Innovation and Knowledge for Investment (IK4I)
The Investment Centre provides a strong evidence-based voice on investment and finance solutions through its Innovation and Knowledge for Investment (IK4I) work.
By harnessing FAO’s technical expertise and leveraging partnerships with key financing and research institutions, the Centre fills critical knowledge gaps. It also shares the latest thinking and practical tools to support investment.
The growing body of investment knowledge products covers a wide range of topics – from scaling up agrifood investments for and by youth in Africa, to decarbonizing agrifood systems, among many others.
Latest stories
The potential of bioinputs for greener agrifood systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
17/06/2025
The Centre published Bioinputs: investment opportunities in Latin America. The report, part of FAO’s IK4I series, examines the economic viability, investment potential and social and environmental benefits of agricultural bioinputs in the region Agricultural bioinputs – products from plants, animals or microbes – are often used as supplements or natural alternatives to more synthetic agrochemicals.
Urban agriculture is experiencing a growth spurt
22/01/2025
Feeding our cities: How the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the movement of food in urban areas
02/12/2024
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way food is moved, sold and bought in urban areas worldwide – creating some new trends and accelerating others.
Why investing in climate-efficient agrifood systems infrastructure matters
20/11/2024
Latest publications
Investment Briefs
Irrigating from space: Using remote sensing for agricultural water management
03/2023
This publication is part of the FAO-World Bank Cooperative Programme and aims to review and inform on the latest applications...
Investment Briefs
Evolution of food e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic
03/2023
This investment brief, prepared by FAO and commissioned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hones in on...
Investment Briefs
Prices and farmer investment - Evidence from experimental studies
01/2023
Changes in commodity prices may impact smallholder farmers in various ways: to what extent do higher prices transmit to the...
Investment Briefs
Investing in young agripreneurs - Why and how?
11/2022
There are few wage-earning opportunities for the 223 million unemployed or underemployed youth in developing and emerging economies. Many of...
Investment Briefs
Investing in food loss and waste - What's in it for development banks?
09/2022
Food loss and waste (FLW) is costly for people, the environment and economies, particularly during a time of global uncertainty....
Directions in Investment
Implications of the war in Ukraine for agrifood trade and food security in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia
09/2022
The Russian Federation and Ukraine are major global suppliers of cereals and sunflower oil, while the Russian Federation is also...
Country Investment Highlights
Digital technologies in the grain sector of Ukraine
09/2022
Comprising 30 percent of agricultural output and with an area of 15 million hectares, the grain sector is a pillar...
Investment Briefs
Funding digital transformation of land administration
09/2022
Digital transformation involves changing land administration systems from paper to 100 percent digital. It leads to greater activity and better...
Directions in Investment
Modernizing irrigation in Central Asia
09/2022
Modernizing irrigation systems in Central Asia could increase the productivity of the irrigation sector to meet growing food and export...
Directions in Investment
Investing in agricultural water, sustainably: recent trends in financing institutions
08/2022
Climate change, poverty, inequality, and other disruptive factors are changing the way water is used for agriculture. Although IFI investments...
Investment Briefs
Expanding Morocco's olive oil market. The role of consumers and industry response
08/2022
This brief was produced by the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), based...
Country Investment Highlights
Transforming agriculture in South Sudan. From humanitarian aid to a development oriented growth path
08/2022
FAO teamed up with the World Bank on this strategic analysis of the investment, policy and institutional support needed to...