By Steve Agbota
President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo F. Nwanze, has said that the world needs to take urgent action to mobilise an estimated $265 billion a year needed to achieve the first two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ending poverty and hunger by 2030.
Nwanze who disclosed this at a conference focused on finding innovative ways to finance rural development held at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance recently, said there is need to be more creative on how nations can use public resources and mobilise financing.
According to him, nations need to make it easier for the private sector and philanthropists to invest in rural areas, mostly the places where rates of poverty and hunger are highest.
He said, “the need is urgent. Despite decades of commitments and considerable effort to end poverty and hunger, nearly 800 million children, women and men still go hungry everyday, and an almost equal number live in extreme poverty.”
The majority of these poor and hungry people live in rural areas of developing countries. Investments need to be targeted at transforming rural areas into vibrant places that offer all people the opportunity to have decent jobs and lead dignified lives free of poverty and hunger.
Nwanze stated that the financing needs for development are enormous, and so are the opportunities, saying that agri-food is already a $5 trillion sector, and is growing, with tremendous promise for the private sector and for producers in developing countries.
Also speaking at the event, Italy’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Pier Carlo Padoan, stressed the importance of ensuring all rural people can access financial services so that they can invest in their own development. He noted that majority of rural people work on small farms and it is estimated that there is a $150 billion gap between the financing they need and what is currently available.
He added: “While the state should not intervene directly in rural finance, it should create an enabling environment and this is a theme that Italy intends to push forward during its G7 presidency this year.”
However, speakers agreed it could not be left up to governments alone. In 2015, Official Development Assistance (ODA) was approximately $192 billion and only $9 billion of that was earmarked for agriculture.
The conference comes at a critical time with political changes and humanitarian crises – such as war, migration and natural disasters – reshaping global priorities and potentially diverting money away from development.
Keynote speaker, Nobel Laureate Prof. Eric Maskin, the Adams Professor at Harvard University, said, “recent globalisation has led to increased inequality. It is up to us to make sure globalisation works for everybody.”
The conference with the theme, “Investing in Inclusive Rural Transformation: Innovative Approaches to Financing”, brings together development agencies, governments, philanthropic organisations, the private sector, academia and farmers’ organisations to look at innovative ways to mobilise money and smarter ways to spend it. There will be a focus on sharing knowledge and coordinating action.