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The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD) has adopted a new Strategy and Approach Paper for 2026–2030, providing a strategic framework to guide the Platform’s priorities, coordination, and decision-making in a rapidly evolving global development environment.
At a time when development finance is under increasing pressure and global food systems face mounting challenges, the Platform continues to provide a trusted, informal space where donors can align strategies, share knowledge, and strengthen collective impact.
In this context, this paper adopts a more agile and adaptive approach than previous strategic plans. Rather than setting out a set of activities over several years, it provides a flexible framework that allows the Platform to respond quickly to shifting geopolitical, economic, and institutional dynamics, ensuring it can continue delivering value to its members.
What’s new in this strategy
The new strategy introduces a more dynamic and responsive approach to the Platform’s work, including:
- Greater flexibility: shifting from a prescribed multi-year activity plan to a strategic framework supported by annually updated workplans.
- Stronger responsiveness: enabling the Platform to react quickly to emerging global issues, policy processes, and member needs.
- Enhanced value for members: focusing on timely intelligence, strategic dialogue, and practical coordination among donors.
Why this strategy matters
The global development system is undergoing significant change. Donors are navigating:
- increasing pressure to demonstrate impact and value for money
- tightening public budgets and growing scrutiny of Official Development Assistance (ODA)
- climate change, conflict, and market volatility affecting agrifood systems
- a more complex development landscape involving new actors, including emerging economies, philanthropic funders, and private investors
In this context, coordinated donor action is more important than ever.
The Platform supports donors in working more effectively together by:
- improving coherence across donor strategies and investments
- reducing coordination costs through a neutral exchange space
- amplifying influence in global policy processes
- sharing intelligence on emerging trends and risks
- connecting global debates with country-level experience
Through collaboration and knowledge exchange, the Platform helps ensure that donor investments contribute to sustainable food systems, rural development, and poverty reduction.
Publication date: 11 March 2026
