FAO Expands Agrifood Knowledge Access Through Wikipedia
25 April 2026, Rome: FAO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wikimedia Sverige and Wikimedia UKto expand free public access to reliable information on food, agriculture and related subjects.
The agreement creates a framework for cooperation with Wikimedia UK, the largest English-language Wikimedia chapter, and Wikimedia Sverige, a leading member of the Wikimedia Content Partnerships Hub. Both organizations support open access to knowledge through platforms such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata.
Yasmina Bouziane, Director of the FAO Office of Communications, said the partnership will help bring FAO’s open-access knowledge to widely used digital platforms, strengthen information integrity and reach global audiences through volunteer editors and multilingual content.
The collaboration builds on earlier informal cooperation that was highlighted at Expo 2025 as a best-practice example. It is designed to improve how agricultural knowledge is shared globally. FAO publishes around 3,000 reports and publications each year covering food security, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and nutrition.
Since 2024, FAO has made most of its content available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence, allowing users to access, share and reuse material with proper attribution.
The new agreement aims to further extend that access by improving the presence of FAO’s evidence-based information on one of the world’s most consulted platforms. It also includes plans to contribute open text, images and data, engage with the wider Wikimedia community, build understanding of how the platforms operate and support knowledge-sharing across more than 300 languages represented on Wikipedia.
Strengthening information integrity
In an increasingly digital world, access to trusted information is becoming more important. Open platforms such as Wikipedia play a major role in how knowledge is accessed and shared, while also serving as sources for many digital tools and emerging technologies.
As artificial intelligence systems rely heavily on open-source information, the availability of accurate and human-curated content is seen as essential for quality and trust.
The agreement makes FAO one of the first United Nations agencies to formalize cooperation with Wikimedia chapters. The organization said the move reflects its mandate to collect, analyse, interpret and share knowledge on food and agriculture.
The partnership will run initially for five years and support activities worldwide. Its signing on World Book and Copyright Day also highlights the importance of making knowledge more accessible and widely shared.
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