Two years following the UN Food Systems Summit, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate hosted an official side event at the UNFSS+2. The event explored how donors and public funds are working continuously to enhance the impact of their investments to achieve the SDGs and transform food systems.
GDPRD is a network of 40 bilateral and multilateral donors, international financial institutions, intergovernmental organizations, foundations, and development agencies. Set up in 2003 following the first High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2002, it brings together donors that believe the best way to tackle global poverty and hunger is to develop agriculture, reshape food systems, and invest in rural communities. More here.
Participants at the event shared experiences on their collective efforts to make funding more catalytic in order to make genuine progress in ending hunger. They discussed the following:
How can donors make their funding more catalytic?
How can Official Development Assistance (ODA) for food systems better align with and synergize with other sources of development finance, such as climate finance, gender finance and emergency assistance?
To what extent should donors utilize their ODA grants and concessional loans to mobilize additional development finance from philanthropic and private finance providers?
How important is public funding for de-risking investments in food systems?
Highlights from the side event:
Tristan Armstrong, Co-Chair of the Donor Platform, recounted that the global community was challenged in 2021 to significantly increase investments in food systems transformation by an ambitious US$330 billion per year as detailed in the Ceres 2030 report. While there are numerous methodologies for estimating ODA funding for food systems, the consensus is that current amounts are around US$20-30 billion per year. Tristan emphasized the need for bold actions, risk-taking, and creating new partnerships to bridge the funding gap.
We must learn from the evidence that is already out there.
Tuleen Alkhoffash, Senior Partnership Officer, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), shed light on blended finance to lower commercial risk and leverage private sector investment. She explained mechanisms such as guarantees, which are provided by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to commercial banks’ lending to SMEs. Guarantees serve as cash collateral against loan defaults for lenders who are considered high-risk (oftentimes women or the rural poor). She also elaborated on the use of incentive payments, when a borrower takes out a loan but receives an incentive in return because of the nature of the loan (i.e. energy saving, green). Cashback incentives are also provided through MDBs by donor grants.
Hans Hoogeveen, Independent Chairperson of the Council, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) acknowledged the bold statements made during the UNFSS+2 Stocktaking Moment about creating a new financial architecture and the efforts of many, including the World Bank, to set up data systems on financing for food systems transformation. Hans pointed out that while data is crucial, countries know what they are investing in their food systems, and efforts from the World Bank and IMB are the keys to unlocking private sector investments at a massive scale through risk financing.
Christopher Wayne, Associate Director, Investing in Agriculture, Acumen, shared the organization’s model of investing patient capital to empower small and medium-sized enterprises. The approach joins the rigor of private markets with the flexibility and social ambition of philanthropy. Christopher provided examples of patient capital being used to support investments, the returns of which are then recycled into new investments and associated costs.
Lizard Earth, a cocoa aggregator in Sierra Leone, had been facing difficulties with inefficient agroforestry practices and supply chains. Lizard Earth structured a business model around a 365-day climate-resilient agricultural training programme for farmers, including a community-level fermentation and drying centre and centralized processing and management. This model helped farmers grow better cocoa and sell it at a premium price, creating transformational value for smallholders. The farmers reported a minimum income increase of 30%, and 97% reported improved quality of life.
EthioChicken, a poultry company originally based in Ethiopia, provides small farmers with disease-resistant, productive chickens that thrive in local, rural conditions. In 2014, Acumen invested US$500,000 into the company, which was selling 600,000 chickens per year at the time. Today, the company sells 600,000 chickens per week and has expanded to other countries, including Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Christopher concluded,
We need entrepreneurs with big ideas to take big swings, and they need patient capital willing to take and share risks with them.
Tshewang Dorji, Climate Change Specialist, Global Environment Facility (GEF), highlighted the interlinkages between climate and food systems financing for “sustainable food systems that are nature positive, resilient and pollution reduced” to make a visible impact on the ground. GEF Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) administers grant funding support for climate change adaptation action in 46 least-developed countries, 66% of which are in Africa. This four-year strategy will provide US$20 million per country through four thematic focus areas, (1) agriculture, food security and health, (2) water, (3) early warning and climate information systems and (4) nature-based solutions. Tshewang noted the synergies of climate and food systems financing, stating that “each of these thematic areas is closely interrelated in what happens in the food system sector.”
