FAO Director-General Dialogue with the Private sector: Partnerships for Inclusive Finance and Investment Models in Agriculture
Graziano da Silva hosts members of the Private Sector Mechanism attending UN Committee on World Food Security and partners.
FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, held a meeting on October 14 at the FAO in Rome to facilitate partnerships and private sector contributions focused on the creation of conditions that ensure inclusive finance and investment models in agriculture. Recalling the importance of the recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Graziano da Silva stated “The role of the private sector will energise the Sustainable Development Goals.”
The meeting with the Private Sector Mechanism (PSM) is the fourth of a series of high level meetings with private sector representatives that started in 2012. The PSM delegation was led by Jaine Chisholm Caunt, Chair of the International Agrifood Network and PSM, and included over 100 agri-food business leaders.
FAO had also invited several of its business partners to comment on their successful partnerships with the organization, those included: Pierre Van Hedel, Executive Director of Rabobank Foundation; Gaetano Carboni, MasterCard Group Executive Strategic Alliances in the Public Private Partnerships; and Alexandra de Athayde, Executive Director of IFIF. It was a conducive way for business leaders to share experiences on partnering with the United Nations agency.
Representing the Private Sector Mechanism to the CFS and all aspects of the value chain, four PSM delegates shared their views on inclusive finance and investment: Poorva Pandya, Head of Agri Business Development at the Export Trading Group; Wayne Dredge, representing the fisheries sector; and Dr. Abdulrahman Jawahery, chairman of GPIC, representing the fertilizer industry.
The encounter with the Director General was followed by two workshops following on the implementation of the Responsible Agricultural Investment Principles and on new financial models that attracted close to 50 participants.
View the full press release on the FAO website.
Remarks by Jaine Chisholm Caunt, Chairman of the Private Sector Mechanism, and Robynne Anderson, President of Emerging Ag Inc:
