The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program

The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) is a multilateral mechanism to assist in the implementation of pledges made by the G20 in Pittsburgh in September 2009. The objective is to address the underfunding of country and regional agriculture and food security strategic investment plans already being developed by countries in consultation with donors and other stakeholders at the country-level. This will make aid contributions toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal 1 to cut hunger and poverty by half by 2015 more predictable.

The GAFSP includes both a public and private sector financing window:

Click here to expand this section

The public sector window assists strategic country-led or regional programs that result from sector-wide country or regional consultations and planning exercises such as CAADP in Africa. The public sector window is under the external governance of a Steering Committee composed of an equal number of voting donor and recipient representatives, and non-voting representatives from: the Trustee, UN agencies, potential Supervising Entities (MDBs, World Bank, IFAD), and Civil Society Organizations.

The private sector window is designed to provide long and short term loans, credit guarantees and equity to support private sector activities for improving agricultural development and food security. The private sector window is managed separately by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with the annual investment plans submitted to and endorsed by the (public sector window) Steering Committee.

The GAFSP is implemented as a Financial Intermediary Fund for which the World Bank serves as Trustee. The World Bank also hosts a small coordination unit that provides support to the GAFSP Steering Committee.