Collaboration between FAO and UNIDO helps generate investment in agrifood systems, where most needed

Representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) visited Brussels to introduce the Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator (ASTA) programme to several Directorates-General of the European Commission.  

The ASTA programme is a joint initiative between FAO and UNIDO, which is designed to help Least Developed Countries (LDCs) make their agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. The programme aims to achieve this by fostering partnerships and generating public-private investments. Furthermore, ASTA assists with the development of value chains, market systems, business models and inclusive finance, to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The ASTA model has already been successfully tested in Suriname, where public funding worth USD 2 million was secured to promote USD 8 million in private investments for the transformation of the country's pineapple value chain. The aim is to generate at least USD 300 million in private investments over the next five years. 

The collaboration between the two UN organizations is expected to expand and deepen to cover various development areas, all of which are critical for LDCs. 

The launch of ASTA took place in March 2023 during a meeting between FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and his UNIDO counterpart, Gerd Müller, on the sidelines of the Fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar. 

You can read more about the ASTA programme here.