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Collaboration between FAO, WFP and IFAD
Current global food security challenges require the technical expertise of the entire United Nations, but especially the three Rome-based UN agencies (RBAs).
The mandates of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are complementary and present great potential for close collaboration:
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) directs international efforts to combat hunger. It is a knowledge organization that provides technical expertise for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is also a forum for negotiating agreements among member states.
- The World Food Programme (WFP) focuses on eradicating hunger and malnutrition, often in the context of conflict and natural disasters. It is the largest humanitarian organization in the world. Last year, the WFP fed 154 million people in 90 countries, more than ever before.
- The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) aims to fight rural poverty, hunger and malnutrition among smallholder farmers and the rural poor in developing countries. It promotes the enhancement of productivity, income opportunities and quality of life in rural areas and provides additional resources for this purpose.
In fact, RBA cooperation is needed more than ever, especially on issues of climate change, the food crisis and the transformation of food systems.
It is necessary to integrate all efforts also beyond the RBAs towards a “One UN”.
The Rome UN site is of central importance to the UN's sustainability agenda, with a particular focus on development cooperation, humanitarian aid, food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development, with special attention to smallholder farmers and gender equity.
As the central inclusive and intergovernmental platform for combating world hunger and ensuring world food security, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is supported by all three RBAs.
FAO, WFP and IFAD have also established thematic teams and working groups, such as in the areas of
- resilience,
- climate change,
- financial inclusion,
- nutrition value chains,
- South-South and triangular cooperation,
- food security information,
- gender, along with
- food loss and waste.
The RBAs' linkages to New York and their contributions to the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance (GCRG) and other global, regional and national initiatives contributing to the GCRG, such as the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS), are essential.
As of February 2023
