UN Food Systems Summit: the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Sustainability and Climate participated in the event organized by the United Nations to promote more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food systems
Giaime Berti and Chiara Caterina Razzano, respectively assistant professor and research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Sustainability and Climate at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, participated in the UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake, which took place in Addis Ababa from July 27 to 29, 2025. The event, organized by the United Nations and attended by numerous heads of state and representatives of European and African governments, addressed the challenges related to global food systems, promoting concrete actions towards more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food systems.
The two researchers from the Sant'Anna School participated in the Summit as part of Re.Food, a technical assistance project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to support the Resilient Local Food Supply Chain Alliance (RLFSC Alliance), with the aim of consolidating sustainable local food systems to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
The Resilient Local Food Supply Chain Alliance is one of the official Coalitions of Action of the Food Summit, of which Dr. Berti is Chair representing Italy.
Within the Summit, Giaime Berti was one of the co-organizers and speakers of the side event, “Strengthening Urban-Rural Linkages through Local, Traditional and Farmers Markets,” which was attended by important authorities including Ms. Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Corinna Hawkes, Director of the Food Systems and Food Safety Division of the FAO, Marco Riccardo Rusconi, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), representing the Italian government, Richard McCarthy, President of the World Farmers Markets Coalition, and the National Convenors of Ghana, Cameroon, and Benin.
The side event was dedicated to the strategic role of local, traditional and farmers' markets in the sustainable development of food systems and in connecting urban and rural areas. The discussion explored the importance of markets as key spaces for promoting healthy diets, economic inclusion, environmental resilience and territorial cohesion. In particular, the potential of local markets as strategic access points for inclusive and regenerative food policies was highlighted; places of social innovation, with direct impacts on food security, the local economy, and public health; drivers of development for family farmers and small producers, thanks to improved market access and the promotion of equitable value distribution.
In addition, Dr. Berti spoke at another side event co-organized by the RLFSC Alliance: “Multisectoral Governance to Scale up Impacts of Investments in Local Food Value Chains,” which highlighted the need for policy and funding alignment to support local food chains, and spoke about ongoing collaborations between European and African countries to strengthen the links between food, climate, biodiversity, transport, and energy.
