Meloni’s G7 sustainable food plan faces political, financial gridlock

With her growing influence in Europe, Meloni has positioned Italy to be “the new European face in Africa,” as firms take increasing interest in the mineral and resource-rich continent, according to a researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations. But her approach so far seems “centered on investment rather than development,” Al Jazeera noted. At COP28 last year, Meloni said that redefining the Italian-Africa relationship had to go beyond “charity.” To do that, African farmers must be “treated as equal project partners rather than mere beneficiaries,” an analyst wrote for the Italian think tank Ecco, since African agriculture is among the most at risk from climate change.

While re-centering the conversation on Africa is the right step for the world as a whole, “it’s not that European food systems are fully sustainable,” ECDPM analyst Cecilia D’Alessandro at the European Centre for Development Policy Management think tank told Semafor. It’s not that the EU hasn’t tried but many of its initiatives have been scrapped after huge farmer protests shook countries across the continent. The few policies that remain — like satellite monitoring of crop production — still anger farmers who may be swayed to the far right, NPR noted.

Financing Meloni’s project will be one of the biggest challenges for the G7, analyst Cecilia D’Alessandro wrote for the Istituto Affari Internazionali. To get financial institutions and banks on board, “it’s a matter of showing them that [agriculture] is not as risky as they think it is,” she told Semafor. Banks are concerned about their financial return, which is why they tend to be more eager to fund a few big infrastructure projects as opposed to several small-to-medium size farms. The G7 needs to convince financial institutions that long-term social and environmental returns — such as avoiding climate catastrophes — are equally, if not more, important than short-term financial gains, D’Alessandro said.