REPORT: Ending hunger: the role of agri-food financing

Economist (2023) Ending hunger: the role of agri-food financing # 23 p.

This is an Economist Impact report, sponsored by CGIAR. Drawing on its analysis of secondary data sources and interviews with experts, this report examines the role of agri-food financing in ending world hunger. 

It concludes with three broad strategies to increase the volume and impact of financing for agri-food systems, with the goal of accelerating progress towards zero hunger. These include:

1. Scaling up targeted development funding in the short term; for example, through leveraging of alternative sources of development assistance and reform of international financing institutions.
2. Realising the potential of the private sector; for example, through promotion of public-private partnerships, blended finance and digitisation
3. Maximising the impact of existing investment; for example, through prioritisation of investment in high-impact, low-cost interventions such as extension services, as well as allocation of development funding to geographies most in need of external assistance.

Ending world hunger is an enormous task—but by no means an impossible one. Crucially, delaying progress not only risks humanitarian tragedy today; it will also increase the overall socioeconomic costs of ending hunger in the long term. There is no time to lose.

As part of the report, the authors interviewed development experts including:

• Prasad Gopalan, Former Global Sector Manager, Agribusiness and Forestry at IFC; 
• Rasmus Egendal, Deputy Director, Government Partnership Division, World Food Programme (WFP); 
• Saharah Moon Chapotin, Executive Director, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.

The report was published as the World Bank and IMF held their spring meetings in Washington D.C. amid rising pressure to increase support for low-income countries to address the ongoing food, climate and debt crises.