The G7 Apulia Food Systems Initiative (AFSI) – named after the Southern Italian region hosting the leaders’ summit – will aim to “overcome structural barriers to food security and nutrition,” according to the draft.

The initiative will focus on low-income countries and support projects in Africa, one of the top priorities under Italy’s rotating G7 presidency this year.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced a flagship Italian plan to help Africa earlier this year and has repeatedly said that support for the continent is essential to address the root cause of illegal migration to Europe.

The Western powers also committed to work together to “improve the fiscal space for food security” including by reducing borrowing costs for poorer nations via mechanisms such as debt swaps.

Debt-for-nature swaps are financial instruments through which a developing country’s debt is cut in return for protecting vital ecosystems.

The AFSI initiative, whose details will be agreed by G7 development ministers in the coming months, drew criticism from African agricultural groups who said they had not been consulted.

“It is missing family farmers organizations that have not been involved even though small-scale producers will be key to its success,” said Ibrahima Coulibaly, President of the West African Network of Peasants and Agricultural Producers.

“And it’s missing a plan to ensure that the finance raised gets to family farmers and supports a shift to more diverse and nature friendly approaches which are key to adaptation. The G7 urgently needs to fill these gaps.”

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If the proposal is passed by parliament, Italian industry will not be allowed to produce food or feed “from cell cultures or tissues derived from vertebrate animals,” the bill seen by Reuters said.

A breach of the rules could result in fines of up to 60,000 euros (C$88,509).

“Laboratory products in our opinion do not guarantee quality, well-being and the protection of our culture, our tradition,” said minister Francesco Lollobrigida, a senior member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party.

Meloni’s nationalist administration has pledged to shield Italy’s food from technological innovations seen as harmful, and renamed the agriculture ministry the “ministry for agriculture and food sovereignty.”

Agriculture lobby Coldiretti praised the move against “synthetic food,” saying a ban is needed to safeguard home production “from the attacks of multinational companies.”

The bill stipulates that factories where violations occur can be shut down and producers may lose their right to obtain public funding for up to three years.

Angry reactions

The initiative angered organizations supporting the development of “cell-based” agricultural products across Europe, as well as animal rights groups.

“The passing of such a law would shut down the economic potential of this nascent field in Italy, holding back scientific progress and climate mitigation efforts,” said Alice Ravenscroft, head of policy at the Good Food Institute Europe.

Food companies’ network Cellular Agriculture Europe said Italy was limiting options for consumers who are concerned about animal welfare and the environmental impact of their food choices.

Anti-vivisection group LAV called the bill “an ideological, anti-scientific crusade against progress.” It said lab-meat, which is produced from the cells of living animals, represented a good alternative to intensive breeding and slaughtering.

The ban on cell-based meat is not the only initiative from Meloni to block non-conventional food from being served on Italian tables.

Last week, she said the government was preparing a rush of decrees to introduce information labels on products containing or derived from insects, amid a debate on the use of cricket flour.

“People must be able to make an informed choice,” she wrote on Twitter.

— Angelo Amante is a Reuters correspondent in Rome.

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