This paper examines to what extent, and how, donor approaches in agriculture, rural development and food systems have changed over the past 20 years, what are the main emerging issues, what should be done to address these and how these changes could shape the activities of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD).

Over the past two decades, successive crises have reshaped geopolitical relations and made Official Development Assistance more complex. Momentum is growing for reform of multilateral institutions and debt relief for countries hardest-hit by climate change.

For donors, a new development agenda is emerging, led by the need for urgent action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. To ensure their actions contribute effectively, countries and donors must invest in measuring and reporting while leveraging new sources of finance.

Platform members note “the challenge of maintaining focus on long-term structural change in the midst of an ever more uncertain, volatile, multi-shock global context”. 

The report highlights the benefits of a food system approach to achieve systemic change, and deal with the tensions between development cooperation and humanitarian assistance.