This publication was prepared by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) and provides insights on policy instruments and agrifood system approaches aimed at promoting food and nutrition security and enhancing the effectiveness, sustainability, and resilience of agrifood systems at national, regional and global levels.

Section 1 introduces the main challenges confronting agrifood systems today, including structural vulnerabilities, climate-related risks, and systemic inequities.

Section 2 takes stock of global progress towards achieving Zero Hunger.

Section 3 highlights a selection of policy options and best practices that are driving agrifood systems transformation and presents a group of 35 policies to highlight how they can impact different thematic areas, and the potential to group policies synergistically.

Recommendation towards the G20 include:

❖ Strengthen governance, coordination and inclusiveness

• Support and leverage existing platforms, tools, and benchmarks to strengthen coordinated, evidence-based governance (i.a. CFS, the UN Food Systems Summit process, and the Global Alliance Against Hunger). This includes effective governance by: supporting multistakeholder, evidence-based dialogue and agreement on CFS voluntary guidelines and policy recommendations at global, regional and national levels and advancing systems approaches at country level.
• Prioritise inclusive and transparent stakeholder processes to build trust, accountability, and shared ownership, recognising that upfront investments in multi-stakeholder engagement generate long-term benefits.
• Adopt the right to adequate food as a basic principle to encourage the participation of all relevant stakeholders throughout the policy cycle.
• Embed good governance at all levels as a foundation for durable, just, and effective agrifood system reform, with particular emphasis on trust, transparency, and inclusion for policies affecting diverse stakeholders and contentious topics.

❖ Accelerate progress towards Zero Hunger and resilient agrifood systems

• Intensify efforts to achieve Zero Hunger by adopting a systems approach that addresses interconnected challenges across food security, nutrition, climate, environment, health, and livelihoods, while avoiding siloed policy responses.
• Strengthen agrifood systems resilience by shifting from disaster response to anticipatory action, expanding farmers’ access to risk mitigation tools (e.g. insurances, capacity to cope with risks) and social protection, promoting productivity and resilience development through science and innovation, and supporting well-functioning global food markets.
• Integrate climate, environmental, and biodiversity objectives into food system policies, including through nature-based solutions, sustainable land and water use, and agroecological practices.
• Recognise and respond to local contexts by tailoring policy solutions to national and subnational realities, using local analysis to assess impacts and adaptation potential.

❖ Align policy instruments and manage trade-offs

• Address trade-offs between food security, economic, environmental, and social objectives by bundling complementary policy measures, supported by participatory stakeholder engagement and interministerial coordination across agrifood systems.
• Repurpose agricultural support, guided by True Cost Accounting, to move away beyond siloed interventions and redirect resources toward public goods and services such as research, infrastructure, and nutrition, enabling integrated responses to climate risks, inequality, and environmental degradation.

❖ Strengthen investment and financing mechanisms

Build the investment case and align financing strategies

• Demonstrate the business case for investment in agrifood systems transformation by clearly communicating economic, social, and environmental returns, including job creation, income growth, food price stability, and avoided climate and health costs
• Align financing strategies with the five enabling conditions for scaling agrifood investment by prioritising agrifood investments across policy areas, integrating into other sectoral strategies, catalysing private finance, repurposing existing expenditure to avoid fragmentation and inefficiency, and coordinating across institutions and donors.
• Position adaptation investments in food systems as commercially relevant by presenting robust economic and financial modelling (NPV, IRR, ROI, BCR) that speaks to both public and private sector decision-making, supported by practical tools such as IFAD’s Adaptation Investment Case Playbook.

Mobilise and coordinate finance across public, private, and development partners

• Leverage blended finance structures anchored by concessional capital to attract private investment into smallholder-focused value chains by reducing risk.
• Develop collaborative agrifood financing agreements that align public, private and development finance around shared national investment priorities, including through regional platforms to strengthen policy coherence and cross-border coordination.
• Empower public development banks to channel domestic capital and integrate climate finance into agricultural lending through capacity building, green financial products, and measurable portfolio targets.
• Strengthen domestic resource mobilisation and policy frameworks to incentivise responsible private investment, including through tax incentives, regulatory reforms, and alignment with national investment plans.
• Recognise remittances and diaspora investment as contributors to rural development and climate resilience by reducing transfer costs and linking flows to inclusive financial services.

Safeguard resilience and stability through fiscal and market measures

• Protect vulnerable populations through targeted, time-bound fiscal measures and social protection programmes during food price shocks, aligned with national policy frameworks and clear exit strategies.
• Promote structural and trade-related measures for long-term stability by maintaining adequate strategic food reserves, improving market transparency, and investing in trade-related infrastructure.
• Strengthen agricultural data and information systems to improve market intelligence, manage price volatility, and support informed decision-making.