Public Investment
Creating a healthier, more sustainable world requires massive investment. Transforming agrifood systems will cost USD 4 trillion, or more, from now until 2030 in low- and middle-income countries. That translates to about USD 680 billion per year.
For six decades, the FAO Investment Centre has helped mobilize billions of dollars of public investment in agriculture, food security, nutrition, poverty reduction and rural development.
The Centre provides tailored investment support to countries and financial partners at all stages of the project cycle – from project conception, identification, design and appraisal to implementation and evaluation.
Good investment design is only part of the equation. Supporting the implementation of ongoing investment projects – the lion’s share of the Centre’s work on public investment – ensures quality control and helps countries achieve positive and lasting results.
The Centre’s main partners include the World Bank, IFAD, multilateral and regional development banks like the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-American Development Bank, along with specialist funds such as the Green Climate Fund, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program and the European Union.
Latest stories
TERRA: expanding access to finance for Kenyan small and medium agrifood companies
01/06/2026
A EUR 30 million credit line from the Italian bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) to Equity Bank Kenya will ease access to finance for small and...
Improving performance in agrifood public spending in Niger
11/05/2026
The World Bank Group and the FAO Investment Centre just published a joint public expenditure and price incentive analysis to support the Government...
Investment Briefs
The dos and don’ts of blended finance in agrifood systems – advice to mobilize capital for impact via investment funds
23/03/2026
Blended finance – the use of public or philanthropic money to mobilize private investment for sustainable development – quickly gained traction as...
Latest publications
Supporting development finance institutions financing private agrifood investments
11/2024
The Investment Centre acts as a bridge between countries and financing partners to create the enabling conditions for greater public and private investment to accelerate the transformation to more sustainable agrifood systems.
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.
Comparative study on the distribution of value in European chocolate chains - Executive summary
05/2024
The low level of income of most small cocoa farmers, especially in Western Africa, has been a growing issue in the cocoa sector for the past three decades, furthermore, ensuring a living income for small cocoa farmers has become a pressing issue across producing countries.
FAO Investment Centre - 2022 at a glance
03/2023
FAO is committed to helping countries achieve a healthier, more sustainable future. That means finding the right combination of policies, innovations and public and private investment to help them realize the promise of the four betters – better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all.
Investing in food loss and waste: What's in it for development banks?
09/2022
This Investment Brief summarizes the challenge of FLW. It focuses on identifying action areas for development banks to meet this challenge. Potential action areas include assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic and data collection and analytics, as well as direct country-level interventions, with a food systems approach.