In 2024 FAO Regional Conferences took decisive steps to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These regional gatherings emphasized innovative solutions, inclusive approaches, and resilience-building strategies to address the urgent challenges of food security, climate change, and rural transformation. 

In 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) continued its unwavering commitment to advancing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through strategic decisions made by its governing bodies including the FAO Council and Technical Committees, FAO reinforced its focus on sustainable, inclusive, and science-based solutions to ensure no one is left behind. 

At the 2024 Belgian SDG Forum, the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels held an event titled “Climate finance for agrifood systems as a tool to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda”, which gathered experts from FAO and its partners in Belgium to present the FAO report on Unjust Climate and discuss the urgent need for targeted investments and inclusive strategies to ensure no one is left behind.

Innovations from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) caught the attention of numerous international attendees at the 2024 World Food Forum. As part of FAO’s SDG Agrifood Accelerator Programme, which provides coaching to agrifood systems start-ups to help them develop their business while accelerating the SDGs, a few of the beneficiaries displayed in a stand in the atrium of FAO headquarters and shared how the Programme has helped them.

On 10 July, FAO, DESA and the European Union convened a side event at the UN Headquarters in New York,  “Uniting Forces: Integrating Science, Policy and Society to Achieve Zero Hunger" help in UNHQ.

The HASTEN Project, a joint initiative between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Governments of Rwanda, Lesotho and Sierra Leone, empowers young leaders to drive agrifood system transformations.

The HASTEN Project, a joint initiative between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Governments of Rwanda, Lesotho and Sierra Leone, empowers young leaders to drive agrifood system transformations.

The HASTEN Project, a joint initiative between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Governments of Rwanda, Lesotho and Sierra Leone, empowers young leaders to drive agrifood system transformations.

A two-day UN Expert Group Meeting (EGM) was held at FAO headquarters in Rome Italy from 26-27 March, organized by FAO, in collaboration with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), convening over 40 experts from around the world, to assess global progress towards targets under Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) and strategize recommendations to accelerate action to meet these objectives.

Insights from the FAO Agrifood Innovation Finance Debate 

The Agrifood Innovation Finance Debate provided a dynamic platform for small and medium-sized agrifood enterprises (SMEs) and investors to explore diverse perspectives on the financing obstacles and opportunities, with a particular focus on Africa and Asia. 

Participate in our online call for stakeholders to share examples of governance-related measures and interventions with transformative impact for agrifood systems. 

The 2024 ECOSOC Partnership Forum, held on 30 January, included a dedicated SDG Action Segment for Goal 2, co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Major Group for Science and Technology, and the UN Major Group for Children and Youth. With the aim of providing inputs into the High-level Political Forum, which is this year conducting an in-depth review of SDG 2, the Segment shared good practices and innovative strategies to strengthen and facilitate meaningful multi-stakeholder partnerships to support agrifood systems transformation. 

The Office of Sustainable Development Goals (OSG) is pleased to share the 2nd edition of FAO and the 2030 Agenda follow-up and review: Guidance note for Regional and Country Offices. Featuring country examples and extracts from global voluntary national review (VNR) reports, this guidance note details the VNR process and elaborates on the importance of leveraging agrifood systems transformations as a key accelerator for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Director-General QU Dongyu will lead FAO delegation at the global event in Dubai, where the Organization will launch a series of reports and co-host the Food and Agriculture Pavilion

Innovators from the FAO SDG Agrifood Accelerator Programme have been shining a spotlight on their pioneering enterprises at numerous high-level events over the last number of months, including at the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) and the 2023 World Food Forum, highlighting the vital role SMEs play in catalyzing effective food system transformation while simultaneously accelerating SDG implementation at local levels.