‘Aid for Plate: Joint Action for Global Food Security’ is the title and theme of the high-level side event organized by the Sovereign Order of Malta within the 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC) that will take place on February 13, 2026, at 9:30 am at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich.
Environmental degradation, desertification, and systemic shortages in food production continue to undermine security worldwide. Africa, currently the epicenter of global hunger with over 20% of its population food insecure, faces an unprecedented demographic challenge that could double its population by 2050. At a time when the global humanitarian system faces a severe funding crisis—with aid budgets estimated to be 40% lower than in 2024—the structural challenges of food insecurity are increasingly acting as drivers of forced migration, radicalization, and conflict. This high-level session seeks to offer a platform to discuss cross-sectoral collaborations to strengthen local production, build resilient supply chains, and address the funding gaps that leave the most vulnerable regions exposed to heightened risks.
The Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, will open the session, bringing into focus the Order’s millenary humanitarian commitment to alleviating hunger and the urgent need for a coordinated international response to prevent shortage of food being used as a catalyst for instability. Following the opening, Alexander De Croo, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and former Prime Minister of Belgium, will deliver the Keynote Address, followed by a framework overview provided by Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and an in-depth analysis of the subject by Máximo Torrero Cullen, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The discussion, moderated by Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, will feature Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of World Food Programme, Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Máximo Torrero Cullen. The session will explore how international development institutions and humanitarian actors can fill the growing resource gap and whether the current crisis offers a pivot point to reconsider the global food production and trading system.
The event, scheduled for Friday, 13 February, from 9:30 to 11:00 CET, will be livestreamed on the Order of Malta’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@OrderofMaltaofficialchannel
