G7 Financial Report on Agri-Food Systems

PDF Version (818 KB)

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• United Kingdom
• United States
• European Union
• Abbreviations

Introduction

The sustainability of global food systems and the evolving global food crisis are key development challenges. These issues have been a top priority for the G7 since 2009 with important statements of support by G7 Leaders over the years, in particular the 2015 Elmau Broader Food Security and Nutrition Development Approach, and the 2023 Apulia Food Systems Initiative, among others. Other G7 summits have mobilized joint action and investments by the G7 to strengthen efforts to support dynamic rural transformation, promote responsible investment in agriculture, improve food security monitoring, advance multisectoral nutrition approaches, strengthen resilience of agri-food systems and safeguard food security in times of conflict and crisis.

In 2025, the G7 Food Systems Working Group (FSWG) adopted a food systems perspective to capture a broader scope of issues and engage with a diverse set of partners with influence on global food security. Since the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021, there has been increasing recognition that global food systems are both drivers and solutions to many complex development issues, including food security, malnutrition, economic growth, poverty reduction, biodiversity loss and climate change, among others.

The G7 FSWG took stock of the evolving state of global food systems and highlighted key developments in 2025:

• An estimated 673 million people faced hunger in 2024 (8.2% of the global population) - a decrease of 15 million people from 2023 (8.5% of global population) and 22 million from 2022 (8.7% of global population)^{Note de bas de page 1} . Yet progress has been uneven, with hunger continuing to rise in most subregions of Africa and Western Asia.
• Over 294 million people experienced high levels of acute food insecurity across 53 countries/territories, with famine confirmed in Sudan and Palestine^{Note de bas de page 2} .
• 167.24 million people are currently facing crisis-level or worse food insecurity (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above).
• One in three people globally (approximately 2.8 billion) cannot afford a healthy diet, underscoring the urgency of nutrition-focused investments.
• The Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit mobilized commitments of USD 27.55 billion in nutrition funding and registered over 400 commitments on the Nutrition Accountability Framework platform, to tackle the challenge of malnutrition in all its forms, and to integrate nutrition in health, education, climate and food systems.
• Direct agricultural greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 6% by 2034, as productivity gains fail to offset rising production in livestock and crop sectors^{Note de bas de page 3} . Estimates are that a 10% increase in food production along with a 15% improvement in agricultural productivity would eliminate the threat of undernourishment by 2034 while lowering GHG emissions by 7%^{Note de bas de page 4} .
• Climate change is intensifying forest vulnerabilities, including wildfires and pests, emphasizing the need for innovative and responsible forest management to support agri-food systems transformation^{Note de bas de page 5} .

The G7 remains an important partner for strengthening the response to these urgent challenges. Our investments and partnerships are strengthening food security and reducing malnutrition across partner countries, supporting millions of people with improved access to nutritious food and sustainable livelihoods.

Building on work under the G7 Italian Presidency in 2024, the G7 Food Systems Working Group is proud to launch this updated G7 Financial Report on Agri-Food Systems to provide a clearer, more accurate and transparent report that presents G7 investments in agri-food systems and nutrition, including specific themes, regions and financial mechanisms.

The G7 FSWG is proud of the collaborative efforts to transparently and more consistently communicate with partners and the greater international assistance community on investments in agri-food systems. The overall key message is that the G7 represented 73% of all donor investments to agri-food systems in 2023. These efforts are helping to accelerate progress toward SDG2 and the 2030 Agenda.

Methodology

This report provides data on bilateral and multilateral financial commitments, and disbursements in the food security and nutrition sectors for each G7 member for the year 2023 drawn from a combination of OECD/DAC-validated data for some indicators and qualitative reporting for others. Below is an outline of the methodology:

Chapeau narrative: Main policy document guiding agri-food system investments and emphasizing policy priorities in the reporting year.

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes

Canada

Canada remains committed to strengthening the resilience of agri-food systems to effectively improve food security and nutrition and deliver progress on multiple other Sustainable Development Goals in the face of increasing shocks and stressors. 

In 2023, Global Affairs Canada’s international development assistance portfolio continued with evidence-based food systems approaches and showed how programs could support multiple development objectives including the empowerment of women in all their diversity, contributing to gender-transformative change, addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, reducing malnutrition, and supporting inclusive economic growth.

In 2023, Canada responded to the global food and malnutrition crisis with major new investments in both humanitarian and development assistance, aiming to tackle immediate needs and the root causes of hunger and malnutrition. Canada contributed CAD 1.6 billion towards nutrition-sensitive programs and CAD 99.2 million towards nutrition-specific programs. Canada prioritized gender-sensitive nutrition by focusing on the needs of women, children, and adolescent girls, delivering life-saving interventions such as therapeutic feeding, micronutrient supplementation, and breastfeeding support in emergencies.

Canada, in its climate finance investments and partnerships, supports the greater adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) to ensure the sustainable production of sufficient, nutritious food. Canada’s approach to CSA covers multiple objectives to simultaneously increase sustainable production, climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation, as a model of agriculture that provides not only resilience to climate shocks, but also stability in agricultural production and strengthened economic profitability.

Canada uses its innovative finance and climate finance programs to invest in food systems, to help smallholder farmers and value-chain actors in developing countries, especially women, to better adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through climate-smart agriculture practices.

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

In 2023, Canada contributed CAD 10 million to CGIAR to strengthen institutional capacity across its global network. This support helped drive meaningful progress in agricultural innovation and resilience. For example, in Benin, women trained in enhanced rice processing techniques gained an additional 140 kg of milled rice and earned an extra CAD 73 per tonne of paddy. In India and Bangladesh, farmers saw profits rise by 40% thanks to better access to inputs and services. In East and Southern Africa, over CAD 11 million were mobilized to help agribusinesses adopt climate-smart agriculture. In Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras, more than 2,000 households benefited from locally adapted varieties of maize, rice, and beans to strengthen food security.

Canada is a founding member of IFAD and one of its top donors, with a strong and ongoing role in the Fund’s governance. Since IFAD’s establishment in 1977, Canada has contributed CAD 771 million to its core resources. In addition to these contributions, Canada provided CAD 340 million in climate finance loans to support climate-smart agricultural programming for rural populations in low-income and developing countries. In 2024, Canada further strengthened its support by providing a CAD 100 million loan to IFAD’s Private Sector Financing Programme, aimed at increasing private investment in small-scale agriculture. During IFAD12 (2022–2024), Canada’s support for projects helped 1.1 million households adopt climate-resilient technologies and created nearly 390,000 jobs. Nutrition programming reached 3.3 million people, with over half of women beneficiaries reporting minimum dietary diversity. Through its private sector investments, IFAD mobilized an additional USD 298 million, reaching over 850,000 beneficiaries with enhanced access to finance to improve production and scale climate-smart solutions across rural communities.

In 2023, Canada advanced global nutrition outcomes with disbursements of over CAD 99.2 million to support nutrition-specific programming, reaching more than 754,000 women and adolescent girls with essential services. A key partner, Nutrition International, achieved substantial impact through institutional support from Canada, including the aversion of 511,000 cases of stunting, saving 150,000 children’s lives, and preventing 304 neural tube defects through food fortification efforts. These results underscore Canada’s commitment to improving food security and nutrition, particularly for women, children, and vulnerable populations.

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aims to provide rigorous, evidence- and consensus-based analysis of food insecurity and acute malnutrition situations, to inform emergency responses to famine as well as medium- and long-term policy and programming. It provides the humanitarian sector with the best possible food security analysis upon which to base policy and programming decisions. Canada provided CAD 5 million over 3 years (2022-2025) to the IPC. Canada’s support contributed to the IPC reinforcing its capacity to provide essential, high quality and timely information on any food security and nutrition crisis.

Canada supports the public sector in partner countries through technical assistance aimed at institutional reform and improved coordination of government food safety responsibilities at national and sub-national levels. Through the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) initiative, Canada provides direct funding to the Government of Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture to enhance food security and promote a more modern, equitable, and sustainable agriculture sector. Key activities include modernizing agricultural extension services, strengthening local agricultural departments, reforming agricultural education, and improving coordination and market access across the food system.

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

2024 – actions supporting AFSI (Apulia Food Systems Initiative)

Canada has contributed CAD 9.5 million to CGIAR’s Biodiversity for Resilient Ecosystems in Agricultural Landscapes project (B-REAL, 2025-2026), supporting its Multifunctional Landscape Program to conserve and restore biodiversity in intensively farmed and climate-stressed regions in Colombia, Kenya, and Peru. By working with land managers and farmers, the project seeks to conserve or manage sustainably 40,000 hectares of land, plant 100,000 native trees, and conserve up to 30 threatened native species through community seed banks and tree nurseries. The project responds to the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), a part of the G7’s Apulia Food Systems Initiative.

Canada carried forward the G7 Collaborative on Sustainable Food Systems (“Collaborative”) work that was launched by the Italian G7 Presidency in 2024. The Collaborative aims to strengthen cooperation among the participating G7 Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Public Development Banks (PDBs) and encourage private sector participation in building and strengthening sustainable agrifood systems in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). Through a tripartite Chair, FinDev Canada, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and British Investment International (BII), the Collaborative works towards a common investment qualification and impact approach for financing food security.

 2023 – actions supporting resilience (Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security) 

In 2023, Canada launched the Resilient Agri-Food Systems Framework, an internal guide to improve Canada’s international agri-food systems programming, policy and advocacy. The Framework promotes four paths of action: climate smart agriculture, sustainable agri-food value chains, inclusive food systems governance and productive safety nets.

2022 – actions supporting Global Alliance for Food Security (3-year initiative ended in 2024) G7 Statement on Global Food Security 

In 2022, Canada’s international agri-food systems portfolio contributed to efforts to address the 2022 food crisis as part of the Global Alliance for Food Security.

France

France’s direct assistance for agriculture, fishing, food security and nutrition follows a strategy for the period 2019-2024, around five main objectives:

1. Strengthen global governance on food security and nutrition
2. Develop sustainable food systems, including through the promotion of agroecology
3. Strengthen France’s action on nutrition
4. Support to the structuring of sustainable value chains, providing decent jobs in rural areas, particularly for youth
5. Strengthen food assistance actions for populations in vulnerable situations and improve their resilience, along the humanitarian-development nexus

This strategy also integrates a cross cutting objective in support of gender equality, in coherence with France’s feminist diplomacy.

In 2025, France has strengthened its commitment to combating malnutrition through the Nutrition for Growth Summit that was hosted in Paris on 27-28 March. Thanks to an extensive advocacy campaign, the summit reached more than 600 commitments, amounting to USD 29.5 billion of financial pledges. France has pledged to invest USD 800 million in the fight against malnutrition in the next 4 years among which USD 520 million will be implemented through the French development agency.

France continues strong support to agroecological intensification through the launch of the Madhia Project. This EUR 1 million project implemented by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) aims to support transitions towards more sustainable food systems in Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. 

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

2.4 Support to alternate thematic policy priorities

Supporting youth in developing countries is also at the core of FIFSAN, mainly through school feeding programmes. The initiative enables school-age children to access nutritious meals at school, hence gaining physical and cognitive strength. This priority acts as a tool to give children and youngsters access to essential nutrients, which also help bolstering their learning abilities and facilitates their access to education.

Therefore, 20 percent of the FIFSAN budget, approximately EUR 40 million is dedicated to these school feeding programmes.

Moreover, a significant part of FIFSAN projects benefit to children under two (CU2), as the initiative favours the first 1,000 days of life, i.e. from pregnancy to the age of two. These projects include, for instance, the teaching of good practices to pregnant and lactating women (PLWs), and the distribution of cash-based vouchers to mothers of CU2.

FIFSAN also funds projects supporting the launch of revenue-generating activities in vulnerable territories, mostly focusing on nutrition. These activities, such as the creation of community vegetable gardens, enable the people to improve their means of subsistence in the long term while producing their own nutrient food supplies.

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

FIFSAN is a particularly effective tool to fight food and nutritional insecurity, as the vast majority of the projects funded by the initiative aim to secure nutrient food supply, especially in the most vulnerable areas. Hence, in 2024, EUR 63,761,577 of the FIFSAN budget were dedicated to emergency food assistance, providing essential short-term support to the victims of armed conflicts, natural disasters, and economic shocks. Besides, the initiative also favours medium and long term food supply, by funding projects focusing on agricultural resilience and the reinforcement of the people’s means of subsistence. In 2024, the FIFSAN budget targeted to resilience amounted to EUR 21,427,824.  

Furthermore, FIFSAN expresses France’s strong commitment towards nutrition. Hence, between 2022 and 2024, 50 percent of the initiative’s disbursements were dedicated to nutrition. For example, in 2024 in Palestine, France funded a project providing lifesaving nutritious foods and specialized supplements, as well as cash vouchers targeted to nutritious food. This project enabled 60,000 Palestinian women and children to meet their daily nutritional needs, thus combating acute malnutrition.  

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

In 2024, France contributed EUR 500,000 to the World Bank led 50x2030 Initiative. The initiative aims to address agricultural data gaps, build national statistics systems, and promote evidence-informed agriculture in 50 low, lower-middle and middle-income countries around the world by the year 2030. The initiative is designed to strengthen the capacity of countries and build national systems to generate timely, high-quality, and operationally relevant agricultural data to enable governments to adopt policies and programs to address food crisis, climate change vulnerabilities, improve agricultural production, create jobs, and build resilience.

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

In line with the Italian presidency’s priority to invest more on coffee supply chains, France is committed to supporting small producers in more sustainable coffee production especially through CIRAD’s projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These projects aim at contributing to productive and climate-resilient coffee farming by promoting the ecological functions of agroforestry systems and exploiting the genetic diversity present in wild species pools while ensuring a fair remuneration of the small producers.

France is also part of the Team Europe Initiative to implement the EUDR. In this context France partly funds projects in 27 countries, focusing on the training of smallholder farmers and cooperatives, the development of digital information sharing and traceability systems for farmers or on the strengthening of inclusive business models. 

France’s policies regarding food security and malnutrition also echo Japan presidency’s focus on resilience through the FIFSAN. 

France is also part of and supports the Global Alliance for Food Security launched during the German G7 presidency to face the consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Germany

In 2023, food and nutrition security remained a priority for the German government. Amid multiple crises, including the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and advancing climate change, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development invested EUR 3.4 billion in rural development and food and nutrition security in 2023. The global food situation underscored the necessity of coordinated international responses and resilient, sustainable agriculture and food systems. Together with its partners, Germany continued to work closely with the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS) which was launched under the G7 German Presidency in close cooperation with the World Bank in 2022. In 2023, GAFS has emerged as a vital platform for aligning policies and fostering strategic consensus among decision-makers and food and nutrition security experts, addressing the rapidly deteriorating global food security situation. Germany championed a shift towards anticipatory and integrated approaches to food security, reinforcing GAFS’s role in bridging humanitarian and development actors and strengthening national capacities to prevent and respond to crises.

Furthermore, to accelerate the transformation of global agriculture and food systems, Germany was prominently represented at a high political level at the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment +2. In conclusion, 2023 marked a year where Germany pursued its strong position on global food security and nutrition.

Germany is steadfast in aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 2 “Zero Hunger” of the 2030 Agenda and supporting its partner countries to improve and secure food and nutrition security. Nutrition serves as the driving force and benchmark for sustainable development. German development cooperation in this sector also contributes significantly to rural development and the protection of natural resources. The right to adequate food is the cornerstone of Germany’s measures to combat hunger and malnutrition. Ensuring food and nutrition security has been crucial for the implementation of the Feminist Development Policy, which seeks to dismantle discriminatory structures affecting women, girls, and marginalized sections of society, striving for equal political, economic, and social participation for all. The German approach to the transformation of agriculture and food systems is described in its Core Strategy around three fields of action: food and nutrition security, rural development, and agriculture. The Core Strategy comprises a holistic, multisectoral approach and continues to serve as guidance for our engagement.

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

2.4 Support to alternate thematic policy priorities

In 2023, nutrition sensitive disbursements comprised USD 217,480,907.61 (based on the SUN methodology). 

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

German Technical Assistance Projects (GIZ) 

In the year 2023, significant progress has been achieved in food and nutrition security. Around 2.2 million people benefited from a contribution to overcoming hunger and malnutrition, of which around half were women and 6.5 percent were infants (<24 months). The projects were active in 103 countries.     

German Financial Assistance Projects (KfW) 

In the year 2023, KfW started several new projects in about 20 countries. Around 5.4 million people will benefit from a contribution to overcoming hunger and malnutrition, of which 2.3 million are women and 840,000 are infants (<24 months).  

Global Programme Food and Nutrition Security, Enhanced Resilience 

The BMZ/GIZ global programme ‘Food and Nutrition Security, Enhanced Resilience’ is operating in twelve countries across Africa and Asia to tackle malnutrition, particularly among women and children, whilst building resilience to food crises. It integrates efforts in the areas of agriculture, health and social protection to promote healthy diets and ensure year-round food availability. Since its launch in 2014, the programme has directly improved the nutrition of 5.4 million people. In 2023 the global programme contributed to overcome hunger and malnutrition for more than 1 million people (1,030,000). This was achieved by improving the access to food for 505,000 people living in rural areas and led to healthier diets of 729,000 people. At the same time the global programme has helped farm households better adapt to the negative effects of climate change, reaching 169,000 people. Healthcare services were improved for 552,000 people by supporting 129 rural healthcare centres in four countries. Furthermore, social protection services were improved for 51,000 people in 2023. 

Global Programme Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture 

The Global Programme for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture contributes to an increased fish production from sustainable and resource conserving, small scale fisheries and aquaculture by promoting sustainable production techniques. In addition, it contributes to a reduction of post-harvest losses and supports the business cases of small-scale fishery and aquaculture producers. GP Fish contributes to food and nutrition security, the generation of additional income and jobs along the fish value chain - especially for women - and thereby contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 5, 12 and 14.   

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

50x2030 Initiative to Close the Agriculture Data Gap 

Germany supports the 50x2030 Initiative to Close the Agriculture Data Gap with USD 11.1 million. Launched in 2020, the initiative aims to improve agricultural data and national statistics systems in 50 low, lower-middle and middle-income countries around the world by 2030. By mid-2024, ten countries had produced agricultural data sets, and 34 countries had engaged with the initiative. Germany encourages the monitoring of the transformation of agriculture and food systems at the country level and collaborates with GAFS Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard to improve data availability on sustainable, resilient, and climate-smart agriculture and food systems.  

Programme Knowledge for Nutrition (K4N)  

Through the Knowledge for Nutrition programme (K4N), Germany has made targeted contributions to capacity building in national food systems. Via the National Information Platform for Nutrition, K4N serves to strengthen, government actors’ analysis, interpretation, and use of nutrition data. One focus of K4N in 2023 was to provide technical support for establishing the indicator for minimum dietary diversity for women as an SDG-2-indicator. 

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

2024 – Actions supporting AFSI (Apulia Food Systems Initiative) 

1. Germany welcomes the Apulia Food Systems Initiative and supports its key deliverables.
2. At the COP16 UN Desertification Conference, Germany announced contributions to crop diversity to the amount of EUR 30 million, passing to the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) and to the Crop Trust Endowment Fund. VACS aims to promote the conservation and use of climate-resilient and neglected opportunity crops across Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean; while the Crop Trust supports crop diversification through gene banks.
3. Collaborating with BMZ, the FAO has been implementing two projects as part of the multilateral Sharm el Sheik Support Programme announced at COP28. First, the project Enhancing agrifood negotiations, aimed at supporting agricultural experts in advancing agriculture and food security negotiations through research and knowledge development, as well as capacity building and country exchanges. Second, the Enhancing ambition in NDCs 3.0 project supports twelve developing countries in improving agriculture, food systems and food security in their Nationally Determined Contributions. Among other elements, a helpdesk provides technical support, political guidelines and toolkits to respond to country needs for NDC enhancement.
4. Germany further contributes significantly to the Team Europe Initiative on Deforestation Free Value Chains, which supports partners in the implementation of the Deforestation Regulation - among others - in the coffee sector.

2023 – Actions supporting resilience (Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security) 

1. The 2023 Japanese Hiroshima Declaration of the G7 emphasizes the commitment to strengthen resilience in and promote sustainable infrastructure investments to better prepare for future crises. This approach is fully shared by Germany.
2. Flagships under this approach include BMZ support to the UNICEF project Social Protection for Mothers and Children (1000-Days Programme) in Sudan with a budget of EUR 125 million. The programme provides unconditional cash transfers to pregnant women and mothers of children under two, a highly vulnerable group. These transfers improve food security, support early childhood development, and enhance women’s resilience in crisis settings. The project has directly benefited over 296,000 women and children.
3. Also in Sudan, the BMZ further funds the WFP project Supporting Resilience and Local Economic Growth by Linking Schools to Smallholders, aimed to enhance the resilience of school-aged children by providing regular school meals and to reinforce the resilience of local agricultural structures by linking smallholder farmers to schools. By the end of the project with a EUR 19 million volume, over 630,000 children had benefited from improved food security. At the same time, 1,400 small-scale farmers were integrated into the school meal supply chains.

2022 – Actions supporting Global Alliance for Food Security G7 Statement on Global Food Security 

1. In May 2022, in response to the rapidly deteriorating global food security situation, the G7 launched the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS) under the German Presidency, in close cooperation with the World Bank. The Alliance was guided by the conviction that governments, international organizations, multilateral development banks, civil society, the private sector, academia, and philanthropic actors must join forces to address this global challenge. The G7 committed an additional USD 4.5 billion to protect the most vulnerable from hunger and malnutrition, amounting to a total of over USD 14 billion as the joint G7 commitment to global food security in 2022.
2. Established to foster collaboration and mobilize action, the GAFS’s central tools are the Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard, the Preparedness Plans and the convening space of thought leaders. The Dashboard offers timely, consensus-based data and analysis to decision-makers. Complementing this, the Preparedness Plans have now been drafted in 25 countries and stand ready to enhance proactive, coordinated responses to food and nutrition crises. Together, these tools represent a shift toward more anticipatory and integrated approaches to food security, reinforcing GAFS’s role in bridging humanitarian and development actors and strengthening national capacities to prevent and respond to crises. 

Italy

Italy, as an active member of the G7, is committed to the sustainable transformation of agri-food systems, as outlined in the 2021 Matera Declaration on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Systems and as reaffirmed during its G7 Presidency in 2024. In a global context marked by rising food insecurity, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical crises, Italy recognizes the urgency of adopting policies that foster resilience and sustainability in the agricultural sector.

Our priority is to accelerate the adaptation of agricultural and food systems to climate change by promoting integrated approaches that are sensitive to territorial and gender differences and by enhancing biodiversity as a key tool for resilience. Italy supports strengthening the capacities of partner countries through targeted financing and international cooperation, recognizing the importance of sustainable natural resource management and agricultural research.

Focus is also placed on ensuring food and nutritional security for all, with particular attention to combating malnutrition and strengthening social protection measures targeting vulnerable populations, women, youth, and informal workers. Italy promotes an approach based on scientific innovation combined with traditional knowledge and local food cultures.

A crucial moment for shaping policies and strategies aimed at the sustainable transformation of agri-food systems was the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment+2, hosted by Italy in Rome in 2023, that led to the Italian co-host of the Addis Ababa UN Food System Summit Stocktaking Moment+4 of 2025. These events provided an important global platform to reaffirm and strengthen shared solutions to address food security and sustainability challenges. The recommendations arising from the summit are part of a broader international cooperation strategy strongly supported by Italy, also to effectively respond to food crises.

Through coordinated actions at national and international levels, Italy aims to lead lasting change towards resilient, sustainable, and inclusive agri-food systems capable of ensuring global food security.

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

2.4 Support to alternate thematic policy priorities

With the Three-year Programming and Policy Planning (DTPI) 2024 – 2026 the Italian cooperation confirmed Water and Agriculture as priority sectors with crucial synergies and implications to food security, resilience to climate change and environmental protection approached through the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus. This comprehensive approach is implemented in agricultural sectors with climate-smart technologies and practices, institutional capacity building, technical assistance to policies and regulatory frameworks, support for the governance of natural and water resources, in particular for transboundary waters and in fragile contexts. In West Africa, the “PAFISEM - Project to support the development of seed supply chains in the Senegal river basin” (EUR 7 million) is a multi-component initiative with OMVS to strengthen water management and river farming. In Vietnam, the “Development of a monitoring and decision support platform for the management of the Thai Binh hydroelectric reservoir system - Red River II” (EUR 3.4 million) is the second phase supporting the IWRM of the river, paired with a policy and regulatory intervention with Fondazione CIMA. In the Mediterranean area Italy supports (EUR 3 million) the water resources use in agriculture in Libya through FAO and civil society organizations (CSOs). In addition, the collaboration with CIHEAM Bari with the initiative “One Water: for fair, efficient, and sustainable water management in the Mediterranean region” confirms Italian commitment also to the prospect of Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum 2026 in Rome.

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

The challenges in food security and nutrition are inducing an increasing collaborative commitment with partner countries and crucial focus on research, training, capacity building and sustainable approaches. In agricultural sectors, the Italian cooperation aims to strengthen the involvement of institutions, smallholder farmers and value chain actors to identify, develop, and promote innovative solutions. In addition, this approach valorizes the expertise of Italian actors and blended financing solutions as the Italian Climate-Fund, private sector cofinancing, concessional loans and microfinance to contribute to sustainable and climate-smart farming systems, while ensuring the continued and resilient production of primary staple and valuable crops. For instance, in Egypt the Italian cooperation with UNIDO sustain tomato and cotton agri-business sectors with a market-oriented approach.

In Pakistan, with the Vocational training, skills development, and outreach in agriculture – TVET, a concessional loan (EUR 20 million).

The Italy-Senegal cooperation has developed a multi-component financing solution through grants and concessional loans with the initiatives PAPSEN (EUR 32 million) and PAIS (EUR 18 million), to intensify and diversify agricultural production, promote agricultural mechanization, and develop small rural businesses on rice production and the seed sector. The strategy is based on rural infrastructures, institutional capacity building, technical assistance and financial support to smallholder farmers through agricultural development funds.

In Ethiopia, the initiative “Inclusive and Sustainable Development of Agricultural Value Chain in Oromia and SNNPR” with a soft loan contribution (EUR 30 million) to the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, and EUR 4 million to FAO for technical assistance, the project is scaling-up the experience built by previous projects contributing to the modernization of the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors in Oromia Region and South Ethiopia Region. The intervention aims at strengthening 5 agricultural value chains: wheat, tomato, avocado and pineapple in SNNPR. Focuses on certified seeds, improved farming practices, cooperative strengthening and access to markets. Over the years, Italian Cooperation has been supporting the National Wheat Initiative thus contributing to the sustainable transformation of the agricultural sector and increase of the food security in the Country.

Moreover, the Italian cooperation is promoting pilot projects on voluntary carbon credit mechanisms that may have the potential to diversify and foster the economic and environmental sustainability of smallholder producers: an example is the “Integrated agricultural development program for the Beira corridor – PRODAI” in Mozambique implemented by FAO and UNIDO (EUR 5 million), which supports smallholder producers incorporating agroforestry systems and is part of a broader integrated agricultural development program for the Beira corridor, which aims to prepare the territory and the various players in the fruit and vegetable sector for the future opening of the Manica Agri-Food Center (CAAM), a flagship action of the Mattei Plan for Africa.

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

The Italian Cooperation promotes capacity building through active collaboration between local, Italian, and international stakeholders engaged in the food systems, with a view to replicability and sustainability of results. Across many initiatives, technical education and training as well as scientific collaboration engage public and private research centres, CSOs, universities, agricultural technical schools and other stakeholders capable of creating synergies to foster skills development and strengthen governance processes in the partner countries.

In Ethiopia, Italy supported the initiative “Establishment of Surveillance System on Food Adulteration and Food Hygiene Practice in major Agro-food processing Industries, Food Markets and Catering Establishments for the Improvement of Food Safety Status”, implemented in partnership with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute and the Nucleo Anti Sofisticazioni (NAS, Anti-Adulteration Unit) of the Italian Carabinieri Corps, which addresses the food safety challenges of the country to improve the safety and quality of food throughout the value chain. In Albania, thanks to the Italian funding and the fruitful partnership between the CIHEAM of Bari and the Albanian Institute of Food and Veterinary Safety (ISUV), the Albanian authorities have increased the capacity to verify the levels of safety in food of plant origin and developed expertise for the diagnosis of potential quarantine agents. Italy in Cuba has contributed to the revitalization and modernization of the Cuban coffee sector in partnership with the local Agroforestry Research Institute (INAF) focusing on research, training, technology transfer and technical advice through an innovative supply chain approach aimed at increasing productivity and product quality while ensuring food security for coffee-growing communities through the diversification of agroforestry systems associated with coffee production.

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

Italy has historically invested in the fight against food insecurity, promoting innovative solutions to improve the sustainability of global food systems. Especially in 2024, Italy made a significant contribution to crucial initiatives such as the Apulia Food Systems Initiative. This tool, which responds to global challenges related to food crises, climate change, and conflicts, focuses on identifying project initiatives that combine climate and food systems, such as research on adaptable crops and the regeneration of traditional varieties.

In particular, Italy presented, under its Presidency of 2024, its proposal for a global public-private fund to support the coffee supply chain, as part of a broader strategy on coffee. The fund represented one of the deliverables of the Apulia Food Systems Initiative and aims to mobilize resources for plantation renewal, technological innovation, and climate resilience. Furthermore, Italy is developing several projects, also including the Italian Climate Fund, involving areas like adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable transformation of food systems.

Japan

Japan revised the Development Cooperation Charter in 2023. It listed “Quality growth” as a key policy area and “Strengthening socioeconomic autonomy and resilience, including food and energy security” as one of the concrete efforts.

Under the Charter, Japan has consistently provided support through international organizations to strengthen resilience in the food and agriculture sectors, tailored to the specific circumstances of each region. 

Japan launched a strategy for sustainable food systems, MIDORI, in 2021, to realize agricultural sustainability and productivity growth through innovation. In order to expand this effort globally, Japan and ASEAN countries agreed to promote the “MIDORI Cooperation Plan” in October 2023 to achieve sustainable productivity growth in agriculture in Asia. Japan and ASEAN share humid climates and similar farming conditions, such as small-scale farmers and paddy fields. Japan’s technology and experience support resilient and sustainable agriculture in ASEAN through cooperative projects. In addition, Japan launched the “Global MIDORI Cooperation Plan” in December 2024, which will strengthen our ties with Central and South America and African countries, to achieve our common goals. This project aims to enhance food productivity in the Global South through technological R&D, field demonstrations, and the application of smart agricultural technologies. At the same time, it promotes sustainability by facilitating cooperation through use of Japanese agricultural materials and contributing to the reduction of environmental impact. To realize resilient and sustainable agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and food systems, these projects promote tailored collaboration and partnerships adapted to the specific conditions of each region.

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

Japan supports nutritional improvement in developing countries including through contributions to multilateral development banks (MDBs). For example, Japan contributes to effective mobilization of funds for maternal and child health and nutrition through Global Financing Facility (GFF) of the World Bank, and to policy development related to nutritional improvement in developing countries through trust funds for expanding nutritional improvement. Japan hosted the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021 in December 2021, where then-Prime Minister Kishida announced that Japan would provide over JPY 300 billion in nutrition-related assistance over three years, and, accordingly, Japan decided to provide approximately JPY 156.2 billion in assistance by the end of 2023. 

Japan places importance on agriculture, which plays a crucial role in Africa's economic growth, and actively contributes to its development. Specifically, under the Cooperation for African Rice Development (CARD) Phase 2, and within the RICE approach, Japan is working to improve the quantity and quality of rice production through initiatives such as developing irrigation facilities, developing superior rice varieties including NERICA (a hybrid of Asian and African rice) and promoting their seed multiplication and dissemination, and providing support for the dissemination of production technologies. CARD has expanded to 32 countries. At the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) 8, held in August 2022, Japan announced the training of 150,000 people through CARD, setting a goal of doubling rice production (to 56 million tons) by 2030, and implemented initiatives in various countries including Uganda. 

Furthermore, to promote a shift from subsistence farming to farming "to earn," Japan provides support through the Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) approach. The SHEP approach aims to improve farmers' incomes by changing the mindset of vegetable and fruit farmers to "produce to sell," and by improving farming and cultivation skills. This project, born from technical cooperation with Kenya, has spread to approximately 60 countries worldwide, supporting the transition from subsistence farming through training programs and dispatching experts. At TICAD 8, Japan declared its support for the transition to "earning" agriculture for 66,000 people. Also at TICAD 8, Japan pledged support for strengthening food production through co-financing the African Development Bank's Emergency Food Production Facility, providing USD 320 million in support to Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, and Nigeria in 2024. 

Japan has provided food-related assistance and capacity building as Emergency Grant through WFP, totaling USD 68 million in July 2022 and USD 35 million in March 2023, as a response to the deterioration of global food security which has been exacerbated by the situation in Ukraine. 

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

Through WFP, Japan supports school meal programs to improve access to education, as well as initiatives to encourage people to participate in the development of agricultural land and social infrastructure through the distribution of food.

As a key initiative in 2022-2024, Japan in partnership with UNICEF supported facility and equipment maintenance, training implementation, data quality assurance, supply chain management and nationwide surveys as well as distribution of nutrition supplements in Timor-Leste and Comoros as a component of a larger grant aid project.

Between 2022 and 2024, approximately USD 11 million in support for agriculture and food systems in Africa and Asia was approved through the IFC. The main support includes improving agricultural productivity, improving nutrition, strengthening food security, strengthening supply chains, providing technical assistance towards achieving sustainable agriculture, and capacity building.

In 2024, USD 1.4 million in support was approved for Peru through the IDB, to establish an innovative agricultural model utilizing digital technologies and to support rural entrepreneurs.

In 2022 and 2024, approximately USD 1.7 million in support was approved for the African region through the AfDB. This primarily supports projects modernizing agricultural value chains in specific areas of Rwanda and strengthening food safety management systems and promoting trade across the East African Community.

JICA: Japan International Cooperation Agency

JICA collaborates with agritech and fintech companies in Ethiopia and India to enable digital solutions for farmers including the following:

(1) Improving farmers' access to credit using alternative data and business intelligence such as crop prediction using satellite data and past transaction data

(2) Increasing farmers’ incomes through digital tech by providing farmers with mobile apps for better and timely price discovery and improving access to markets

(3) Providing farmers with advisory services via mobile apps to improve productivity

(4) Driving use cases such as the above to build and promote agricultural data exchange as DPI (digital public infrastructure)

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

In 2023, JICA established the Facility for Supporting Agricultural supply chain and Food security Enhancement (SAFE), a debt facility of up to USD 1 billion from 2023-28, as part of its private sector investment finance operations. 

 JICA supports the G7 DFIs joint initiative “Collaborative on Sustainable Food Systems” launched in 2024. 

To contribute to improved food security through increased transparency in international agricultural markets, Japan has supported the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) through data provision and contribution of funds. At the G7 Hiroshima Summit in May 2023, Japan reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its engagement with AMIS. 

