Enabling Private Investment in Sustainable Food Systems

29 January 2026. Brussels. ENABEL Enabling Private Investment in Sustainable Food Systems

The event marked a shift in international cooperation toward mobilising private capital as a central driver for transforming food systems—moving beyond traditional aid to blended finance and investment-led approaches.

Setting the scene :

• Sofie Van Waeyenberge, coordinator sustainable food systems, Enabel
• Jeremy Knops, General Delegate, COLEAD
• Rigo Belpaire, Head of Unit E.3, Global Gateway Investment Hub, DG INTPA

Plenary session – panel discussion: 

• Ingrid De Ryck, Chief Sustainability Officer, AB InBev
  
• Xavier Rombouts, CEO, Rombouts Coffee
• Steven Serneels, Co-founder and Chair, Impact Finance Belgium
• Karen Janssens, Expert Sustainable Sourcing, Colruyt Group
• Luc Willems, Business Development Manager, Group Depre
• Katrien Delaet, Chief Cacaopreneur, Silva

Thematic break-out sessions :

1. Technical Assistance and innovation
2. Regulations and policies
3. Financing and investment

Main outcomes and messages

Private investment positioned as essential (not optional)

• Strong consensus that public funding alone is insufficient to transform food systems at scale.
• Emphasis on unlocking private finance (DFIs, impact investors, agribusiness) to:
  
• Scale sustainable agriculture
• Modernise value chains
• Support SMEs and agrifood entrepreneurs

New cooperation model: public–private–civil society alliances

The event reinforced a multi-stakeholder model:

• Governments → enabling policies
• Private sector → investment & innovation
• Development actors (Enabel, EU) → risk-sharing, technical support

Scaling innovation and business models

Emphasis on moving from pilot projects → scalable business models

Role of:

• innovation hubs
• digital tools
• climate-smart technologies