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The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD) will hold an official virtual side event at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) to facilitate a strategic dialogue on financing agrifood systems transformation.
The side event, titled “Financing Agrifood Systems for People, Planet and Prosperity: Towards a new pact for mobilizing capital, reforming systems, and driving transformation at scale,” will take place on Monday, 30 June 2025, from 14:30 to 16:00 (CEST). Participation will be fully virtual.
The GDPRD, under the guidance of a High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) [1], has prepared a White Paper offering strategic guidance on financing food systems transformation and rural revitalization. The White Paper makes a compelling economic and development case for scaling up investment in agrifood systems and highlights the need for more strategic and catalytic use of public resources to mobilize private capital, philanthropic funds, and other innovative financing streams.
The side event aims to bring together senior representatives from governments, multilateral development banks, donors, and the private sector, fostering a high-level dialogue focused on catalysing impact at scale.
Discussions will centre on elevating the recognition of food systems and rural development within global financing frameworks, promoting the adoption of the White Paper’s recommendations into official outcomes and donor strategies, and showcasing scalable initiatives that demonstrate how public finance can be deployed more catalytically to leverage larger-scale investments.
Overall, the side event will:
- Position food systems and rural development as a core priority in global financing for development discussions.
- Promote coherent and strategic donor approaches that mobilize and scale public and private investments in agrifood systems and rural economies.
- Facilitate high-impact partnerships and coordinated action among donors, governments, IFIs, and private actors.
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development presents a critical opportunity to reshape global financing and accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems to build more resilient rural communities.
A tentative agenda and list of speakers will be shared in due course.
[1] The High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) is composed of: Federica Diamanti, Associate Vice-President, External Relations Department, International Fund for Agricultural Development (Co-Chair); Leonard Mizzi, Head of Unit, Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Fisheries, Directorate-General for International Partnerships, European Commission (Co-Chair); Nikita Eriksen-Hamel, Deputy Director, Food Systems Practice, Global Affairs Canada; Marianne Grosclaude, Lead Agriculture Economist, World Bank; Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition; Cornelia Hett, Deputy Head of Section, Health and Food Systems, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Arif Husain, Chief Economist, United Nations World Food Programme; Alice Ruhweza, President, AGRA; Maximo Torero-Cullen, Chief Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Wilma Van Esch, Head of Food Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands; Virginia Villar Arribas, Deputy Director, Private Sector Partnerships, United Nations World Food Programme. The White Paper development has been approved by the Board of the GDPRD. It draws on recent reports on the financing of agrifood systems transformation and on interviews with key informants.
