FAO: Responsible agricultural investments key to achieving #ZeroHunger

Investments designed to benefit livelihoods and the environment and cater to the needs of communities are critical to ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition while at the same time promoting sustainable agriculture. This was the key message delivered by an FAO panel moderated by Raimund Jehle, FAO Regional Programme leader, at this year’s Istanbul Development Dialogue. 

Participants included Fatma Can Saglik, corporate relations coordinator from SÜTAŞ GRUBU, Natalia Winder Rossi, FAO senior social protection team leader, and Munkhnasan Tsevegmed, senior officer with the Mongolia Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry. Together, they emphasized the importance of providing the right conditions to encourage private investment, a pivotal force in accelerating the transformation towards sustainable agriculture, improved social protection and the resilience of rural communities.

Natalia Winder Rossi stressed that “social protection is not only a ‘right’ – and thus investments are key to realizing this right for all citizens – but it is also a strategic investment needed to accelerate the accumulation of human capital and to enhance the economic and productive capacity of the poorest and most vulnerable communities while generating economic multiplier impacts in local societies.”

The Istanbul Development Dialogue is hosted annually by the United Nations Development Programme and provides a forum at which policymakers, business leaders and policy experts discuss issues related to sustainable development. The theme of this year’s event was “Finance in the 21st Century: Putting money to work for sustainable development.”

30 May 2019, Istanbul, Turkey