CFS 51 Side Event 03: Innovative approaches to sustainable finance for food systems transformation

23 October 2023 13:30 – 14:45 (CET) | Sheikh Zayed
Center, FAO HQ, Rome, Italy and Zoom

Speakers

Tristan Armstrong

Co-Chair, Global Donor Platform for Rural Development; Senior Sector Specialist, Agricultural Development and Food Security Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) – Australia

Peter Beez

Programme Manager and Senior Policy Advisor, Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC)

Siddarth Khadka

Country Manager, Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) Nepal

Siddharth Krishnaswamy

Head of Research, Analysis and Monitoring, East Africa Region, World Food Programme (WFP)

Dr Ivan Henry Meyer

Minister of Agriculture and Leader of Government Business, Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Western Cape Government

Oshani Perera

Co-founder and Director of Programmes, Shamba Centre for Food & Climate

Dr Mogale Sebopetsa

Head of Department, Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Western Cape Government

Moderator

Carin Smaller

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Shamba Centre for Food & Climate. Co-Founder of Hesat2030

CO-ORGANIZERS

Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD); Shamba Centre for Food & Climate; UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa; World Food Programme (WFP) – Regional Bureau, Nairobi.

INTRODUCTION

The global community is facing escalating acute and chronic food insecurity with ever tighter cycles of crises due to climate change, the Russia–Ukraine conflict, and COVID-19 shocks. Simultaneously, donor and public funds face budget constraints and limited fiscal capacity, reducing their ability to alleviate food insecurity. A lack of available investment opportunities combined with the complexities of investing in the food and agriculture sector in particular in emerging and frontier markets pose a barrier to attracting investments, which is particularly acute in value chains sourcing from smallholder farmers.

This session will provide examples of how donors can mobilize responsible investment from the private sector and present the results of a new research by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate on how donors can develop value-added partnerships with public and private funders to drive investment in smallholder commercial agriculture, for food systems transformation and high development impact. Examples include the UK Government’s Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) programme and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s partnership approach in South Africa. The World Food Programme Regional Bureau Nairobi will also speak to the opportunity costs of funding cuts for food security and resilience building.

THIS EVENT WILL:

Discuss experiences of innovative funding strategies and how governments can make their funding more catalytic.
Demonstrate how research and stakeholder engagement can help build an enabling environment for sustainable, resilient global food systems to thrive.
Showcase an example from South Africa, with a focus on the support provided to smallholder farmers, the need for tracking and accountability and the role of data collection to enable evidence-based decision making.
Showcase an example from Nepal, where the UK’s Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness programme CASA is supporting small and medium-sized agribusinesses with significant smallholder supply chains to grow and attract investment, helping build inclusive, climate-resilient agri-food systems.
Determine immediate and longer-term steps to increase both public and private funding for sustainable agri-food value chains.
Understand the cost of inaction and its implications on the resilience of food systems and on food insecure communities.

Agenda
	Moderator: Carin Smaller, Co-founder and Executive Director, The Shamba Centre for Food & Climate. Co-founder Hesat2030
13:35 – 13:40	Opening remarks Tristan Armstrong, Co-Chair, Global Donor Platform for Rural Development & Senior Sector Specialist, Agricultural Development and Food Security Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) – Australia
13:45 – 14:05	Why we need innovative finance for food systems – Panel discussion Peter Beez, Programme Manager and Senior Policy Advisor, Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC) David Dewez, Managing Partner, Incofin IM Oshani Perera, Co-founder and Director of Programmes, Shamba Centre for Food & Climate
14:05 – 14:25	What works? Examples from the ground Dr Ivan Henry Meyer, Minister of Agriculture and Leader of Government Business, Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Western Cape Government Dr Mogale Sebopetsa, Head of Department, Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Western Cape Government Siddarth Khadka, Country Manager, Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) Nepal
14:25 – 14:35	The cost of inaction Siddharth Krishnaswamy, Head of Research, Analysis and Monitoring, East Africa Region, World Food Programme (WFP)
14:35 – 14:45	Conclusion and Q&A

Learn more about the GDPRD workstream with the Shamba Centre on sustainable finance for food systems, to explore how donors, international public funds and philanthropic organisations can make their funding more impactful and serve as a catalyst for achieving SDG 2.

This is an official side event to the fifty-first plenary session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 51), taking place on Monday 23 October 2023, 13:30 – 14:45 (CET) in a hybrid format in Rome, Italy.