Global Donor Platform for Rural Development

🎙️INTERVIEW: Academia and Finance Collaborate for Sustainable Food Systems Are you interested in the future of food systems and sustainable finance? Sabine Desczka from Wageningen University & Research is the Academic Advisor of our new working group on sustainable and blended finance for food systems. Sabine discusses the important role of research in driving innovation in agricultural finance, the need for better data, and the potential of blended finance to accelerate sustainable food systems transformation. "We started researching food systems around 2018, designing new models and looking into more collaborative ways to unlock finance for food systems transformation. We realized that this is a systemic issue and neither finance nor research nor business can solve the enormous task by themselves. Collaboration is what we need." Read the interview: https://lnkd.in/eVkT2B3T #SustainableFinance #FoodSystems #ImpactInvestments #Research #BlendedFinance

📣 Speaker Spotlight: Tlotlo Phuduhudu In the upcoming webinar hosted by the Donor Platform’s Rural Youth Employment working group, Tlotlo Neo Phuduhudu will discuss how her experiences as a young agri-preneur in Botswana can inform better policy for rural youth employment. Ms Tlotlo Neo Phuduhudu began selling sustainable feed solutions to local farmers in Molepolole, Botswana in 2015, using indigenous plants and by-products to naturally feed livestock and protect from parasites. The venture, Native Feeds, has become a successful enterprise with the vision to transform the livestock industry, supporting local farmers with animal health consultations, agri-business training, and marketplace support as well as eco-friendly feed solutions. Register now for the webinar next Monday 4 November to hear Tlotlo Phuduhudu’s story, alongside insights from global agri-employment projects. Native Feeds Botswana FAO Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Tech Dev OECD - OCDE YPARD USAID International Labour Organization Ji-Yeun Rim Genna Tesdall Sven Braulik Jean-Marc Delort HANS MUZOORA Pilar Santacoloma Elisenda E.

📅 1 MONTH TO GO! The Donor Platform’s Annual General Assembly officially kicks off in one month! On 26–27 November 2024, we will host speakers from donor agencies, development partners, agricultural development investors, thematic experts, and agri-preneurs under the theme:  "Financing Food Systems Transformation and Rural Revitalization: Opportunities and Challenges". We will focus on how the international community can optimize limited official development assistance (ODA) for food and nutrition. This includes innovative financing, coordinated donor approaches, and harmonized stakeholder engagement. Building on the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (#SOFI2024) report, the AGA will address the urgent need to bridge financing gaps in food systems. 👉 Register now to take part in-person or virtually, and stay tuned over the next few weeks for more information on speakers and discussion topics. https://lnkd.in/e-cXwfvn #sustainablefinance #foodsystems #ruralrevitalization #finance Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) IrishAid Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office USAID FAO

On #UNDay, we celebrate the power of collective action to create a world free from hunger and poverty. At the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, we're committed to bringing together donors who believe in the transformative impact of investing in agriculture, food systems, and rural communities.   Together with other participants at this year's Committee on World Food Security #CFS52 and World Food Forum, we're committed to advancing United Nations goals and driving positive change.   Join us in recognizing the importance of collaboration and supporting initiatives that address the unique challenges faced by rural populations.   #RuralDevelopment #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #UnitedNations #SustainableFinance Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) IrishAid Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office USAID FAO Challiss McDonough Michael Fakhri Juan Echanove Echanove Francoise Uwumukiza CSIPM Mechanism of the UN Committee on WorldFoodSecurity The World Bank Andreas von Brandt

💵 Every dollar of concessional finance can mobilise four dollars of commercial finance. 💰 However, whether those four dollars deliver a sustainable development impact will determine if blended finance can bring both financial and development additionality.    Iris Krebber, former Head of Agriculture, Food Security, Land at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and now Head of the FCDO Services’s Civilian Stabilisation Group Operations, is right.   In order to make sure that blended finance delivers on its promises, we need to clearly define the objectives from the start and ensure that everyone has the same understanding of those objectives. To continue experimenting with blended financing, the Shamba Centre and Global Donor Platform for Rural Development Technical note calls on donors and the wider blended finance community to expand the pool of blended finance.  📑 Read our Technical Note https://lnkd.in/eZJSy3st    📺 Iris Krebber’s remarks were made during the side event webinar on innovative donor approaches to sustainable finance part of the United Nations Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2): https://lnkd.in/eFyC6mqK #SovereignWealthFunds #SDG2 #BlendedFinance #UNFSS https://lnkd.in/ehDWr5Sd

NEW INTERVIEW: Bridging the Gap: A New Working Group Tackles Sustainable and Blended Finance for Food Systems. Go behind the scenes with the group's Co-Chairs Tuleen Khoffash (International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)) and Songbae Lee (USAID). Both are committed to bringing together key donors to drive positive change in this critical area. The Sustainable / Blended Finance working group was established in response to a recommendation of a joint report by the Donor Platform and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate on how to catalyse the power of aid.    In their interview, the Co-Chairs explain what sets the group apart, how blended finance can be a transformational tool to catalyse financing, and how ultimately the group must influence government policy to have impact.  Read the interview 👉 https://lnkd.in/eGR3mJGq #sustainablefinance #blendedfinance #foodsystems #globalsecurity #impactinvesting

