World Investment Forum 2023: Investment in Agrifood Systems Forum

Excellencies, Dear Ministers,

Distinguished Panelists,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends in Rome,

I warmly welcome you to the Investment in Agrifood Systems Forum - a partnership between FAO and UNCTAD.

We are opening this forum on an occasion that could not be more fitting - today is the United Nations World Food Day.

This Forum is an opportunity to place agrifood systems in the centre of the discussions of finance and investment for policymakers present in this event.

And this is much needed. The recent crises have contributed to food insecurity. The war in Ukraine has triggered spikes in food prices which increase the risk of hunger, especially for people in many developing countries.

On top of this, the climate crisis is an increasing threat to food security: Extreme weather events are taking their toll on food production. Global warming requires food production and supply chains in many countries to adapt and transform. And it is very often the poorest countries that are affected the most but have also the fewest means to adapt and transform their food systems.

One could have expected that with the supply chain shocks and food price inflation the world has suffered, international financing and investments in agriculture and agrifood systems would be increasing.

But such financing and investment has not happened.

In fact, we are not making progress. According to our World Investment Report, the number of international investment projects in agrifood systems is lower today than it was in 2015 when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted and we all committed to a world of Zero Hunger.

With this Forum and our partnership on investment with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), we want to contribute to turning around this trend. The forum offers the opportunity to combine our knowledge, better understand and strategize on: 

• How to channel more of the funds invested in sustainable finance in global capital markets to food production where it is needed most. These markets offer a real opportunity as underlying investments have been growing steadily.

• How technology can help boost productivity and resilience of food production and supply chains, and what investments are needed for this goal.

• And what investments are needed to improve the sustainability of food production and mitigate loss and waste in supply chains.

These are complex issues which require collaboration, cooperation and expertise from all of us.

It is in this spirit - and as when UNCTAD and FAO formulated the Principles of Responsible Agriculture and Investment many years ago - that we continue to partner with each other. With this forum, we want to offer the space and expertise to take this thinking forward so that in 2030 the world is, indeed, free of hunger.

I wish you a fruitful exchange and look forward to hearing the outcomes.

Thank you for your attention.