FAO at the 2024 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture

The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) is an international conference on central issues of global agricultural and food policies, held in Berlin on an annual basis. The 2024 GFFA is organized by the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food from 17 to 20 January 2024 in Berlin, under the overarching theme: Food systems for our future: Joining forces for a Zero Hunger world!

FAO will participate in the GFFA at many levels, including the following events.

Agrifood Partnership Forum for the Republic of Moldova: Investing in resilient and sustainable farming practices (19 January 2024, 2:00 p.m.) 

Co-organized with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry of the Republic of Moldova and the German Agribusiness Alliance, the goal of the Agrifood Partnership Forum is threefold. The event aims to present investment opportunities in the agrifood sector, including private-public partnerships in particular sub-sectors (fruits, food processing), facilitate discussion on the results of the ongoing agrifood sector reforms and provide recommendations on its sustainable and resilient development in line with European Union best practices, as well as strengthen the cooperation between business communities of the Republic of Moldova and Germany as well as from other EU member countries.

Pathway towards restoring and transforming agrifood systems in Ukraine and neighbouring countries to assist in their aspiration to join the European Union (20 January 2024, 2:45 p.m.)

In light of the recent developments, it is key to ensure a sustainable transformation of the agrifood systems in Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine, while leaving no one behind. This necessitates significant investments along the agrifood value chains, and also requires addressing of the immediate needs of agriculture and food producers to strengthen their resilience, restore agricultural production, and provide access to the major markets.

Therefore, the event organized by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and FAO, and facilitated by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, on restoring and transforming agrifood systems will also involve the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry of the Republic of Moldova and the Minister for Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and other key partners. Speakers will shed light to the existing challenges and identify immediate and short-term needs to implement the 2030 Agenda in agrifood sectors considering the pathway towards the European Union accession of the three countries, with specific focus on maintaining Ukraine’s role as a key player in global food security. The participation of international financial institutions such as the World Bank, EBRD, and EIB will highlight the investment needs in these countries.

Expert panels

School meal nutrition standards as a tool to support the right to food in schools (18 January 2024, 4:00 p.m.)

Given the significant investment that governments around the world have made in their school meal programmes, it is key to ensure their impact on children’s and adolescent’s diet. One critical way to do this is by implementing data-driven and evidence-informed nutrition standards that not only consider the diet and nutrition priorities of students, but also on aspects of food learning, socialization, equity and social justice, as well as consider limitations and sustainability of the school food system.

The importance of transparency for the smooth functioning of global agricultural markets (19 January 2024, 9:30 a.m.)

The Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) was launched in 2011 by the Group of Twenty (G20) to prevent turmoil in international food markets. In this expert panel, members of the AMIS Secretariat as well as representatives of AMIS participating countries will discuss the importance of transparency for the smooth functioning of global agricultural markets. Key questions to address will include whether market transparency has been enhanced through the introduction of AMIS, and why the 2021-22 surge in food prices might be different from past crises.

FAST Partnership: unlocking quality agrifood system finance and leave no-one behind (19 January 2024, 11:30 a.m.)

During this expert panel, co-organized with the World Wildlife Fund, key actors will explore the importance of having a stronger focus on ensuring vulnerable groups’ access to agrifood climate finance, building strong data-backed policies and promoting peer-to-peer exchanges that consider innovation and local knowledge alike, to unlock the real potential for transforming agrifood system.

High-level panel

Realizing the right to adequate food: Ending hunger and leaving no one behind (19 January 2024, 1:30 p.m.)

2024 marks the twentieth anniversary of the endorsement of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the context of National Food Security (Right to Food Guidelines) by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and their adoption by the Council of FAO. The guidelines were a first attempt by governments to pragmatically interpret an economic, social, and cultural right and to recommend multi-sectoral actions for its realization. 

The purpose of the high-level event will be to showcase national experiences in the use and application of the Right to Food Guidelines, complemented by regional, global, and local dimensions. 

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