Japan supports VACS (Vision for Adaptive Crops and Soils). In 2024, Japan disbursed USD 6 million to support the SoilFER-VACS initiative, which strengthens integrated soil and crop management for sustainable food systems in Africa. Furthermore, Japan has decided to participate in the Technology Cooperation Community (TCC), launched in response to the "Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action," adopted and endorsed by 160 countries, including Japan, at COP28. 

The JICA Africa Food Security Initiative was launched in 2022 by JICA to strengthen food security in Africa.

(SHEP: Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion) 

Number of small-scale farmer households who have received trainings of the Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) approach: 25,473 Households (2022), 41,526 Households (2023), and 45,180 Households (2024) 

(CARD: Coalition for African Rice Development) 

Number of researchers, technicians, extension officers and farmers in Africa who have benefited from Japanese cooperation in the rice sector: 69,148 persons (2022), 75,306 persons (2023), and 82,135 persons (2024).

United Kingdom

FCDO uses a range of diplomatic and development levers to respond to hunger and malnutrition crises and build more sustainable, productive, nutritious, and resilient food systems. This year our priorities have been:   

• Demonstrating UK’s continued commitment to tackling global challenges including food security, nature and climate-resilience, including our track record domestically and internationally on supporting the transition to more sustainable, productive, climate resilient and nutritious food systems.  
• Supporting more effective and locally led humanitarian response to acute crises, including in Sudan and Palestine, and working to better prevent crises through early action and resilience building.  
• Investing in long-term practical solutions: including to increase climate resilient, nature-positive, nutritious food production through science and investments; expanding social protection systems and greater income security for vulnerable populations; and preventing and treating the worst forms of malnutrition.   
• Leveraging financial reforms and systems change through the IFIs and UN system and supporting global initiatives and new approaches to partnership with and responding to the Global South, championing the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, such as the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration.

Tackling the underlying drivers including debt, climate and the conflict that underpins so much of the world's famine risk and extreme hunger.   

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

2.4 Support to alternate thematic policy priorities

The latest nutrition annual report [1] shows that:

In 2023, FCDO spent GBP 239.2 million on nutrition related interventions, of which GBP 214.3 million was nutrition sensitive, and GBP 24.9 million was nutrition specific using the SUN Donor Network (SDN) methodology, rather than the G7 NPM.

In 2023, 11.4 percent of FCDO programmes were nutrition-relevant, this included 5 exclusively nutrition-specific programmes, 17 nutrition-sensitive/specific programmes, and 55 exclusively nutrition-sensitive programmes, based on the SDN methodology. In 2024, use of the UK’s marker had increased to 76.9 percent of all live FCDO programmes (up from 60.8 percent of programmes in 2023).

The UK recognises the critical importance of nutrition-specific interventions in addressing malnutrition. That is why together with UNICEF we co-founded the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) to reach 350 million women and children with nutrition services. Through the CNF, the UK contributed to a GBP 7.5 million match deal with Nigeria for small-quantity lipid-based supplements (SQ-LNS) and Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). Through this deal Nigeria will be procuring RUTF from domestic sources.

FCDO reports its nutrition-related spend annually through the Accounting FCDO’s Progress Against its Nutrition Pledges Report. The next iteration of this report will be published in Autumn 2025.

[1] Accounting FCDO’s Progress Against its Nutrition Pledges, 2025.

As well as facilitating UK matches match funding through the CNF, the Child Wasting Innovation Programme (CWIP) has supported the diversification of the local supplier base for key commodities. Our CWIP investments have also supported several national governments to integrate RUTF into national supply chain systems and the generation of evidence around more cost-effective formulations of RUTF using locally available ingredients.

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

In 2022, the UK spent GBP 294 million on food systems interventions [1] (including GBP 65.2m for SSA [3]). In 2023, the total disbursements to food systems amounted to GBP 389 million [2] (including GBP 52.9 million for SSA).    

UK is committed to supporting a transition to sustainable, productive, nutritious, and resilient agri-food systems.    

We work to mobilise better targeted private investment in the agrifood sector and increase access to diverse finance both for more sustainable approaches, and for smallholders and small agribusinesses, e.g:    

• Contributing to the new Financing Agri-SMEs in Africa (FASA) Fund;    
• Funding a new local currency pilot for agrifood in IFC (GAFSP Private Sector Window);    
• Longstanding TA-led work by the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA), benefiting nearly 600,000 smallholder farmers through agribusiness support by 2026, and shaping how DFIs, local lending institutions and others de-risk, increase benefits to smallholder supply chains and lift environmental sustainability.   

UK prioritises resilient food systems action in climate-vulnerable, fragile and conflict affected places, e.g. the Building Local Resilience in Syria programme has so far reached over half a million people with interventions, including livestock health services, irrigation access and agricultural inputs.

We also support critical food system policy change for environmental sustainability, food security and livelihoods. Through the Just Rural Transition programme we are incentivising more environmentally sustainable land management and more effective spending on food and farming. Through the Global Land Governance programme we are promoting more effective, efficient and equitable rural and urban land governance FCDO reports its ODA disbursements annually through the Statistics on International Development report. The 2024 figures will be published in September.    

[1] Statistics on International Development: final UK ODA spend 2022. 2023.  

[2] Statistics on International Development: final UK ODA spend 2023. 2024.  

[3] UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office  

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

The UK also has a range of programmes that provide technical assistance, and capacity building support which can be mobilised to support food systems. The UK supports data (including digital, AI developments) for food security, including the Agriculture Market Information System (AMIS) and the Intergovernmental Group On Earth Observations (GEO)’s Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) programme, as well as the IPC (below).   

The UK is a significant global funder of agriculture research and innovation which strengthens the evidence base on what works to transform the food system for people, planet and prosperity.  Our longstanding support for CGIAR, the world’s leading agricultural science organization, has contributed to the food security of millions of people, for instance by increasing the resilience of crops to drought and disease.   

We also work to shift the international humanitarian system towards better, earlier action that prevents hunger crises and famine. We support better data systems to anticipate and monitor crises and we have been driving support and use of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC), the global gold standard on food security monitoring and analysis to direct funding to where it is needed most and inform long-term approaches on food security. 

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

The UK supports G7 collaboration, and coordination for ongoing initiatives through the Apulia Food Systems Initiative (AFSI):  

• We support the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils in Africa (VACS) through our partnership with CGIAR and as member of the Advisory Committee.  
• We leverage private sector investment to benefit smallholder farmers and agribusinesses, including through the Partnerships for Forests programme supporting sustainability and resilience in the coffee sector.   
• We co-launched the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration to accelerate action to end malnutrition. 84 countries and organisations have signed up.  
• As co-chair, alongside FinDev and CDP, British International Investment (BII) supports a collaborative of G7 PDBs and DFIs to enhance co-investment for sustainable agriculture and food systems transformation.  
• We champion disaster risk financing (DRF) globally. At the Financing for Development Conference, we joined Barbados to launch a Call to Action to drive an increase in spending on Pre Arranged Finance.  
• With the World Bank, we co-convene the Global Policy Dialogue for Sustainable Agriculture to build momentum on policy reforms to shift public and private investment towards sustainable agriculture practices.  

We continue to support the objectives of the Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security, and the Global Alliance for Food Security. 

United States

Through coordinated efforts across its federal agencies, the United States has long sought to combat hunger and improve nutrition.

