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ODA Spending 

ODA In Context 

Italy was the eighth-largest DAC donor to agriculture in 2020 and the fourth-largest in relative terms.  

ODA Trends 

In line with its overall ODA, Italy channeled most of its ODA for agriculture projects multilaterally in 2020. Italy maintains close relationships with the Rome-based UN organizations working on agriculture and related issues, however financial contributions have been moderate in recent years.  

ODA Breakdown

Bilateral Spending

In line with its overall ODA, Italy channeled little of its ODA for agriculture bilaterally.

Multilateral Spending and Commitments

Compared to other DAC donors, Italy spends much of its ODA on core contributions to multilateral organizations.

Funding & Policy Outlook

‘Agriculture and food security’ was re-confirmed as a priority in the latest ‘Programming Guidelines for Italian Development Cooperation’ for 2021-2023. Italy emphasizes its ambition to support food security and rural and agricultural development in low-income countries, as well as aims to support smallholder farmers and the transition to sustainable agricultural practices, while also promoting the inclusion of women.

On November 5, 2020, Italy and the FAO launched the ‘Food Coalition,’ a voluntary multi-stakeholder alliance to prevent and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on food systems. Italy also hosted the UN COP26 pre-summit on Food Systems in 2021.

Rome hosts the main UN agencies tasked with addressing food security, agriculture, and sustainable development issues. FAO, WFP, and IFAD are together referred to as the ‘Rome Agri-food Hub.’ The government has a close relationship with these agencies and Italy’s development cooperation in the sector of agriculture is therefore heavily influenced by the policies of the ‘Rome Agri-food Hub.’

Key bodies