FAO plays prominent role as it joins Global Alliance Against Hunger in Rome

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has officially established itself as a founding member of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, a G20 initiative spearheaded by Brazil aimed at significantly accelerating efforts to eliminate hunger and poverty by 2030 while also addressing inequalities.

In its commitment, the FAO has pledged to work collaboratively with other members of the Alliance to create innovative solutions and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices. This partnership will involve voluntary agreements for data collection and analysis, tapping into existing local, national, and international networks, coalitions, and communities that focus on combatting hunger and poverty.

This Global Alliance has received unanimous backing from G20 nations this year and is set to be formally launched at the upcoming G20 Leaders Summit in mid-November. Various international financial institutions, UN agencies, governments, philanthropic foundations, and academic institutions are anticipated to join as members.

The FAO will have a significant role within the Alliance, as it will host the support mechanism at its headquarters in Rome. This mechanism will function as a logistical and coordination hub designed to lower transaction costs, minimize risks, and optimize the impact of donor investments through adaptable collaboration frameworks and innovative financing options.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu highlighted the importance of the Alliance, stating,“The Alliance will enable large-scale country-owned and country-led implementation of evidence-based policy instruments to eradicate hunger and poverty through its national, knowledge and financial pillars. It will be key to bringing knowledge, expertise and success stories to the parts of the world where it is needed the most.”

The Global Alliance aims to bolster national public policies in various areas, including school meal programs, cash transfer systems, maternal and early childhood nutrition, and gender equality initiatives. It also focuses on supporting smallholder farmers and enhancing access to and management of water resources. The Alliance employs an evidence-based Policy Basket and encompasses six targeted areas—referred to as “sprints”—that prioritize accelerated actions for the most vulnerable populations, thereby generating meaningful and sustainable outcomes.

Recent data from the FAO indicates that approximately 735 million people, or one in every ten individuals globally, faced hunger in 2023. This underscores the urgency of achieving the zero hunger goal set for 2030, as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Policy Basket, central to the Global Alliance, currently includes around 50 policy instruments along with a variety of related examples from different countries. The policy areas span child and family support, conditional and unconditional cash transfers, employment guarantee programs, school meals, nutrition initiatives, support for livelihood diversification, access to clean water, credit, irrigation resources, and technologies favorable to climate resilience.

In its Statement of Commitment, the FAO emphasized the collaborative nature of building the Policy Basket, which will consist of clearly defined policy instruments designed for governmental implementation that primarily target individuals facing poverty and hunger. Additionally, the FAO expressed its intention to enhance efforts in assembling, analyzing, and monitoring data related to areas within its mandate to facilitate better access to critical information.