How do we finance the transformation of the food system?

With over a quarter of a billion people facing high levels of acute food insecurity, and a rise of 150 million more people facing hunger since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s food systems are in dire need of attention. But amid a challenging backdrop of climate change and global conflicts, how can government, nonprofit, and private sector organizations pull together to achieve the reform the agri-food sector needs — and where should the financing come from? Devex asked this question to a series of experts at the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment in Rome in July. A common thread in their responses was the need for businesses to get involved, and for governments to create incentives. “There is no single institution that can fund the transformation of the food system,” said Agnes Kalibata, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, or AGRA, adding that there are ways that multilateral banks and governments can help create incentives to mobilize the private sector. Alvaro Lario, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, agreed that rallying different stakeholders together is vital. He said that governments, multilaterals, and the private sector had to be rallied around the national pathways to improve food systems. “We know what needs to be done, now we need to make sure that we bring the financing, and we all bring it collectively together,” Lario said. For Greg Garrett, executive director of the Access to Nutrition Initiative, such collective action will rely upon “common metrics” and standards among sectors. Better alignment on goals will allow a consideration like nutrition to be brought into environmental, social and governance, or ESG, initiatives in the private sector, he said. Martien van Nieuwkoop, global director of the agriculture and food global practice at the World Bank, said there needed to be a “sense of urgency” around food systems transformation. He added there were four key elements — “incentives, innovations, investments, and institutions” — that countries would need to rely upon to achieve their transformation goals. Meanwhile Sara Farley, vice president of the global food portfolio at The Rockefeller Foundation, agreed with Lario and Kalibata that it was important for governments and public sector loans to be a starting point for encouraging investment in change. “We need to look at our subsidies,” she said. “Currently, very little agricultural R&D support or subsidy support goes to agroecological and regenerative systems.” Watch the video from UNFSS+2 to hear more on what it will take to fund food systems transformation. Visit Food Secured — a series that explores how to save the food system and where experts share groundbreaking solutions for a sustainable and resilient future. This is an editorially independent piece produced as part of our Food Secured series, which is funded by partners. To learn more about this series and our partners, click here.