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FAO and the World Bank are strengthening their cooperation to end hunger and poverty at global and national levels. The two organizations will work closely together to support the member countries in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), improve rural livelihoods, enhance efficiency of food production and distribution, and ensure sustainable management of natural resources worldwide.

A framework agreement was signed in Rome today by Daniel Gustafson, FAO Deputy Director-General for Programmes, and Hartwig Schafer, the Vice-President of the World Bank's Operations Policy and Country Services.

Within the 50 plus years of cooperation with the Investment Centre, FAO has helped design more than half of all agriculture and rural development investment projects financed by the Bank. During the signature ceremony, both parties recognized the critical role of partnerships in order to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the use of the new modalities for faster mobilization of FAO assistance to the member countries.

Reflecting on the signature ceremony, Gustafson said: "Within the framework of the SDG's, there is greater pressure on all of us to work better together and better support countries in meeting their goals. The tools agreed today by FAO and World Bank open up new opportunities and new ways of working together. They will increase financial resources for development, especially in situations of protracted crises and fragile states".

For his part, Schafer said: "This standard agreement is an important step in strengthening our joint commitment to making project-level assistance faster and more efficient for countries. We are not only streamlining our processes, but we are also leveraging the comparative advantage and expertise of our organizations to help fill capacity gaps that exist in countries. This is especially important in aiding our emergency response and support for fragile states."

Of the World Bank Group’s five institutions, FAO works with the: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which assists middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries; International Development Association (IDA), which helps the world’s poorest countries; and International Finance Corporation (IFC), which focuses on the private sector in developing countries.

Photo: Hartwig Schafer, Vice President, World Bank (left), and Daniel Gustafson, Deputy Director-General (right), FAO, signing Memorandum of Agreement at FAO headquarters in Rome.

Video of the ceremony

The original version of this article appeared here.