Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development Public Briefing

I am pleased to address this esteemed gathering on behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

1. FAO highly values the joint work and collaborative efforts we have shared with all the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development coordinated by UN DESA, in the last years.
2. Our recent collaboration on the 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report was particularly fruitful, allowing us to delve into critical topics such as the role of agriculture and agrifood systems in the process of industrialization and structural transformation. We also explored the significance of repurposing agricultural subsidies and the role of finance for development in preventing and mitigating food crises, transforming agrifood systems, among other essential matters. We are committed to maintaining and strengthening this productive dialogue.
3. FAO fully supports and appreciates the proposed outline and content for the 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report. These include extending the time horizon for analysis and emphasizing the importance of adopting a longer-term perspective. We also endorsed the proposal to assess the progress made in implementing the three milestones, namely the 2002 Monterrey Consensus, the 2008 Doha Declaration, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, in the Financing for Development process. I am pleased to confirm we fully contributed to its drafting in the last few months.
4. Furthermore, FAO is fully committed to supporting the preparatory process leading up to the 2025 Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, as requested by the United Nations Member States and approved by the General Assembly. To this end, FAO has decided to expand its technical work in evaluating the role of finance for development in preventing and mitigating food crises and transforming agrifood systems, and we are delighted to announce that the theme for the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), a flagship report by FAO, will be "Sustainable Financing to End Hunger, Food Insecurity, and Malnutrition."
5. It is worth noting that food, agriculture, and food security have occupied a prominent position in the three previous key international agreements. These past conferences recognized the substantial investments required to address critical issues such as hunger, malnutrition, price volatility, rural poverty, and rural development. They also acknowledged the fundamental role of sustainable growth in agrifood systems in achieving internationally agreed-upon goals.
6. While we acknowledge progress in global agrifood systems, it is important to recognize that we have not yet reached our desired objectives, and the prevailing trends are concerning. Over the past three years, global agrifood systems have shown vulnerability to shocks and stressors, exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, extreme climate events and the war in Ukraine. Many individuals continue to suffer from poverty, food insecurity, and increasing inequality as a result. The outcomes of successive crises have been disheartening, with an estimated 691 to 783 million people facing hunger in 2022. This figure represents an increase of 122 million compared to 2019, before the pandemic. In 2022, almost 258 million people urgently required assistance due to acute food insecurity across 58 countries and territories. It is imperative to consider the efficiency, productivity, and inclusiveness of agrifood systems as central components of any sustainable economic future. The fragility of these systems can jeopardize progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. FAO is pleased that this matter is now included in the Global Economic Chapter of the upcoming Report.
7. We aim to explore new approaches and strategies for financing and resource mobilization that integrate responses to both the mitigation and prevention of food crises and the promotion of sustainable and inclusive agrifood systems’ transformation.
   

Thank you for your attention and collaboration in advancing these critical objectives.