The FAO Investment Centre is 60 years young! Come celebrate with us on 15 October

Come join us in celebrating this milestone with our partners, colleagues and guests on 15 October 2024, from 9.00 to 10.00 a.m. in the FAO Plenary, immediately preceding the third annual Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum.

Since signing its first cooperative agreement with the World Bank in 1964, the FAO Investment Centre has expanded its network of financing partners to help countries reduce hunger, poverty and malnutrition and advance sustainable development.

With its unique business model of a three-way partnership with countries and financiers, the Investment Centre has helped design more than 2 400 projects financed by partners in 157 countries for a total of USD 257 billion* in public investment over 60 years.

FAO’s Director-General QU Dongyu will kick off the event with some reflections on these six decades of investment support – from the impact on people’s lives and livelihoods to the future of agrifood investments.

This will be followed by keynote addresses and a panel discussion with a few of the FAO Investment Centre’s longstanding and newer partners, including the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The speakers will be invited to share their insights on the demand for investment to transform agrifood systems and future collaboration with FAO.

With this year’s World Food Day organized around the theme of the “Right to foods for a better life and a better future”, this discussion is timely.   

Financing the transformation of agrifood systems to benefit people and the planet is more urgent than ever. It calls for international solidarity, political will, greater cooperation and investment.

With its growing multidisciplinary team, the Investment Centre continues to strengthen and diversify its partnerships and expand into critical new areas of work to provide countries with tailored agrifood investment and finance solutions.

By working together, we can help countries achieve a healthier, more sustainable and equitable future that leaves no one behind.

* Accounting for inflation - OECD DAC Deflator (2022 = 100)