Rural 21 (engl. Ausgabe 4/2022)

Focus 4/2022: Financing sustainable agri-food systems

Not only since the UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021 has the urgent need for a transformation of our agri-food systems been beyond question if SDG 2 – ending hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030 – is not to get completely out of reach. However, the current world-wide bleak economic prospects are certainly not making the mobilisation of the resources this essentially requires any easier.

Alongside budget constraints, financial institutions sticking to their old patterns of behaviour are responsible for the urgently needed investments in the sustainable transformation of our agri-food systems having either failed to materialise or not being on target. Wrong incentives, not considering externalities in setting food and agricultural prices, lobbyism and not adequately prioritising the money available are further reasons. This edition shows you the approaches which science and development cooperation, financial institutions and the private sector regard as having proven promising in rebuilding our agri-food systems in line with the Agenda 2030 and making them resilient in the long term.