Public budgets are frequently insufficient to directly finance necessary and desired facilities. It is therefore essential to create or improve the pathways whereby private funds can be attracted to invest in programs of public works or services within a framework of suitable contractual arrangements. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) cover all current legal/economic forms that make it possible for private funds to invest in public infrastructure and services. For a presentation on Public and Private Partnerships click here.

FAO is currently focusing on:

• understanding and defining the role of the public and private sector in promoting rural infrastructure development;
• identifying institutional and support mechanisms conducive to local private sector involvement in rural infrastructure development;
• providing governments with advice on how to attract the private sector, how to develop partnerships and how to nurture and maintain them;
• creating a database on selected categories of rural/agricultural infrastructure: feeder roads, markets and collection points, pre-and post harvest storage, agro-processing, and irrigation.