Thank you Madam Moderator, for your kind words and your very informative opening,
I am very glad to be with you today and to contribute to this week discussions.
As we know, the most critical element for achieving the Goals by 2030 is to improve the access of developing countries to financing, from all available sources.
In this context, it is crucial to ensure continued high political focus on financing for food systems.
The current food security and nutrition financing architecture is highly fragmented and needs a shift from a siloed approach to a more holistic perspective.
We need enhanced coordination among actors, considering national and local policy priorities.
We also need a better and mutual understanding of the complex link between food security and conflicts and geopolitical tensions. It is a mutually reinforcing link, where food security and conflicts often reinforce each others, creating prolonged humanitarian crises. More broadly, food related crises have significantly contributed to the overlapping crises and reinforcing shocks and are preventing the achievement of the Agenda 2030.
Cognizant of the growing and multi-faceted needs, under Italy’s G7 Presidency we led some food systems financing initiatives. Let me mention just a few.
First of all, we proposed a new G7 initiative on Food Security, the Apulia food systems initiative (AFSI), which will concentrate on concrete actions on the ground, supporting multi-stakeholder initiatives to promote sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems, including in coffee value chain, and to fight malnutrition, with a focus on childhood stunting and wasting.
In the same G7 context we also launched a new coordination mechanism between our bilateral financial institutions (Public Development Banks and Development Financial Institutions) which will support food security and sustainable agriculture projects, by enhancing co-investment and risk-mitigation. A prime goal is to encourage private sector participation in building resilient agrifood systems across the globe.
We are also working on the design and development of a Financing for Shock-Driven Food Crisis Facility to provide rapid-response financing in anticipation of severe food crises, also involving private capital from global insurance markets. Through this Facility, a multi-donor trust fund and a reserve account will contribute to quickly mobilizing disaster risk and climate finance for the humanitarian community to assist in preventing and/or mitigating emerging food security crises by releasing pre-arranged financing to UN and humanitarian agencies.
Colleagues,
In view of the magnitude of challenges we are confronted with, it is crucial that we commit ourselves to a strong outcome from the FfD4 process that enables progress in transforming food systems and empowers country leadership. Leveraging the role of Financing for Development to prevent and mitigate food crises and transform agrifood systems require action across all Addis Ababa action areas.
In conclusion, we can and must innovate and collaborate to build more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems that can better withstand present and future challenges.
I now return the floor to Ms. Hood and I am looking forward to hearing from the next speakers.
Thanks.
