The World Bank is FAO’s largest and oldest partner, with a cooperative programme dating back to 1964. Through knowledge-sharing, policy expertise, innovation and investment support, the two partners are contributing to the World Bank’s ambitious new mission to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. 

In 2023 alone, the Centre contributed to the design of 22 World Bank-financed projects worth nearly USD 6 billion in new investment. The Centre also provided implementation support to ongoing World Bank-financed projects amounting to more than USD 43 billion.

FAO collaborates with the World Bank in key areas such as sustainable economic growth, climate-smart agriculture, irrigation, food security and nutrition, One Health, sustainable livestock systems, land tenure, agricultural risk management and digital agriculture.
The two partners are stepping up efforts on the World Bank’s Program-for-Results, a lending mechanism that links fund disbursement directly to achievement of specific programme results.

On the policy front, the Centre works with the World Bank on agricultural strategies, sector and policy studies, public-private dialogues and capacity development activities. Topics range from decarbonizing agrifood systems to eradicating child labour in agriculture.

The two partners also continue to add to their growing body of joint investment knowledge products. This includes two major One Health studies in East Asia and the Pacific on strengthening investments in livestock health and wildlife systems, and publications on using remote-sensing for agricultural water management and climate-smart agrifood policies in Egypt, among many others. 

Related links

• The World Bank
• FAO and the World Bank celebrate 60 years of collaboration
• The Word Bank Program-for-Results