Rome – Smart farming is no longer a future ambition – it is becoming essential for helping farmers produce more with fewer resources while strengthening resilience, rural development and agrifood systems. That was the central message as FAO today opened its first Global Conference on Smart Farming, bringing together global leaders, ministers, researchers, farmers, innovators and the private sector to accelerate the adoption and scaling of smart farming systems.
The FAO Director-General opened the Global Conference, which was attended by agriculture ministers, policymakers, researchers, farmers’ organisations, private sector representatives, development partners, and women and youth leaders.
With farmers facing increasing pressures from climate variability, soil and water degradation, rising input costs, and labour constraints, smart farming is an urgent necessity and must be accessible to small-scale producers.
“FAO has made innovation and technology a central priority – and this conference reflects this commitment,” the Director-General said.
As the United Nations’ specialized agency for food and agriculture, FAO is uniquely placed to convene this conversation. Scaling smart farming requires technical expertise, policy guidance, investment and partnerships working together – which is why the Organization is bringing governments, researchers, farmers, the private sector and development partners to the same table.
The Conference will showcase what that looks like in practice. In Uzbekistan, low-cost greenhouse innovations have enabled vegetable farmers to triple their yields and earn higher incomes while using less water – a concrete example of how smart farming, applied at the right scale, changes farmers’ lives.
Smart farming systems combine data, digital technologies and scientific knowledge to support better decision-making across agricultural production. They help farmers use water, fertilizers, pesticides, energy and other inputs more efficiently while improving productivity, profitability and environmental sustainability.
The Conference opening included a keynote address by Abdul Rahim Jassim Al-Shammari, Minister for Agriculture of Iraq, and a ministerial segment featuring participation by Salem Abdullah Issa Al-Soqtari, Yemen’s Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation and Fishery Wealth, and Zahra Yusuf IGE, Somalia’s Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Somalia, a video message from Abdurahmonov Ibrohim Yulchievich, Uzbekistan’s Minister for Agriculture, and interventions by senior officials from Brazil and Indonesia. Chef Fatmata Binta, FAO Regional Goodwill Ambassador to Africa, also delivered remarks at the event.
Meeting tomorrow’s challenges
Held under the theme “Leveraging data and technology for sustainable agrifood systems,” the hybrid conference explores practical ways to scale smart farming systems while showcasing innovations that promote youth and women’s entrepreneurship and digital skills.
“The approaches that drove agricultural productivity over the past fifty years are reaching their limits,” Qu said, adding that working together smartly can open up new potential.
He highlighted digital connectivity as a key enabler of the next generation of agriculture, allowing precision and remote sensing to integrate with soil data systems and digital advisory services into integrated systems that multiply their impact.
FAO has anticipated the emergence of these trends and embedded them into its Science and Innovation Strategy and Digital Agriculture and AI Roadmap, while delivering impacts through programmes such as the Hand in Hand Initiative, the Desert Locust Early Warning System and the SoilFER mapping programme, aiming to make sure technology serves people, to the benefit of all. “Smart farming is not only about technology, it is about resilience and transformation especially in the rural areas, including in developed and middle-income countries. Urbanization is affecting all regions of the world and we need a package of smart solutions to produce more food,” the Director-General said.
Investing in and scaling smart farming
Scaling smart farming depends on coherent national strategies, effective governance and coordinated action involving governments, the private sector, research institutions and farmers and their organizations. To secure superior impacts, it must be both inclusive and farmer-centered, ensuring equitable access to relevant skills, finance, technologies, and markets, and be robustly embedded in sound agronomic practices that incorporate local knowledge and conditions.
Conference sessions cover topics from precision livestock farming and smart cropping systems to youth and women’s entrepreneurship, governance, and investment and partnership.
Making innovative technologies accessible
As the UN specialized agency for food and agriculture, FAO is bringing together governments, researchers, farmers, the private sector and development partners because scaling smart farming requires technical expertise, enabling policies, investment and strong partnerships working together. A special exhibition also showcases innovations from 29 exhibitors, highlighting practical smart farming solutions from around the world.
Since 2019, FAO has been implementing a Smart Farming approach in projects in Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, focusing on high-value horticultural crops, affordable technologies, high-quality inputs and digital technologies. That approach is now being replicated in Honduras and Zambia.
Over the next three days, participants will develop practical recommendations to help countries scale smart farming systems that are affordable, inclusive, and accessible to farmers everywhere.
