World Food Forum Opens October 8 With Science, Investment and Agrifood Innovation Tracks

The World Food Forum returns to Rome from October 8 to 16, bringing together agrifood investment, science and innovation, youth programmes and policy dialogue under one global FAO event.

The 2026 flagship forum will take place at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and online, with the theme focused on turning innovation into practical food system action.

FAO is organizing the programme around three main pillars: Global Youth Action, the Science and Innovation Forum and the Hand-in-Hand Initiative Investment Forum.

The agenda includes high level dialogues, consultations, innovation labs, pitching events, hackathons, matchmaking meetings, exhibitions and cultural showcases.

The Science and Innovation Forum runs from October 12 to 16 and is designed to connect researchers, innovators, farmers' organizations, policymakers and other partners around technologies and approaches for sustainable agrifood systems.

The Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum runs from October 13 to 16 and gives participating governments a venue to present agrifood investment plans directly to investors and potential partners.

The wider programme also includes the From Seeds to Foods exhibition at Rome's Circo Massimo from October 8 to 12, creating a public facing showcase of how food is produced, processed, distributed and consumed.

For companies, investors and technology providers, the forum is increasingly significant as a meeting point between public policy, investment pipelines and commercial agrifood innovation rather than only as a conference programme.