Iris Krebber, Head of Food Security, Land and Agriculture and Senior Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) stressed the importance of transparency in blended financing and alignment of objectives among various parties involved.
If we want to help smallholders invest in their future, beyond the next five years, [we must] be clear about what really benefits them and what prevents maladaptation. All these things need to be on the table, need to be looked at, need to be agreed before investment choices are made and agreed, and they need to be accompanied with robust monitoring.
She also stressed the significance of de-risking investments and leveraging donor grants to attract private-sector funding.
In summary: Where do we stand and what’s next?
The event speakers collectively stressed the critical need to increase private sector collaboration, de-risk investments, and revitalize small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve food systems transformation at scale.
“Business as usual“ will not be enough.
The Shamba Centre for Food & Climate’s co-founder and event moderator Oshani Perera concluded by emphasizing the critical role of “trust, collaboration and the systemic link between the providers of philanthropy, capital, and risk money” to bring about meaningful change.
For further insights into the GDPRD workstream with the Shamba Centre on sustainable finance for food systems, explore how donors, international public funds, and philanthropic organizations can make their funding more impactful and serve as a catalyst for achieving SDG 2. Reach out to us to be part of the interviews and workstream.
Co-organized by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate, this official side event took place on 24 July 2023.
CONTACT | GDPRD Maurizio Navarra, Secretariat Coordinator at the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development. maurizio.navarra@donorplatform.org
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Corona makes it even more difficult to achieve a world without hunger by 2030. So that this perspective does not get out of sight, Germany must play a stronger role internationally - a summary of the Strategic Advisory Group of SEWOH.
Time to dig deeper: We can only benefit from technical progress if we have a solid legal framework for everybody. But so far, none is in sight - in many countries. Instead, international corporations grow ever more powerful.
What contribution does development cooperation make to conflict prevention? What can it do for sustainable peace? Political scientist Karina Mroß talks to Raphael Thelen about post-conflict societies and their chances for peaceful development.
The Cashew Council is the first international organisation for a raw material stemming from Africa. The industry promises to make progress in processing and refining cashew nuts - and answers to climate change
Agnes Kalibata, AGRA president since 2014 and former minister of agriculture and wildlife in Rwanda, is convinced that Africa's economy will only grow sustainably if small-scale agriculture is also seen as an opportunity.
From a circular food system in Rwanda to functioning cooled transports in Kenya: The lab of tomorrow addresses development challenges such as preventing food loss and waste
In Zambia, innovative approaches are used to address the problem of post-harvest losses in the groundnut value chain. GIZ's Rapid Loss Appraisal Tool (RLAT) can help to develop more such approaches.
The climate crisis fuels world hunger. What needs to change in the global fight against hunger, and which role plays humanitarian aid in international development cooperation?
In March 2022, the virtual conference ICTforAg summons leading actors in the agrartechnology and food sector from low- and middle-income countries to exchange ideas advancing resilience, nutrition and agriculture-led growth.
The oceans are important for our food supply, but they are overfished. To halt this trend the global community is now taking action against illegal fishing. Journalist Jan Rübel spoke with Francesco Marí, a specialist for world food, agricultural trade and maritime policy at "Brot für die Welt," and others.
When women have control over the resources of a household and manage the income, it usually leads to a more balanced and healthier diet for the family. But often the decision-making power lies with the men. How can this gender inequality be addressed? The GIZ global project Food Security and Resilience provides insights into project work on gender-transformative approaches finances by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
A Contribution by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
At the network meeting "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future", almost 250 participants from over 20 countries came together to exchange experiences and ideas on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. The final product, joint recommendations to transform agricultural and food systems, can now be read online.
Halfway through the 2030 Agenda, the BMZ invited participants to a network meeting entitled "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future". Experts from around the world developed recommendations in a consultation process and then consolidated them in Berlin. A site visit.
A Contribution by Harry Hoffmann (TMG) & Nathalie Demel (WHH)
At the halfway mark of the 2030 Agenda and two years after the UN Food System Summit 2021, a stocktaking moment was held in Rome to analyze the progress of countries on the commitments to action in transforming food systems. Dr Harry Hoffmann, TMG Think Tank, and Nathalie Demel, Welthungerhilfe, were on site and take stock as well.
It takes the joint efforts of diverse actors to achieve a transformative impact on the global food system. Barbara Rehbinder, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN), discusses four people-centred principles to get closer to this goal.
