FAO Hand in Hand Forum Brings National Agrifood Investment Plans to Rome

The FAO Hand in Hand Investment Forum will return to the organisation’s Rome headquarters from October 13 to 16, giving governments a platform to present country led agrifood investment plans to a global audience of investors and development partners.

The 2026 forum is part of the World Food Forum and will be delivered in a hybrid format. Registration for the wider World Food Forum is required, and FAO is also offering a process for arranging bilateral meetings with national authorities.

Participating countries span Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Near East. The published list includes major agricultural economies and smaller markets, alongside regional initiatives covering the Amazon, Pacific island states, Southern Africa and dryland corridors.

The event is designed around plans developed through FAO’s Hand in Hand Initiative. Governments present defined value chains and investment priorities, allowing investors to examine opportunities in the context of national policy, development needs and agrifood system constraints.

That structure makes the forum different from a conventional trade exhibition. Its central task is to connect public investment strategies with private capital, development banks, foundations and other institutions that can finance or support implementation.

Agribusiness participants can use the programme to compare markets, meet public authorities and understand where governments are seeking processing, infrastructure, production or value chain investment. The bilateral meeting format is intended to move discussions beyond general conference networking.

Previous Hand in Hand forums have featured investment cases across crops, livestock, fisheries, infrastructure and agroindustrial development. The final scale and terms of the 2026 opportunities will depend on the plans presented by each participating government, so attendance does not itself guarantee financing.

For investors, the practical test will be the quality of project preparation, risk allocation and local execution. For governments, the forum offers concentrated access to capital providers, but credible delivery after Rome will determine whether the proposed partnerships produce lasting agrifood investment.