FAO-UNIDO Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator (ASTA) is a global programme designed to help Least Developed Countries make their agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable by fostering partnerships and generating public-private investments. 

ASTA is the first centrepiece of a new collaboration between FAO and UNIDO and helps generate investment in the agrifood system of some of the world's poorest countries, including through development of value chains, market systems, business models and inclusive finance, in order to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

ASTA provides a novel solution which:

• breaks down silos through broad-based public-private collaborations;
• does away with the traditional top-down support and placing the beneficiaries in the driving seat;
• embodys the ONE UN approach, whereby different UN organizations combine forces to assist countries in more synergistic ways;
• shifts away from targeting individual SDG indicators.

Such a shift is especially relevant for LDCs, where multiple bottlenecks often hinder urgent change and where integrated solutions based on inter-ministerial and public-private sector collaborations are essential.

Crucially, the programme helps countries move from broad recommendations and strategies to concrete implementation with measurable impacts.

The ASTA approach has been field-tested since 2018 in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Pacific and South America.

One example where the ASTA model has been successfully tested is in Suriname, where public funding worth $2 million was secured to promote $8 million in private investments to transform its pineapple value chain.

Looking ahead, the aim is for ASTA to generate at least $300 million in private investments during the next five years.

 Agrifood System Transformation Accelerator 

Working towards SDGs: