The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) is a multilateral financing platform dedicated to improving food and nutrition security worldwide. GAFSP seeks to build resilient and sustainable agricultural systems in the world’s poorest countries.
The Nexus of Food, Agriculture, and Climate Change
Addressing the nexus between food, agriculture, and climate is essential to building inclusive, sustainable, and resilient agriculture and food systems and achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Read More About this is Nexus of Food, Agriculture, and Climate Change
Providing Support for Smallholder Farmers, Agribusinesses, and Countries
GAFSP supports smallholder farmers, agribusinesses, and countries by investing in resilient and sustainable agriculture that benefits and empowers poor and vulnerable farmers, their families, and communities.
Read More About this is providing support for smallholder Farmers, Agribusinesses, and CountriesProgram Portfolio Snapshot
Our US$2 billion portfolio comprised more than 190 public and private sector projects.
The public sector portfolio financed more than US$1.6 billion in grants.
GAFSP launched a pilot program in 2016 to provide small-scale grants and capacity development support producer organizations.
The public sector portfolio financed more than US$1.6 billion in grants.
Agriculture and food systems face overlapping stresses and shocks that exacerbate global hunger and food insecurity and push more people into poverty.
The shock to these systems is particularly felt in low-income countries, especially for smallholder farmers who produce roughly a third of the world’s food. Improved agriculture and food systems can raise incomes, generate employment on and off the farm, reduce local food prices, and provide people with diverse and nutritious diets.
As such, GAFSP takes a holistic, flexible, demand-driven approach to enable farmers and countries to customize investments to meet multiple needs and cross-cutting priorities, having profound impacts both within and beyond the agriculture sector.
Responding to COVID-19
When COVID-19 hit, GAFSP quickly provided additional financing to ongoing projects.
Focusing on Climate Action
GAFSP supports countries and farmers to directly address climate change.
Investing in the Most Challenging Situations
Many countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence are hit hard by ongoing stresses and shocks.
Ensuring Food and Nutrition Security
Global hunger has been on the rise since 2014. GAFSP helps reduce food insecurity.
Strengthening Livelihoods
The agriculture sector has the potential to create jobs and increase incomes.
Promoting Gender-Sensitive Farming
GAFSP supports gender-sensitive practices related to agricultural technology, extension, and input interventions.
The impacts of the war in Ukraine are expected to unfold over the coming years, affecting food and food security worldwide.
Low-income countries are particularly vulnerable because they heavily rely on the region for food and fertilizer imports, and global supply disruptions risk impacting the next planting seasons. While humanitarian responses are critical, focusing on medium- to long-term response and recovery is just as important. GAFSP responds quickly to crises by providing much-needed support to countries, agribusinesses, and smallholder farmers.
GAFSP is working closely with its membership—donors, partner countries, development agencies, and civil society organizations—to explore ways to respond quickly and effectively to the emerging food security crisis and to support locally led responses.
COVID-19 has shown that smallholders can respond quickly and flexibly in times of crisis when they have the right resources.
The 2021 Call for Proposals, which included grant financing for both countries and producer organizations, attracted more than US$1 billion in funding requests, 10 times what GAFSP was able to fund with current resources. This unprecedented interest in funding for agriculture projects signals the high investment demand: smallholder farmers directly need these resources.
This new approach to working with smallholders, through direct grant financing of US$30 million to producer organizations, marks a positive shift in how farmers’ voices are integrated into GAFSP’s operations. The funding will help strengthen the resilience of farmers to cope with a range of multiple, overlapping crises.
Countries worldwide are focusing their attention on meeting the challenges posed by climate change.
Over the past year, including within the United Nations Food Systems Summit and the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), the world has seen increasing recognition of and commitment to strengthening resilience in the context of the climate-food nexus. As a result, countries worldwide are focusing their attention on meeting the challenges posed by climate change.
In 2022, GAFSP will continue to focus on scaling up its ambition on climate by deepening the integration of climate considerations and solutions into its operations and building on its good efforts to date to support the world’s poorest countries in achieving a climate-resilient future.
