Ethiopia is making vast arrangements for hosting the UN Food System Summit +4 stocktake (UNFSS+4), which will be convened by the United Nations from 27-29 July 2025 at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia bringing together heads of state, ministers, scientists, producers, indigenous leaders, youth, and civil society from around the world, according to information from Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI).
This is more than a summit. It’s a reality check. With just five years left to meet the 2030 Agenda, the world is off track on hunger, nutrition, and sustainability. Yet from the Sahel to Southeast Asia, countries are making bold commitments and leading innovations to transform how food is grown, distributed, and consumed – across climate, health, equity and economic recovery.
UNFSS+4 kicks off on 27 July with Action Day, a vibrant launch featuring side events and energized spaces for networking and bilateral meetings, designed to spark collaboration and accelerate partnerships.
Momentum continues with the official Stocktake Meeting on 28–29 July, where a dynamic mix of plenary sessions, ministerial roundtables, high-level panels, investment dialogues, and constituency-led discussions will drive the agenda forward. From the voices of heads of state to youth and indigenous leaders, every session is crafted to tackle pressing challenges, from food sovereignty and climate-smart agriculture to unlocking innovative finance and strengthening accountability across the food system.
Ethiopia hosts the UNFSS+4 Stocktake to highlight the Global South’s leadership in transforming food systems amid climate, food security and economic challenges. A cornerstone of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Malabo Declaration, transforming food systems is a key to achieving sustainable growth.
Italy is co-hosting the UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake, reaffirming its commitment to global food security, sustainable agriculture, and multilateral cooperation. Having hosted the 2021 Pre- Summit in Rome and the +2 Stocktaking Moment in 2023, Italy continues to drive progress and accountability in the transformation of food systems.
Ethiopia stands at the forefront, with agriculture driving its economy and pioneering initiatives in the region like the UN Food Systems Convergence Initiative. Hosting UNFSS+4 underscores Ethiopia’s leadership and provides a vital platform to accelerate global action and investment.
Mandefro Niguse (PhD), Director-General of the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute, on a media briefing held in Adama last Saturday, said that the summit is a meeting of member countries to measure whether they are going along their promise to achieve agenda 2030. The summit enables them evaluate where they were at the beginning and their activity in due course to hit the target set in the time frame.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, is a global framework for achieving a more sustainable future. It outlines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all. The agenda emphasizes the interconnectedness of social, economic, and environmental aspects of development and calls for action from all countries, developed and developing alike.
Ethiopia is chosen to host the summit, as to Mandefro (PhD), for the efforts it had exerted in the past years to ensure food security; for it is on the right journey to make its citizens free from poverty. Despite the efforts made to get rid of poverty, a long journey is ahead to achieve food sovereignty at the national, regional and family level.
What convinced the concerned entities to choose Ethiopia is, if it goes in the same pace that it has come through so far, it will ensure food self sufficiency of its every citizen in a shorter period of time. The successes registered in wheat initiative, bounty of the basket, green legacy and other agricultural transformation initiatives are indicators of the country’s potential. The fact that it is on the right track in agricultural transformation won the heart and mind of those who are at the table to select and assign the capable country to host the international summit.
Mandefro said that in line with hosting the summit, Ethiopia should have its right position on the event. It is good opportunity for Ethiopia as its prime minister will be among the three speakers of opening speech. Ethiopia can utilize this golden opportunity through its prime minister to demonstrate to the rest of the world what it has been doing. Though concise his speech, it carries essential contents regarding the country’s progress towards food system and nutrition at all levels.
Apart from informing the world through the PM’s speech, as his speech cannot include details, other options can be employed to show the efforts, the successes and the rosy future through video documents, radio programs, printing documents and the like earlier to the summit and field visits on the first day of the summit. These activities are well planned and the application will be guided by strict discipline, according to the Director General.
Mandefro (PhD) added that Ethiopia has competed to get the opportunity to conduct its own side events and won two of them which give way to convey its messages through panel discussions led by Ethiopians. Core issues to be conveyed are selected and the process is well structured along with the paper presenters and the panelists.
In addition, as the objective of the summit is not only to give information to others, but also to gain knowledge, people will be assigned to other side events that gather information which will help fill the gap Ethiopia has in terms of food system and nutrition. The media play great role in documenting the whole event for the future use in this regard.
Besides, the media is tasked to introduce what have been done in Ethiopia in corridor development, the Gebeta projects and tourist attractions to the participants that make them decide to extend their stay here; up on returning home, about 3000 delegates will play an ambassador role in promoting Ethiopia to their respective countries that it is under actual transformation and capable in organizing such kind of large events, Mandefro (PhD) said.
Tesfahun Gobezay, State Minister of Government Communication Service, on his part said that the conference will bring about multiple benefits to Ethiopia such as tourism attraction, image building, and experience sharing among others. Various discussions, idea exchange dialogues, signing memorandum of understandings will be conducted alongside the conference. These will help carryout ensuing activities.
The summit enables Ethiopia demonstrate its food system status. Food is becoming a means of controlling the world politics. A politician put the issue in this way, “He who controls food controls politics.” True, he who gives wheat dictates the recipient. Food issue is becoming sovereignty issue, security issue and existential issue for countries. That is why Ethiopia is working exhaustively on ensuring food self-sufficiency and food sovereignty, Tesfahun said.
He added that the media is expected to convey what the country has done so far and is doing towards food system. Apart from foreign media, the local media, whether public or commercial, should report fairly showing the right image of the country; the successes and the shortcomings.
Diversified presentations and formats should be underway according to the nature of the media house. Government’s interest in this regard is boldly clear; it prefers middle way reporting, not only the rosy picture or the complete adverse of it.
Awareness creation, on the issues’ sensitivity, from the media side is essential. The people should have relatively common understanding and speak accordingly concerning the summit and the current situation of the country.
This summit, though it is a large event by itself, serves as a preparation that paves way for the country to the upcoming other events because it is getting ready to host a larger conference in the coming September, African Climate Summit in which about 25,000 people will participate, Tesfahun announced.
BY BACHA ZEWDIE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 18, July 2025
