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Global Food Week returns to Abu Dhabi next week for its largest edition yet under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Presidential Court and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority board. The event organised by ADNEC Group in strategic partnership with the authority will draw 2,580 exhibitors, buyers, investors and policymakers from 92 countries across three days of exhibitions, discussions and business matching sessions. Participation has risen 23 percent from the prior year with 26 additional countries joining the gathering that seeks to connect all elements of the global food ecosystem. The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre Group said the week would also introduce business-to-consumer sales for the first time.
A concurrent second edition of the Global Food Security Summit will assemble governments, multilateral bodies and private sector executives to examine ways of shifting food systems from resilience toward readiness against future shocks, according to the ADNEC Group announcement. Speakers drawn from 30 countries will share perspectives on emerging obstacles, new technologies, investment prospects and supporting policy structures. The summit forms a central platform for advancing long-term food security objectives through coordinated international action while side events address agricultural technology and sustainable beekeeping.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations returns as a principal partner and will contribute expertise across multiple sessions including the FAO Policy Majlis and its international youth leadership initiative known as YalaFast, event organisers reported. Ahmad Mukhtar, Subregional Coordinator for the GCC States and Yemen and FAO Representative to the UAE, underlined the alignment of goals. “FAO’s continued partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, ADNEC and other stakeholders rests on a shared belief that everyone deserves safe, nutritious and sustainable food,” he said in the statement distributed by WAM. The authority noted that the programme would also feature a workshop by the World Organisation for Animal Health on safe trade pathways.
Organisers have introduced a business-to-consumer sales area for the first time enabling visitors to purchase directly from producers while an enhanced feature will permit exhibitors to gather consumer data, according to the ADNEC Group release. The programme also encompasses an AgriTech Forum examining agricultural innovation, investment and research alongside the inaugural Abu Dhabi Honey Symposium held with Apimondia to explore sustainable beekeeping in arid conditions. A dedicated platform called ACCESS Abu Dhabi will showcase products from more than 150 Emirati farmers, livestock breeders and beekeepers as part of the expanded format.
The 2025 edition of the week produced 58 commercial agreements valued at AED 6.6 billion and attracted more than 40,000 visitors according to organisers’ records from the previous cycle. This year’s gathering incorporates new sectors such as animal feed and builds upon established cooperation between UAE institutions and global bodies. International participation from leading organisations shaping food and agriculture futures will reinforce Abu Dhabi’s role in addressing supply chain and sustainability questions.
A joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO released in 2026 found that an estimated 645 million people faced hunger last year while healthy diets remained unaffordable for approximately 2.7 billion people worldwide. The Abu Dhabi event arrives as projections from the World Bank indicate severe food insecurity could exceed one billion people by 2028 with the burden concentrated in low-income economies. Policymakers, researchers and industry leaders at Global Food Week will exchange insights aimed at supporting inclusive growth across agrifood sectors in the Near East and North Africa region through targeted collaboration and innovation.
