The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) have agreed on a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening cooperation in the areas of food systems and innovative financing.
A Partnerships Framework was signed in Rome by WFP Programme Director, Humanitarian, and Development Division, David Kaatrud, and UNCDF Executive Secretary Preeti Sinha.
“This partnership comes at a critical time. The world is facing a global hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions in 2022. Either we rise to the challenge of meeting immediate needs at scale while at the same time, supporting programs that build long-term resilience at scale, or we will face even greater challenges down the line,” Kaatrud said.
“The partnership will support WFP’s mandate to save lives and change lives by leveraging new financing mechanisms,” he added.
“Building food systems on inclusivity and resilience requires the right mix of financing instruments along the entire agricultural value chain. Such finance instruments must work in ways that connect central and local governments, the private sector, Civil Society Organizations, and other local actors, build inclusion and resilience and contribute to the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Mrs. Preeti Sinha.
In close partnership with WFP, UNCDF’s ambition is to strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable, particularly in last-mile contexts, and bring together different arrays of actors to co-create sustainable financing solutions to increase local food production and diversification.
Both agencies are interested in scaling up programs that support the goals of the coalitions that emerged from the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. These include coalitions focusing on school meals, the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus, climate-resilient food systems, social protection, the zero hunger pledge, healthy diets, resilient local food supply chains, women and girls in food systems, and people with disabilities.