Selected Speaking Engagements

The 2026 Conflict in the Middle East: Policy Recommendations to Prevent a Global Food Crisis
(The Work We Do FAO Podcast Special Episode 3)
The world is 6–12 months away from a potential food crisis, and the decisions being made now will determine how severe it becomes. FAO’s policy recommendations outline immediate, medium-term, and structural responses to help avert a global food crisis.

The Conflict in the Middle East and Its Implications for Europe and Central Asia
(European Parliament Committee on Development Ordinary meeting)
With the Strait of Hormuz blockade posing major risks for Europe and Central Asia, the region should avoid broad market distortions and instead focus on stabilizing energy and fertilizer supply chains, protecting vulnerable households and farmers, diversifying import sources and trade routes, financing agricultural production, and building long-term resilience.

Update: Global Agrifood Implications of the 2026 Conflict in the Middle East
(The Work We Do FAO Podcast Special Episode 2)
The last vessels that cleared the Strait of Hormuz just before the closure have arrived at their destinations in late March, which means the real supply gap is only now beginning. Without agricultural inputs moving through soon, a sharp spike in food price inflation later this year could set off ripple effects reminiscent of the post-COVID crisis.

Global Agrifood Implications of the 2026 Conflict in the Middle East
(The Work We Do FAO Podcast Special Episode 1)
Unlike the war in Ukraine, which disrupted food supplies because it was a war fought between two major cereal exporters, the Strait of Hormuz closure is forcing farmers to cut fertilizer use, leading to lower yields and rise in food prices with a lag. What’s unfolding is a cascading shock across three tightly linked systems: energy, fertilizer, and food.   

Accelerating Financing for Agrifood Systems Transformation
(ECOSOC Partnership High-Level Side Event)
The trajectory of global hunger makes clear that Official Development Assistance was never designed to address it on its own. As needs outpace public funding, mobilizing private investment — grounded in strong technical analysis and supported by financial de-risking to build investor confidence — is critical.

Conflict-Related Food Insecurity: Addressing Food Insecurity as a Driver of Conflict and Ensuring Food Security for Sustainable Peace
(United Nations Security Council, 10045th meeting)
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, first developed by FAO in Somalia in 2004, has become the global standard for analyzing food security and nutrition in emergencies. In both Sudan and Gaza, the IPC had already issued early warning signals, calling for immediate action. It is a lifeline for the millions of people living on the frontlines of conflict and hunger.

Foods Futures: Conversations for a Better World
(Inspired by FAO’s Four Betters on the Organization’s 80th Anniversary, World Food Day 2025)
Today, 2.6 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet. Addressing this means repurposing agricultural support, promoting dietary diversity through innovation and trade, and cutting food loss and waste. FAO’s True Cost Accounting work reveals $12 trillion in hidden health, environmental, and social costs embedded in agri-food systems. Tackling these systemic challenges is key to realizing the Right to Food.

Addressing High Food Price Inflation for Food Security and Nutrition
(The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 Launch)
A decade after countries pledged to end hunger by 2030, this year’s report shows the world far off track. Projections indicate that 512 million people could still be undernourished by the end of the decade, with Africa shouldering the greatest burden. Food inflation is a major driver, as it pushes healthy diets out of reach for low-income families. We know how to end hunger; the question is whether we will.

Launch of the Financing for Shock-Driven Food Crisis Facility
Preventing food crises before they escalate represents a major shift from reactive aid to anticipatory action and financing. The Financing for Shock-Driven Food Crisis Facility integrates rapid-response financing, blended public-private funding, and tracks up to 12 hazard types in real time. By complementing existing crisis response tools, the FSFC aims to boost global food systems resilience.

Speaking Engagements in 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2011-2019