discussion, the formal roundtable merged into an open conversation on challenges, experiences, and opportunities within the agriculture and food systems sector. Young professionals shared their experiences on navigating the agrifood sector, the value of unexpected partnerships, and ways youth can  make the most impact in global arenas. 

To close the day, Marija Milivojevic reflected on the importance of networks like SIANI, not just as platforms for sharing knowledge, but as trailblazers exploring emerging topics before they reach mainstream agendas. 

The meeting in Rome made it clear that the future of food systems transformation will not be driven by products or technologies alone; it will be driven by people. Through collaboration, knowledge exchange, and sustained partnerships, networks like SIANI are creating change that lasts.