In 2023, the United States, along with other G7 members, advanced a broad agenda on food security, with an emphasis on food systems and resilience. While these efforts reflected the priorities of that time, today the U.S. underscores a more urgent focus on delivering lifesaving emergency food assistance, preventing famine, and targeting resources to directly address humanitarian crises.

To address challenges to food security, the United States had previously made investments in agricultural research to increase productivity, develop resilient seeds and soils, and enhance nutrition outcomes through the VACS initiative, Feed the Future, and investments in the CGIAR and FAO, which are not expected to continue at the same funding levels. Research efforts aimed to deliver localized solutions to meet the needs of smallholder farmers. The U.S. engaged the private sector to leverage further investments in agricultural innovations and support for small and medium sized enterprises. To avoid silos and duplication of efforts, the U.S. coordinated closely with G7 Members, sovereign donors and international organizations to enhance impact and sustainability in the global fight against hunger and poverty.

In prior years, our programs emphasized food system strengthening through agricultural practices and supply chain investments. While such activities reflected former priorities, the United States now directs its attention to urgent access to food and nutrition during times of crises, helping ensure families have immediate access to food in the face of conflict, drought, or terrorism. The U.S. will continue to coordinate with G7 members and other donors, now with a sharper emphasis on financial burden sharing, efficiency, and accountability.

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

2.4 Support to alternate thematic policy priorities

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

The United States strengthened global capacity for acute food insecurity monitoring through its Famine Early Warning Systems Network; supported the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and local partners in collecting and analyzing Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data; and strengthened agriculture-related information systems.

The U.S. further invested in evaluations to ensure accountability and improve program effectiveness when contributing towards the food security of other countries. The U.S. funded impact evaluations in eight countries, examining how extreme weather, pests, and environmental shifts contribute to crop failures. These efforts aim to strengthen resilience, enabling countries to take greater ownership of their food security while helping individuals and communities safeguard nutrition before, during, and after shocks. 

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

U.S. Programs Reached 33 Million People

In FY 2023, U.S. investments in food security reached 33 million people worldwide, delivering life-saving nutrition, boosting agricultural productivity, and strengthening communities against future shocks. 

Scaling Up Nutrition Impact 

More than 28.4 million children under five and 11.5 million pregnant women benefited from nutrition counseling, micronutrient supplementation, and treatment for severe acute malnutrition—addressing one of the leading threats to child survival. 

Driving Agricultural Growth

Through U.S. investment, approximately 6.2 million producers adopted improved farming practices on over 4.5 million hectares, with resilient techniques applied to more than 2.8 million hectares. Over USD 1.4 billion in agriculture-related financing was accessed—more than double 2020 levels—while annual sales from supported producers and firms reached a record USD 4.6 billion, including USD 2.2 billion from smallholders. The U.S. also invested USD 677 million in private sector partnerships related to agricultural production and value chains, also more than twice the 2020 figure. While these investments were undertaken in prior years, the United States now emphasizes shared responsibility and encourages other countries to lead their own agricultural growth and resilience efforts, with our support focused on lifesaving food aid and burden sharing amongst partners.

Helping Countries Stand on Their Own 

Through 22 Resilience Food Security Activities, valued at USD 268 million annually, the U.S. invested in programs aimed to strengthen communities before crises hit by supporting agriculture and livelihoods, nutrition and health services, natural resource management, and improved market and governance systems. These investments made an impact and helped prepare partners to better stand on their own. The United States is encouraging partner governments and the broader donor community to take greater responsibility for advancing long term resilience on their own. 

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

In 2023, the United States advanced the previous 2022, 2023, and 2024 G7 Presidencies’ priorities on global food security through substantial investments, coordinated humanitarian action, and targeted agricultural innovation. Through the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD), the U.S. developed actionable recommendations to improve access to nutritious and affordable food, strengthen agricultural systems to withstand crises, and enhance adaptation to weather-driven shocks. These informed major initiatives with over USD 1 billion annually in agriculture-led growth, resilience, and nutrition, as well as USD 365 million annually to reduce global vulnerability to shocks. 

Since February 2022, the United States has delivered USD 2.8 billion in emergency food operations for crisis-affected countries. In 2022, it committed an additional USD 2.76 billion to global food security, including USD 2 billion for rapid-response interventions such as direct food assistance, health, nutrition, protection, and WASH services. Another USD 760 million was dedicated to helping vulnerable countries manage high food, fuel, and fertilizer prices. These investments addressed urgent needs while building long-term resilience. 

The U.S. also contributed to strategic, innovation-driven initiatives such as the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), endorsed by the G7 in 2024 and transitioned to the VACS Joint Partnership co-led by FAO and hosted by CIMMYT. The U.S. contribution of USD 108.9 million to CGIAR, FAO, and IFAD partners supported the development and adoption of diverse, nutritious crop varieties and sustainable soil management practices across multiple countries. This integrated approach combines policy leadership, strategic investments, rapid humanitarian response, and long-term agricultural innovation to drive country-led action. 

European Union

The EU remains firmly committed to global food security while advancing sustainable food systems globally. Addressing food security challenges requires transformative policies and actions in key sectors, with food and nutrition security systematically integrating climate action, and environmental, economic, and social sustainability into policies, plans, programmes, and investments.

In 2023, the EU continued to operationalise the four-pronged response in a ‘Team Europe’ approach to global food insecurity, rooted in solidarity, production, trade, and multilateralism, backed by an estimation of EUR 18 billion in grants for the period 2021-2024. Beyond funding, the EU continued to engage on food security and nutrition at the global level and with multilateral organisations, particularly in fragile states or regions, through the humanitarian–development–peace (HDP) nexus approach.

In 2023, EU disbursed more than EUR 2.1 billion to support sustainable agri-food systems in partner countries and EUR 0.7 billion in humanitarian aid interventions for food and nutrition security. Through the Global Gateway strategy, the EU’s strategy for helping to close the global investment gap by mobilising up to EUR 300 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027, the European Union is supporting long term investments in food systems resilience and sustainability, including by better leveraging the private sector across agri-supply chains, investing in sustainable local production, and food and nutrition security. Support from EU ranges from promoting climate-resilient crops and sustainable production techniques (agroecology; integrated approaches to soil health and fertility), to enhancing local processing (e.g. infant food), and investing in research and innovation.

In 2023, the EU continued its commitment to the nutrition objective, exceeding its pledge made at the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G) in 2021 (EUR 4.4. billion between 2021-2023) by EUR 1.9 billion.

Several events, including the EU-African Union Agricultural Ministers Meeting in June 2023, the United Nations Food Systems Stock Take in July 2023 and the COP28 in December 2023, allowed the EU to confirm its leadership in, and engagement to, global food security. The EU and its 27 Member States were among more than 150 signatories of the COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, jointly affirming that “agriculture and food systems must urgently adapt and transform in order to respond to the imperatives of climate change” and committing to “promote sustainable food security, production and nutrition, while conserving, protecting, and restoring nature”.

1.0 Food Systems Disbursements

2.0 Thematic Policy Priorities

2.4 Support to alternate thematic policy priorities

The EU supports research and innovation in agriculture and food systems transformation through several mechanisms. Timely and well-targeted research is essential for enabling global and national stakeholders to effectively address the multifaceted challenges confronting sustainable food systems.

