Why In News?

The Second Meeting of the Global Initiative on AI for Agri-Food Systems (GI-AI4FS) was held in New Delhi.

What Is The Global Initiative On AI For Agri-Food Systems (GI-AI4FS)?

It is a United Nations-backed multi-stakeholder platform established in 2025 (with its formal partnership strategic framework announced and its first official meeting held in June 2026, at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy). 

It is a voluntary multilateral initiative coordinated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Key Objectives & Focus Areas

  • Responsible AI Integration: Promotes trustworthy, interoperable, and farmer-centric artificial intelligence solutions across agricultural and food supply chains. 

  • Governance and Standards: Strengthens international cooperation to establish common technical standards, ethical guidelines, and digital public infrastructure. 

  • Smallholder Support: Aims to bridge digital divides, ensuring smallholder and women farmers gain equitable access to AI-driven advisories, precision farming tools, and market insights. 

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  • Sustainability & Resilience: Focuses on addressing climate change, optimizing resource management, reducing post-harvest losses, and advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2, 12, and 13).  

Second Global Summit (New Delhi): India hosted the second meeting of GI-AI4FS, focusing on establishing working groups, terms of reference, and initial workstreams for trustworthy, interoperable, and farmer-centric artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) frameworks.

Source: PIB

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. With reference to the Global Initiative on AI for Agri-Food Systems (GI-AI4FS), consider the following statements:

1. It is a joint multilateral initiative spearheaded by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

2. The second meeting of the initiative was hosted in New Delhi on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026.

3. It mandates the compulsory replacement of all traditional organic farming practices with automated robotic harvesters across member states.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a)

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: The Global Initiative on AI for Agri-Food Systems (GI-AI4FS) is a multilateral UN initiative spearheaded and coordinated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in close collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), alongside the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Statement 2 is correct: The second meeting of GI-AI4FS took place in New Delhi on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026, jointly hosted by the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).  

Statement 3 is incorrect: The initiative does not impose compulsory bans or mandates to replace traditional farming with automated robotic machinery. Instead, it serves as a voluntary, collaborative platform aimed at developing international standards, digital interoperability, and promoting responsible, farmer-centric AI applications (such as precision irrigation, crop disease detection, and supply-chain traceability).