Means of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda

High Level Thematic Debate on

“Means of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda”

 

9-10 February 2015

FAO Statement (10 February)

 

Mr President, Distinguished Delegates,

 

Thank you very much for allowing FAO to contribute to this important debate on the renewed global partnership for implementation, in particular actions needed and priorities to mobilize financial resources to implement the post-2015 development agenda, focusing yesterday and today on Infrastructure Development and the Role of Parliaments, Cities, and Local Authorities.

 

• While the world is rapidly urbanizing, the number of people living in rural areas is not expected to decrease in relative terms and is expected to remain at 3.5 billion for decades.
• The rapidly growing urban world population is demanding more and more food and services deriving from rural areas. The need for accelerating rural development and strengthening rural sector capacity to sustain the food and agricultural commodity needs of urban areas is evident from this perspective.
• To ensure that rural-urban continuum is duly addressed, capitalizing on multi-stakeholder initiatives like “Food for the Cities” is crucial.
• Particular actions are needed in rural areas, if we are to address extreme poverty. According to recent estimates of the World Bank, 78 percent of the extreme poor live in rural areas, pointing to a growing concentration of extreme poverty in rural areas which invariably receive lower levels of public and private investments, and fewer services targeted to the most vulnerable.
• The most recent trends and figures suggest that rural and agricultural development is essential to ensure sustainable development, and yet few actions are directed to establishing integrated approaches between rural and urban development.
• There is a need, especially in developing countries, to invest in rural development and agriculture, as a key factor for national economic growth.
• We suggest that the renewed global partnership duly considers intensified support to countries in their rural and agricultural development efforts. In this regards, strengthening the already established strategic frameworks and investment strategies should be a priority.
• The Maputo Declaration and the establishment of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), is one of several examples of concerted regional efforts in support of agriculture and rural development both at country and regional level. It includes the formulation, through a consultative process, of national and regional agricultural, food security and nutrition investment plans, resulting in bankable programmes and projects, some of which have been co-financed by the GAFSP.
• The implementation of multi-stakeholder negotiated frameworks on rural sector investment, such as the Responsible Agricultural Investment Principles, endorsed last October by the Committee on World Food Security, could also underpin the renewed global partnership. In this respect, there is a need to improve the enabling environment for private investments throughout the food systems, by smallholder producers, medium and larger investors, indeed including post-harvest and  processing, that is – as discussed by Dr Mayaki yesterday - agro-industries.
• Prioritization of actions will be essential to maximize the use of resources and mobilize actors for implementing the post-2015 agenda. In particular, resources should be devoted to issues that have the biggest multi-dimensional impact and multiplier effect.
  

 

Distinguished Participants, in the Post-2015 development agenda and Partnerships for realizing the SDGs,

 

• It is essential to ensure that rural infrastructure development be a priority. The increasing needs of urban settlements in food and other agricultural commodities and services is clear evidence of the importance that rural infrastructure have in ensuring food security for the cities and indeed the rural areas. 
• It is equally important to include rural institutions in the list of actors playing a critical role in ensuring sustainable development. Services, resources and capacities can be delivered in rural areas only if rural institutions are adequately equipped to do so.
• Policies should therefore take into account the complementary and differentiated needs of rural and urban areas, and country efforts should be supported for the appropriate institutional frameworks to be established both in rural and in urban areas. 

 

I thank you very much for your attention.