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Rio de Janeiro, November 15, 2024: A group of governments, multilateral development banks, UN agencies, and some of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations are announcing expanded efforts and increased coordination and cooperation to scale up investment in sustainable agriculture and agrifood systems that directly benefit smallholder farmers. The main objective is to better support millions of small-scale producers and family farmers in boosting their productivity and quality of life as part of a broader transformation of global food systems. Family farmers, responsible for producing up to 70 per cent of food consumed in low- and middle-income countries, are critical to local food security, poverty reduction, climate resilience and safeguarding natural resources. 

This announcement comes ahead of the Rio G20 Leader’s Summit, which will mark the launch of a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative aimed at accelerating action on improving access to adequate food, boosting incomes, building resilience and reducing inequalities. 

The case for action. Investing in small-scale producers and family farmers through training programs, technical assistance, financing, technology transfer offers an opportunity to tackle global systemic challenges while building sustainable local economies. Transforming food systems with small-scale producers, family farmers and disadvantaged populations at the center could generate US$4.5 trillion in new business opportunities every year, create over 120 million decent rural jobs, regenerate natural ecosystems, and help mitigate global warming. Smallholder farmers and the agrifood sector face the most severe impacts of climate change; yet, despite the clear advantages of investment in this area, they receive only a small share of global climate finance. 

The urgency to act is clear. Strengthening smallholder and family farming is crucial to ending poverty and achieving zero hunger. Investing in rural people is both an ethical imperative and a strategic move that can offer dividends for local communities and the world at large. Smallholders and agribusinesses are essential for sustainable food production and inclusive economic growth in low-income countries, but need knowledge, technology, investments, and access to finance and markets. 

Alignment of finance and knowledge for greater impact. In the face of increasing global uncertainty and crises, the governments of Angola, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the European Union are joining forces with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the World Bank Group (WBG) and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to scale up support for smallholder and family farming programs. This initial group of committed countries and organizations is paving the way and inviting others to join in the months ahead.

Participants under the 2030 Smallholder and Family Farming Sprint will aim to step up country-owed programmes and producer organizations in developing countries, improving their quality, sharing additional expertise and linking these programmes to national policies that empower smallholder and family farmers, increasing the size of investments where needed. These commitments will be achieved through the implementation of policy instruments that are part of the policy basket of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty through the coordinated work across the national implementation, financial and knowledge pillars. The current and future participants of this sprint will engage with the financial actors to unlock and better coordinate additional finance from all sources, and ensure they focus financial support to scale up the implementation of sustainable smallholder and family farming public policies.

Alvaro Lario, IFAD's president, said "To end poverty and hunger, we must increase strategic investments in agriculture. IFAD aims to double its impact by 2030, reaching over 100 million small-scale producers and rural people. To do so we must provide small-scale producers with access to the tools, finance, technology, land and water they need. Investments should draw on local knowledge and be adapted to local contexts.” 

Early action on many fronts. Today's commitments form part of a series of "2030 Sprints", a concentrated effort pushed by the Brazilian G20 Presidency to motivate early action and improved alignment from committed partners in the three pillars of the Global Alliance (national, knowledge, finance) for six high-priority areas of its evidence-based "policy basket", including school meals, cash transfers, socioeconomic inclusion programs, maternal and early childhood interventions and water access for vulnerable communities. The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty's Support Mechanism will help following up on today’s commitments and support further joint efforts.

"The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is demonstrating its capacity for early action and concrete results even before its formal launch, by bringing together political will from governments and consistent support from finance and knowledge organizations", says Wellington Dias, Minister of Social Development and Assistance, Family, and Fight Against Hunger of Brazil. Dias is one of the coordinators of the G20 Task Force which helped design the Global Alliance. "But this is just the beginning. More governments and partners are welcome to join in this effort in the months to come, as we need more scale and reach to fulfill our vision. This is a sprint, but we are here for the long run." 

The 2030 Smallholder and Family Farming Sprint is being announced as part of the 2030 Sprints Announcements for the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, held today, November 15, from 2 to 7pm at the auditorium in the Kobra Space in the G20 Social Summit in Rio, Plaza Mauá. The event is open to the press and a live transmission link can be found .

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

The Global Alliance was put forward by the G20 with the purpose of accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of eradicating hunger and poverty. The Alliance’s approach () focuses on supporting country-owned programs and evidence-based approaches through strengthened international cooperation and knowledgesharing.