High-level SDG Action Event - SDG Financing Lab Workshop 1 – Building an inclusive and peaceful future for all

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:

 

I would like to focus my remarks on the importance of investing in agriculture – including crops, livestock, fisheries and forests – to achieve food security and nutrition for all and as a vital contribution to sustainable development. I would like to make three initial points.

First, to meet projected demand by 2050, agriculture will need to produce almost 50 percent more food. This will happen in a context of growing pressure on land, water and other natural resources in the coming decades, also considering climate change. Poor farmers and rural communities are particularly vulnerable.

Second, I would also like to call for a special attention to the over 500 million family farms in the world. They produce most of the world’s food but in many cases are also vulnerable themselves. In fact, in 2010, 75% of the estimated 1.2 billion extremely poor lived in rural areas.

Third, a study presented by FAO, IFAD and WFP at the Addis Ababa Financing for Development conference points to the need of additional annual investments of US$265 billion per year until 2030. Resources should be directed to targeted pro-poor investments in productive activities including in rural areas and in social protection.

That is the investment needed to sustainably end hunger and malnutrition. On the other hand, the social and economic costs of malnutrition have been estimated at up to 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars.

In our view, the way forward must include:

A shift to more inclusive, productive, sustainable and resilient food systems;

Greater public and private investment in family farming and infrastructure; and

Creation of enabling environments that will allow farmers to increase their own investments.

In this conversation, let’s also keep in mind that farmers themselves are, by far, the largest investors in agriculture.

In 2012, FAO estimated that on-farm investments in agricultural capital stock is more than three times as large as investments financed by national budgets, Official Development Assistance and foreign direct investments combined.

Of particular importance is improving smallholders’ access to agricultural inputs and technologies, markets, credit and finance, education and knowledge, extension services, weather information and risk management tools.

It is worth noting that formal systems of credit and insurance often discriminate against farmers, especially, especially smallholder family farms. That is a barrier that we must break.

And there are many examples of how this is already happening. In this regard, Rabobank and FAO are working together to promote the financial inclusion of family farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

To end, I want to stress the importance of a holistic approach to end poverty, hunger and malnutrition that encompasses productive support with social protection. It is our hope that we can move decisively towards solutions that combine productive support and social protection, making the best of investments in both areas.

One example of how this can happen is linking family farming to school meals. On the one hand, this ensures the provision of healthy and fresh food to children. On the other hand, it opens a new market for family farmers.

Thank you.