The DeSIRA Programme (Development-Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture), with EU investments exceeding EUR 340 million across more than seventy projects, aims at supporting Research & Innovation projects in Africa, Latin America and Asia, advancing responsible innovations for sustainable food system transition with a specific focus on agroecological transition. The number of innovations by DeSIRA projects is very significant: 952 innovations at farm level have been reported in 2023. Its thematic priorities include climate-smart agriculture, agroecology, natural resource management, digitalisation, and resilient value chains.

3.0 Other Development Priorities & Outcomes 

3.1 Support to food security and nutrition outcomes from development assistance portfolio. 

The EU disbursements from development assistance portfolio in 2023, to support food security and nutrition outcomes amounted to EUR 2.1 billion in bilateral grant disbursements to Sustainable aquatic and agri-food systems. Disbursements involved all continents, with 46.2 percent allocated to Sub-Saharan Africa and 11 percent to global-level projects. These covered mainly direct interventions, as well as the estimated relevant share of indirect contributions channelled through related sectors, including rural development, trade, education, social protection, climate action, environmental and biodiversity conservation, and Earth observation and space data, among others.

Examples of these activities include:

1. “EU support to National Social Security Strategy reforms in Bangladesh” (EU contribution: EUR 132 million), supporting a more effective and comprehensive social security system, with a significant focus on nutrition.
2. NaturAfrica Phase 1, 6 meta-landscapes in Africa (EU contribution: EUR 160 million), driving biodiversity conservation alongside green economy opportunities through sustainable agro-pastoral practices such as land use planning, agroforestry, agroecology, climate-smart agriculture, rangeland management, and deforestation-free value chains, embedded in an integrated landscape management approach to strengthen community livelihoods.
3. Africa Trade Competitiveness and Market Access (EU contribution: EUR 205 million). The programme enhances intra-African and Africa–EU trade by tackling non-tariff barriers and strengthening quality infrastructure for selected value chains. In line with African strategic priorities, food and nutrition security is among the key considerations in the preselection of potential value chains, with the infant food value chain retained among the four pilot value chains.

3.2 Capacity building in food systems, including for data, statistical, performance management and monitoring systems.

In 2023, the EU continued its support to the Global Network Against Food Crises, notably the Global Report on Food Crises, the National Information Platform for Nutrition (NIPN), the Food Security Portal, and the Investing in Data and Indicators to End Hunger and Malnutrition initiatives, along with other actions launched in previous years.

The EU also implemented several projects within its agri-food systems portfolio, both as integrated activities and stand-alone initiatives, to strengthen food and nutrition security information systems, improve data quality and statistical capacity, and enhance early warning, monitoring, and analysis for evidence-based policies to fight hunger.

Examples of projects include Produce reliable information on food security and nutrition to guide policies and interventions to end hunger and malnutrition; Establishment of a network of information systems on agriculture and food and nutrition security in the islands of the Indian Ocean; Strengthening evidence-based decision making in Yemen through improved food security, nutrition and livelihoods information and analysis; KAMEH – Knowledge agriculture mutuality exchange for hope in Syria; Support for strengthening food and nutrition security information systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Supporting the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance; and Making markets work for food systems transformation (MMW2).

3.4 Support to food system/food security priority of previous three G7 Presidencies (2024, 2023, 2022)

2024 – actions supporting AFSI (Apulia Food Systems Initiative)

The EU worked closely with Italy building on the G7 Presidency momentum, to support the food security, nutrition and sustainable food systems’ priorities.

In the framework of the G7 Initiative on Coffee, Italy kick started the 2025 Global Gateway Flagship “Sustainable Coffee: Strengthening Value Chain and Climate Resilience in Africa” and joined the EU Team Europe Initiative on Deforestation Free Value Chains, with contributions earmarked for the coffee sector. Together with Italian EFI, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the EU has set up a guarantee worth EUR 109.5 million, “TERRA”, that aims to accelerate the development of sustainable agrifood systems through integrated capacity building and enhanced access to innovative finance in Türkiye, Egypt, Morocco, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and more broadly in East Africa.

The European Union demonstrated commitment in the nutrition sector and remarkable leadership at the N4G Summit, pledging EUR 3.4 billion for nutrition for the period 2024-2027, building on the pledges made in the 2013 and 2021 N4G Summits. The EU has surpassed its 2021-2024 financial pledge for nutrition and is on track to meet its pledge to support a reduction in child stunting of 7 million. Most EU financial commitments with a nutrition objective (71 percent) took place in Africa, which has the largest gap between the number of stunted children and the World Health Assembly (WHA) stunting target for 2025. At the same time, support was provided to several countries with high stunting prevalence in Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

2023 – actions supporting resilience (Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security) 

To support the sustainable transition of agrifood systems, two new initiatives were signed with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in support of agroecological practices and soil health restoration in ACP countries for more than EUR 70 million. These actions will enhance access to agroecological bio-solutions, including seeds, bio-inputs (organic fertilisers and bio-pesticides) and mechanical equipment adapted to small-scale agroecology farming practices as well as soil fertility and access to finance for rural small-scale investors.

2022 – actions supporting Global Alliance for Food Security (3-year initiative ended in 2024) G7 Statement on Global Food Security 

In 2022, alongside its multi-year programming, the EU launched targeted measures to address the escalating food crisis. It allocated EUR 600 million to support sustainable agri-food systems and provide immediate assistance to the most vulnerable African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries, provided EUR 210 million in humanitarian aid for 15 countries severely affected by rising food insecurity, and adopted a EUR 225 million support package for the Southern Neighbourhood to mitigate the impact of potential emerging food crises. These interventions reinforced the objectives of the Global Alliance for Food Security within the G7 framework. The EU supports the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) with EUR 1.2 million in funding (2024–2030) and ongoing technical support from its Joint Research Centre (JRC).

Since May 2022 until July 2025, the EU’s Solidarity Lanes, using alternative rail, road, and inland waterway routes, have enabled Ukraine to export 187 million tonnes of goods, including 86 million tonnes of grain, oilseeds, and related products, and import 78 million tonnes of essential supplies. This trade, worth EUR 219 billion (EUR 156 billion in imports), is supported by over EUR 2 billion in EU and partner investments for capacity expansion, infrastructure repairs, and operator liquidity, strengthening global food security and sustaining Ukraine’s economy.

Abbreviations

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization

WFP

World Food Programme

IFAD

International Fund for Agricultural Development

CGIAR

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

UNICEF

United Nations Children's Fund

WHO

World Health Organization

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

IDA

International Development Association

IFC

International Finance Corporation

AfDB

African Development Bank

ADB

Asian Development Bank

IADB

Inter-American Development Bank

EBRD

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization

OECD-DAC

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Development Assistant’s Committee

CSA

Climate-Smart Agriculture

IPC

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification

VACS

Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils

DFIs

Development Finance Institutions

CDP

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti

BII

British International Investment

PDBs

Public Development Banks

EMDEs

Emerging markets and developing economies

FIFSAN

French Initiative for Food Security and Nutrition

EUDR

European Union Deforestation Regulation

GAFS

Global Alliance for Food Security