The bioeconomy movement is fundamentally changing agriculture and food production: through innovative ideas, environmentally friendly approaches and the realization that we need to work together globally to ensure that change truly benefits everyone. At this years’ German Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) focused on this topic.
In 2025, GIZ and the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) celebrate ten years of successful cooperation. With their joint stand at BIOFACH trade fair in Nuremberg, they were able to introduce over 300 organic companies of partner countries to the European market. And the journey continues – despite challenges on the global market.
In May, this year's "Partners for Change – SOILutions for a Food Secure, Resilient, and Sustainable Future" conference took place. Kah Walla, Moderator of the Conference and Director of Strategies!, summarises the discussions and declares that healthy soils are not just the foundation of agriculture, but the cornerstone of a resilient, equitable, and climate-smart future.
In a new study, the international humanitarian agency CARE analyses how the economic and social barriers faced by women significantly reduces the global gross domestic product (GDP). At the current rate, it will take 152 years to close the economic gap between women and men – although closing this gap would be extremely profitable from an economic perspective.
A Contribution by Carlos Castellanos & Yvonne Bielfeld
The shoe manufacturer Cueros Vélez as a good example of private sector responsibility: the photo gallery shows how the bark of the rubber tree becomes a reliable yet deforestation free companion on our roads.
“In times of global crises and growing budget constraints, strong partnerships are more crucial than ever” – this statement by Federal Minister Alabali-Radovan in the German Bundestag in mid-May is also a guiding principle for the German Agribusiness Alliance. For greater cooperation between politics and the private sector in development cooperation, writes Director Dr. Per Brodersen.
For everyone in the supply chain to benefit, it is essential that politics and business work together. The measurable successes of such partnerships are demonstrated by the following six projects: they show how cooperation with the business sector can make supply chains fairer, more resilient, and more sustainable step by step.
Peasant farmers tend to fail due to bank credit limits. But investment could help them generate a sustainable income. This has given rise to an intense discussion about potential digital solutions.
Companies in Africa that need financing between $20,000 and $200,000 find relatively few investors, as this sector is too large for microcredit and too small for institutional investors. This creates a "gap in the middle" where companies have limited options. A project of the World Resource Institute provides a remedy with the Landaccelerator 2020.
Startups are booming in African agriculture. What are the current trend and challenges – and can other regions benefit from innovative approaches? A Video-Interview with Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager of Seedstars
Lots of apps are entering the market, but what really makes sense? For African agriculture, some of it seems like a gimmick, some like a real step forward. So this is what a smallholder farm in Africa could look like today - with the help of smartphones, internet and electricity.
What Africa is experiencing in the course of digitisation is a disruption. Here three steps are taken in one, there you remain. In any case, the changes are enormous and bring some surprises. A graphic walk.
Africa has a huge opportunity to make agriculture its economic driver. However, the potential for this is far from being made exhaustive use of, one reason being that women face considerable difficulties in their economic activities. The organisation AWAN Afrika seeks to change this state of affairs.
While Africa is the least affected region by Covid-19 so far, the number of confirmed cases and deaths on the continent is quickly rising. Despite the challenges many African countries continue to face, the African response to the coronavirus pandemic displays innovation and ingenuity.
As President of the IABM cooperative in Muhanga, Alphonsine Mukankusi is not simply focused on the figures. She has learned how to deal with people and how to take on responsibility. At the same time, her work helps her to come to terms with the past
How investing in healthy soils provides incentives for more sustainable agriculture even as it demonstrates the need for far reaching changes in the agrisector.
At the 8th German-African Agribusiness Forum (GAAF) representatives from business and politics discussed successful investment models to improve living conditions in Africa.
The potential the African food sector holds is still far too strongly associated with the continent’s natural resources, Ben Leyka maintains. He seeks to change this with the African Agri Council.
The CompensACTION Initiative for food security and a healthy planet, launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2022, is gaining momentum. It aims to financially compensate smallholder farmers for their contribution to preserving ecosystems. Initial successes have been achieved in Ethiopia, Lesotho and Brazil.
Rose Okello is a Matoke farmer and single mother living in a village near Mbarara, a town in southern Uganda. To ensure that she can pay for her family's food, her children's school fees and other expenses on time, Rose uses various financial services. Her story portrays hurdles but also hope for women in agribusiness.
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