What’s happening with financing at #COP16? COP16 kicked off today in Cali, Colombia, under the theme ‘Peace with nature’. While the 2022 #COP15 in Montreal, Canada led to the monumental achievement of the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), this year the focus is on implementation. $700 billion is needed each year to fund the fight against biodiversity loss, but currently financing falls far short of this. Here’s what to look out for this week at COP16 for financing biodiversity: ✅Negotiations on a new resource mobilization strategy ✅Debates on a divisive potential global biodiversity fund, first proposed at COP15 in 2022 ✅Progress tracking on wealthy nations’ funding targets. Only half of the global commitment to double funding for biodiversity to developing countries has been met, most of which originated from development banks. ✅An innovative mechanism for raising biodiversity funds is proposed as a private sector tax on profits made from using publicly available biodiversity data, which could raise between $1-10 billion annually. Statistics: POLITICO https://lnkd.in/e8Tx7yc8 Images: CC UN Biodiversity #COP16 #finance #biodiversity #peacewithnature #finance #UNBiodiversity #CBD COP16 Colombia UN Biodiversity Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) IrishAid Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office USAID FAO

ONE YEAR AGO, the Donor Platform co-organized a side event at #CFS51 on “Innovative approaches to sustainable finance for food systems transformation” on 23 October 2023 with Shamba Centre for Food & Climate, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Western Cape Government Department of Agriculture in South Africa, & World Food Programme Regional Bureau in Nairobi. Panellists looked at the need for innovative finance and discussed examples from around the world. It was quickly clear that the issues raise a compelling question for donors today: ❓ How do we increase financing to the food and agriculture sector? Is channelling funding to smallholder farmers and small- and medium-sized agri-businesses the most cost-effective way to speed rural development? Since then, the Donor Platform has carried forward these questions on how to make financing more sustainable and impactful: ✅ In March 2024, the Platform completed and published a joint enquiry with the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate, publishing both a Summary Report and a Technical Note on "Unleashing the Catalytic Power of Donor Financing to Achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2". ✅ In April 2024, responded to a key report recommendation calling for more multi-donor coordination, by creating a technical working group on sustainable and blended finance for food systems. ✅ Contributed to the SOFI 2024 report with concrete follow-up webinars and the upcoming AGA on “Financing Food Systems Transformation and Rural Revitalization: Opportunities and Challenges” Revisit the issues through our side event blog: https://lnkd.in/eDCjfs7j Oshani Perera Peter Beez Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation David Dewez Incofin Investment Management Ivan Henry Meyer Dr Mogale Sebopetsa Siddarth Khadka Siddharth Krishnaswamy Maurizio Navarra Carin Smaller Natalie Mouyal

🤝 Representatives from USAID attended the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development’s annual Senior Managers Meeting on 16 October 2024 at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) headquarters in Rome, Italy: Mia Beers, REFS Deputy Assistant Administrator, Chris Hillbruner, Division Chief, Analysis and Learning, and Christopher Schmidt, Senior International Affairs Specialist.    USAID recently joined as Co-Chair of the new Thematic Working Group on Sustainable/Blended Finance, represented by Songbae Lee, Agri-Finance Lead, alongside Co-Chair Tuleen Khoffash, Senior Portfolio Manager, Private Sector Operations Division of IFAD. The working group was established in April 2024 to bring together representatives from donor organizations, philanthropies, public funds and foundations. The working group is currently partnering with the Agri-SME Learning Collective (ASLC) to develop a new Catalytic Capital Framework.    👉 We look forward to continuing to see this collaboration grow!  Aceli Africa Brian Milder Eda Dokle Andrea Zinn Katherine (Katie) Meighan Rebecca Slocum Maurizio Navarra Sierra Berardelli #sustainablefinance #blendedfinance #financinggap #SDG2 #partnerships

On #WorldFoodDay, the Board’s senior managers came together at their annual meeting to review current workstreams and provide guidance on the Donor Platform’s future directions and focus areas. It was a valuable opportunity to further strengthen the Platform’s role as a partnership, advocacy, and knowledge network of key donors focusing on food security and rural development. The meeting took place at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which is both a Board member and the host of the Donor Platform Secretariat. Special thanks to all Board senior managers and members for being part of this important gathering. Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) IrishAid Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office USAID European Commission France Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bruce Campbell Federica De Gaetano Katherine (Katie) Meighan Mia Beers Wilma van Esch Nick Goetschalckx Jan Brix Célia CHAMBELLAND Challiss McDonough Corinne Demenge Naomi S. Chris Hillbruner Christopher Schmidt