Reliable access to water for irrigation and livestock intake is increasingly critical for agricultural production and rural development in the face of growing climate variability. At the same time, safe water for drinking, sanitation and hygiene remains essential for people’s health and well-being. In Argentina, water stress is placing growing pressure on agrifood systems, highlighting the need for more efficient and sustainable water management.

Interest in bioinputs gained traction in Latin America and the Caribbean several years ago, following the onset of the war in Ukraine and the resulting rising food and fertilizer prices. And it has picked up again amid the current standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital sea passage that moves between 20 and 30 percent of globally traded fertilizers. Much is known about the benefits of bioinputs. They can improve soil health and enhance ecosystem sustainability. They are also less harmful to human health and the environment.

Agriculture plays a central role in Uzbekistan’s economy. While being a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, it is also highly exposed to climate risks. To this end, the Government of Uzbekistan has officially endorsed a new investment roadmap to support the transition towards climate-smart agrifood systems, marking an important step from the ambitious national climate commitments to concrete investment action.

Agrifood systems are being tested like never before, threatening global food security, livelihoods, peace and stability. Investment is critical to transforming agrifood systems and “turning potential into progress,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu wrote in the Foreword to the FAO Investment Centre’s Annual Review for 2025. The Annual Review – out today – offers a snapshot of the Centre’s work with its partners to accelerate the pace of change through more and better agrifood investment.

A new technical report – Soil health and fertilizer: Policy and investment prospects in sub-Saharan Africa – highlights the urgent need for a more integrated and context-specific approach to enhance agricultural productivity and food security. It looks closely at constraints behind low fertilizer use, soil fertility practices, farming systems and other factors hamstringing agricultural productivity. 

FAO Investment Centre and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) have released the fourth and final brief in a series exploring how finance, prices, technology and human capital, and decisions around them shape agricultural investment and productivity.

Agrifood systems are under growing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect biodiversity, improve water stewardship and ensure more sustainable production practices. Financial institutions are increasingly expected to support this transition by integrating sustainability considerations into lending decisions. 

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 medium-sized agrifood enterprises. The transaction will receive technical support from the FAO Investment Centre as part of the Transforming and Empowering Resilient and Responsible Agribusiness ("TERRA") programme, a joint initiative supported by the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) guarantee of the European Union, CDP and FAO.

The World Bank Group and the FAO Investment Centre just published a joint public expenditure and price incentive analysis to support the Government of Niger to assess how to improve the efficiency and impact of its agricultural policies.

A regional workshop brought together key stakeholders involved in combating the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 14–15 April 2026. The meeting resulted in the adoption of a structured five-year roadmap (2026–2031) to operationalize the regional strategy to address this disease affecting cocoa production.

Blended finance – the use of public or philanthropic money to mobilize private investment for sustainable development – quickly gained traction as one way to bridge the huge agrifood systems financing gap, which stands at hundreds of billions of USD. FAO’s new investment brief – “Dos and don'ts of blended finance in agrifood systems: the case of investment funds” – carried out in the context of its collaboration with the European Union, aims to help public and private investors make the best use of blended finance in agrifood systems.

تتمتع مبيعات البستنة في مصر بإمكانات نمو ممتازة في الأسواق الأوروبية والأسواق العالمية الأخرى، لا سيما مع الاستثمارات الاستراتيجية في سلامة الأغذية وجودتها، والاستدامة، والبنية التحتية لسلسلة التوريد.

هذه بعض النتائج التي توصلت إليها دراسة أجراها البنك الأوروبي للإنشاء والتعمير (EBRD) ومركز الاستثمار التابع لمنظمة الأغذية والزراعة للأمم المتحدة (الفاو)، بدعم من الاتحاد الأوروبي من خلال برنامج التجارة والقدرة التنافسية التابع للبنك الأوروبي للإنشاء والتعمير.

Initially launched in 2015, the Land Administration Toolkit for Latin America is relaunched with new features and enhanced user experience. The previous version attracted around 1,000 users each month, from across the globe. Its objective is to provide comprehensive resources to accompany the design, monitoring and evaluation of land administration programs in the region.

In Kyrgyzstan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with FAO Investment Centre technical support, are helping an EBRD client that buys pulses from local small-scale farmers expand cultivation of these crops. This includes in new regions where staple crops, like wheat, have long dominated.  

تشتهر مدينة بورصة التركية بفواكهها وخضرواتها، وبالتين الأسود والدراق على وجه الخصوص. وقد اكتسب هذان المنتجان علامة المؤشر الجغرافي الوطني في عامي 2018 و2019 على التوالي، واعتراف الاتحاد الأوروبي بالمؤشر الجغرافي في عام 

For over six decades, the FAO Investment Centre has helped countries invest in agrifood systems to reduce hunger, poverty and malnutrition and advance sustainable development.

A new publication, “The FAO Investment Centre, 60 Years Young, 1964–2024”, traces the Centre’s evolution over its first 60 years.

An analysis of key value chains along the Lobito Corridor in Zambia showed that soybeans, cassava and horticulture are among the most promising value chains that could attract public and private investment and offer strong economic and social returns.

The FAO Investment Centre co-organized and moderated the Development Finance Institutions (DFI) Forum with the African Agri Council in Cape Town, South Africa, on 25 November 2025. Held as a side-event of the African Agri Investment Indaba conference, the Forum gathered representatives from bilateral and multilateral DFIs financing private agrifood investments across the continent to support more and better access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The European Union, Côte d'Ivoire's leading trading partner, asked the FAO Investment Centre for assistance in estimating the country’s current and potential primary cocoa processing capacity, identifying investment and financing needs, and recommending practical measures to strengthen access to finance in the sector.

To strengthen community resilience and protect agrifood systems, the Government of the Philippines has launched the Philippines Community Resilience Project – Pagkilos (from the Filipino word for “action”). Co-financed by the World Bank and designed with the support of the FAO Investment Centre, the project will help vulnerable communities respond to and strengthen their resilience to climate and disaster risks, while enhancing livelihoods, food security and local infrastructure.