FAO Director-General calls for inclusive AI to bridge digital divide in global agrifood systems at AI for Good Summit in Geneva

The second edition of this initiative invites young people aged 12 to 18 from around the world to design and build robots that help address one of humanity's most pressing challenges - food insecurity.

FAO will serve as a strategic partner in the initiative, providing technical guidance, mentorship, and support through its Youth Innovation Lab and Transformative Research models.

In his address, the Director-General also highlighted the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in advancing food security and building climate‑resilient agriculture.

According to the ITU, 1 in 3 people worldwide remains offline, most of them in rural and low-income countries. Nearly 2.6 billion people still lack access to the Internet, and only 26 percent of people in low-income countries use it at all. According to the World Bank, fewer than 1 in 5 people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to broadband, limiting not only connectivity, but also the capacity to participate in the digital and AI revolutions.

The Director-General outlined how FAO is harnessing digital tools to close the connectivity gap and drive transformation across global agrifood systems—from precision agriculture and resource management to food security early warning systems and market access.

Through FAO's advanced remote sensing and geospatial platforms, AI allows the Organization to rapidly analyze drought, water stress, crop types, land use and forest management. FAO is also leveraging open-source Big Data to track food security threats before they become crises. Predictive models help farmers make better-informed decisions about sowing, harvesting, and marketing their crops.

As a founding member of the Digital Public Goods Alliance and a signatory to the Rome Call for AI Ethics, FAO continues to champion digital solutions that are guided by transparency, human dignity, and the principle to "do no harm."

Qu called on all partners to work together to ensure that AI is inclusive, transparent and human-centered, addressing global challenges while accelerating progress across agrifood systems.