FAO proposes innovative financial solutions to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems

The Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for Latin America and the Caribbean presented four initiatives that bring together innovative financing mechanisms to transform agrifood systems.

Innovative financial mechanisms are instruments that combine different sources of financing and distribute risks to attract and multiply investments, such as blended finance, green and climate bonds, guarantee and first-loss funds, and public–private partnerships. Their purpose is not to replace traditional cooperation but to strengthen and expand it.

The presentation of the initiatives took place during the opening of the event FAO Transforma 2025, Unlocking Finance for Agrifood Systems Transformation, an FAO initiative that brings together technical capacity, financing pathways adapted to local realities, political will, and strategic positioning to advance concrete initiatives that contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, promoting Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life, leaving no one behind.

At the beginning of the event, the newly appointed Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rene Orellana Halkyer, took the floor and stated:

“Today we are brought together by a central and urgent issue: how to unlock, align, and leverage financial resources to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems. We know that without more agile and innovative financial mobilization, it will not be possible to achieve the structural change that the region and the world need.”

He added: “This edition of FAO Transforma was created precisely to strengthen capacities, promote partnerships, and turn innovation and knowledge into investment and concrete action. It is a space designed to build, together, solutions that generate real impact in our territories and rural communities.”

The featured initiatives were: Conservation of biodiversity and climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban and peri-urban areas of Chile; Innovative financing and sustainable investments for the transformation of agrifood systems and the achievement of the SDGs in the Caribbean; Ecosystem-based adaptation and climate resilience in the Central American Dry Corridor and the Arid Zones of the Dominican Republic; and From vision to reality: the transformative impact of the Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator in Suriname.

FAO continues to strengthen its work agenda to promote strategic and continuous dialogue to highlight how cooperation and innovative financial mechanisms can accelerate and sustain the transformation of agrifood systems, reinforcing its technical, facilitation, and coordination roles.