Highlights:

The Staff Working Document, includes a section dedicated to EU external action related to SDG2: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”.

In 2021, EU institutions reported to the OECD commitments for EUR 1.1 billion in projects contributing to SDG 2. EU assistance to food-insecure people reached 28 million people, while nearly 19 million women of reproductive age, adolescent girls and children were reached by EU-funded nutrition-related interventions. In addition, over 21 million smallholder farmers benefited from EU interventions aimed at increasing their sustainable production, access to markets, and/or land security.

Collectively, the EU and those Member States that reported on SDGs to the OECD in 2021 contributed EUR 5.4 billion to SDG 2. EU and Member State funding to SDG 2 in 2021 predominantly focused on projects in Africa (42%) and Asia (32%). The collective response as Team Europe to global food insecurity exacerbated by the war of aggression against Ukraine is supported by an envelope of around EUR 18 billion from the EU and its Member States for the period 2021-2024 which contributes to SDG 2.

To accelerate progress in cooperation with Africa, the EU launched two major initiatives. One is on sustainable agri-value chains, which aims to boost public and private investments in African agri-value chains. The second is on resilient food systems, which supports African food systems to become more resilient to unfavourable trends, shocks and crises.

The fight against acute hunger and acute malnutrition is also at the centre of the EU’s humanitarian interventions. Food assistance, where possible through cash transfers, addresses the most vulnerable. As for the immediate and underlying causes of malnutrition, these are addressed through nutrition interventions targeting the specific needs of vulnerable groups. A collective Team Europe commitment amounting to EUR 4.3 billion for 2021-2024 was made at the Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2021, of which the EU pledged EUR 2.5 billion, to address all forms of malnutrition in humanitarian and development settings.