Strategic Investment Planning and Policy
Transforming the world’s agrifood systems calls for greater public and private investment shaped by strategic and innovative thinking. It calls for good analysis, a shared vision and sound policies.
Linking conducive policies with sizeable investments is one of the best ways to achieve impact at scale. The FAO Investment Centre works with countries and partners to develop agricultural investment strategies and plans, including through FAO’s flagship Hand-in-Hand initiative.
The Centre leads and contributes to policy, analytical and sector studies to improve the quality and quantity of agrifood investments. And it brings together public and private sector stakeholders – including producer organizations, governments, financing partners and others – to discuss policy issues and resolve bottlenecks along supply chains.
The Centre contributed to 42 agricultural strategies, 37 sector studies, 17 policy studies and 4 policy dialogues in 67 countries in 2025.Initiatives
Latest stories
Investing in a more climate-resilient, food-secure and nutritious future in the Pacific Islands
26/09/2026
Pacific Island small island developing states (SIDS) face similar challenges, including domestic food production constraints, high import costs due...
Directions in Investment
Soil health and fertilizer: Policy and investment prospects in sub-Saharan Africa
17/06/2026
A new technical report – Soil health and fertilizer: Policy and investment prospects in sub-Saharan Africa – highlights the urgent need for a more...
Five Years and Five Levers to Roll Back Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana
05/05/2026
A regional workshop brought together key stakeholders involved in combating the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire,...
New book traces the FAO Investment Centre’s evolution over its first 60 years
19/12/2025
For over six decades, the FAO Investment Centre has helped countries invest in agrifood systems to reduce hunger, poverty and malnutrition and advance...
Latest publications
Market structure and efficiency in agricultural value chains: Deep dives in El Salvador and the Dominican Republic
10/2025
This report represents a context-specific approach to analyzing market structures and dynamics that may contribute to price distortions in two country-commodity pairs in Central America: white maize in El Salvador, and bananas in the Dominican Republic.
Advancing agrifood systems transformation in Colombia: A participatory bottom-up approach
07/2025
Agrifood systems (AFS) play a key role in Colombia’s economy, employing around 35 percent of the workforce. Colombia has been at the forefront of efforts to transition towards sustainable AFS though participatory processes and evidence-based approaches.
FAO Investment Centre - 2024 at a glance
06/2025
FAO is intensifying its efforts with financing partners to crowd in public and private investment for a more food-secure, resilient and sustainable future for all.
Accessing finance to invest in agrifood: A review of experimental evidence
12/2024
This brief focuses on the impacts of finance access on farmers’ investments and how it can enable investments in farms and businesses. It examines experimental and quasi-experimental evidence around farmers’ and small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to finance, the economic impacts of accessing financial services on investments, and the constraints of accessing finance in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs).
FAO Investment Centre - 2023 at a glance
07/2024
FAO, through its Investment Centre, works with partners to provide tailored, scalable investment and finance solutions to help countries achieve better, more sustainable outcomes. This latest edition looks at the Centre’s achievements in 2023 while also identifying priority areas for the coming years.