Preparatory Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) Interactive Discussion 1: Domestic Public Resources

Preparatory Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) Interactive Discussion 1: Domestic Public Resources

Adriano Campolina, Senior Policy Officer, Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division, FAO

04/12/2024

Several trillion dollars are needed to meet SDG targets 2.1 and 2.2 and even greater amounts may be needed to transform agrifood systems and prevent and mitigate food crises. It is crucial that FFD4 takes bold action to address this gap, given that food crises is one of the overlapping crises. Domestic public resources will play a crucial role in addressing this gap.

The 2024 SOFI highlights that public spending on agriculture per capita is very low and not steadily growing in low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), where food insecurity is more serious. Taking into account that public spending on agriculture is only a fraction of public spending on food security and nutrition, enabling the increase of domestic public resources to SDG2 is crucial.

At the same time, FAO considers that there is significant potential associated with re-allocating public domestic spending in agriculture towards more profound, transformative effect on agrifood systems, addressing structural inequalities and reaching the most vulnerable low-income farmers. Some of this reallocation needs to take place within countries; some could result from increasing official development assistance (ODA) flows to lower-middle-income (LMICs) and low-income countries (LICs) where little money is available to meet fundamental food security and nutrition investment needs.

Thank you.