Supporting sustainable agricultural systems and agriculture worldwide

Context

Around 828 million people around the globe suffer from hunger. In its core area strategy ‘Sustainable Agri-Food Systems – A World without Hunger’, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) states that the most urgent challenge facing global agriculture is to supply the world’s growing population with sufficient healthy food – while respecting the planetary boundaries. To achieve this, agricultural and food systems need to be transformed on a global scale.

Objective

German development cooperation promotes the transformation of the agricultural and food systems in BMZ partner countries towards increased resilience, sustainability and gender equality.

Approach

To this end, the programme advises the relevant BMZ divisions. In addition to advising on policy and strategy, it develops plans and promotes networking in the following thematic priority areas:

Sustainable agricultural systems and agriculture:
The project supports sustainable agricultural production with integrated, appropriate and resource-efficient farming systems that promote climate-adapted and low-emission agricultural development.

Agribusiness and  food industry:
In addition, the project improves agricultural value chains by advising on and supporting investments in agriculture, the marketing of agricultural products, innovative business models and cooperation with the private sector.

Transformative agricultural policy and agricultural trade policy:
Further topics covered by the advisory services of the project include development policy effects of the EU agricultural policy, the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS), the transformation of global agricultural and food systems, agricultural policy reforms, trade agreements and intra-African agricultural trade.

Overarching topics on which the programme provides advice include climate mitigation and adaptation, feminist development cooperation in agriculture and digitalisation in the agricultural sector.

Last update: July 2023